Word on the Street

What are some upcoming trends?

Matvei Yankelevich:In the coming years, we’ll be foregrounding historical recovery projects of lost or neglected avant-garde texts from North America, Slovenia, Japan, Uruguay, Russia, Chile, and Argentina, while also continuing our commitment to contemporary American poetics, performance texts and performance documentation, and unusual genre-bending investigative prose. This spring, we’ll be retiring our 17-year-old poetry magazine, 6x6, and thereby making room in our program for more printed ephemera and unconventional book forms. We’re looking for ...

What are some upcoming trends for the coming year?

I confess that my prediction is more of a preference or a wish. There seems to be infinite space and demand for another psychological “Girl” thriller. And, admittedly, I will always want to read these complicated, angry female protagonists—I inhaled Tana French’s The Trespasser in one intense, satisfying sitting. Outside of the thriller genre, though, there is a larger trend focused on the rich dynamics of female friendships ...

What are some upcoming trends?

It’s no secret that psychological suspense has taken the world by storm, and I don’t see that letting up this year. I read a lot in this genre, so it’s obvious when a standout book comes along. I recently tore through an absolutely assured and page-turning debut called All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker, and she was kind enough to contribute a blurb to one of our upcoming titles, The Twilight Wife by A ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I think people want well-written books with a great plot. It’s hard to know what will be big and what won’t be. If I knew what the trends were going to be, it’d make my job a lot easier! Personally, I think authors should write what they are passionate about and not be too consumed with whether it is on trend or not.

However, because I’m sure every agent says that ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

In addition to popular history, food studies, art/architecture, and a few other areas, I acquire books about the natural world and the environment, a traditional area of strength for the University of Georgia Press. We publish nature guides (we’re looking forward to Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs by Lynn Frierson Faust in spring 2017), a series of guides to the rivers of Georgia with the Georgia River Network, and nature ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Falling sales of books as members of a newer generation spend more time using apps on their complex cellphones that act more like computers, enabling them to surf the web instead of reading books. This is also reflected at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where attendance has been dropping yearly, as I can attest to having exhibited our Permanent Press titles there for the past 33 years—I returned from Frankfurt on Oct ...

What’s unique about your corner of the publishing industry?

The more than 100 university press publishers in the United States are unique in our charge: our mission is to publish the fruits of the best scholarly work produced by the best minds in our country and around the world. Together, university presses publish in just about every knowledge area and discipline. At UNC Press, one of our specialties is history. The scholars we publish are doing the obsessive, brick-by-brick investigation ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Firstly, I should mention that my answers are going to be specifically about young-adult novels, which make up the bulk of my list. And my sales! 

So keeping that in mind, I’m expecting to see fantasy and sci-fi trends keep building, along with serious contemporary YA. That’s really where the market is right now. I wish we’d see some funny rom-com type YA break out, but it’s struggling to find ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Our offices are in El Paso, Texas. That puts us well outside the echo chamber of New York publishing and gives us a nice vantage point from which to create our own editorial vision. It also frees us from worrying about trends. We’ve turned that freedom into being an industry leader in publishing what we jokingly call non–publishing normative books. Our interest is in publishing wonderful writing and great stories. We ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

We’re a relatively new, award-winning hybrid publisher of fiction and nonfiction (in our fourth year) and we have nine imprints, so we are in an expansion phase right now. We just started a new nonfiction lifestyle imprint, Verve, last year with Naked in 30 Days by Theresa Roemer, and we’re starting a horror imprint this fall. I strongly believe that horror has the potential to be as consumable as ...

What are some upcoming trends for coming year? 

We’ve seen a huge trend toward stories featuring music/art/political scenes in different decades (primarily in New York). There seems to be an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia for another time. As November approaches, more and more political philosophy books, old and new, fly off the shelves. Harbor Books’ booksellers will tell you “thrillers with ‘girl’ in the title”! 

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I have no idea! This, luckily, is not something I have to pay attention to. The great gift of working for a nonprofit press is finding the audience for a book, not the book for an audience. 

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

I have a special fondness for books about walking and books of cultural criticism (Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love), books ...

What are some upcoming trends for the rest of 2016?

We’re halfway through 2016 and it feels to me that the year is continuing trends that have been in place for a while now.

Kids’ and young-adult books seem to outsell adult categories, as children prefer “real” print books. Thrillers, especially those with unreliable narrators like Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, remain strong sellers. Women still love their book groups, and thus women’s fiction is a mainstay, although ...

What are some upcoming trends for the rest of 2016?

Trends drive me crazy. Out of frustration and/or confusion, I mostly try to ignore their existence, but it’s probably at my own risk. They do happen frequently, and they are quite real phenomena in the minds of readers. But they’re typically not the most flattering glimpses of our business. They tend to reek of a desperate need to figure out the public without closely analyzing changing buying patterns and ...

What are some upcoming trends for the rest of 2016?

Trends can be deceiving. Restless Books began as a digital publisher at a time (late 2013) when everyone seemed to be freaking out about e-books. Since then, many of our paperless cohort have either shut down or adapted, as we have, by shifting to old-fashioned print publishing. So I would advise caution to anyone devising an augmented-reality publishing platform (though I’d like to see them try it).

I am hopeful ...

Do you see any trends on the horizon?

Publishing moves slowly enough that most agents and editors hesitate to make prognostications about the kinds of books that are likeliest to sell in the future. Most trends we see are in the rearview mirror, to be honest. What’s interesting to me is how much about the publishing business has remained the same, even as it’s been transformed by the advent of e-books and online bookselling. Editors are very susceptible to voice ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I continue to see demand in dark thriller and psychological suspense featuring damaged and unreliable female narrators. When I first read Dot Hutchison’s The Butterfly Garden, I knew I’d struck gold. Not only does it feature one of the most complex and compelling heroines I’ve ever encountered, the serpentine plot also makes it a true page-turner. The reception since the book was published by Thomas & Mercer on June 1 has ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Honestly, I think it’s a mistake to pay a lot of attention to trends. They’re too fleeting. By the time you finish writing the final line of a book that seems perfect for the current market, the publishers’ schedules are already saturated with books just like it.

At the end of the day, I just want an un-put-down-able read. That’s always trendy.

What book/genre/topic would you like to see ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

The exciting technological trends leading to greater malleability, interactivity, and discoverability of content continue apace, of course, with varying adoption and engagement by university presses. Of particular interest to me is the growing ability to track on the granular level user engagement with content across the digital surface of a text. Such behavioral information will become a cornerstone of future acquisitions initiatives driven by how readers use our content as much ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Once this bruising election season has passed, people are going to need a change of pace. I suspect they will be even more interested than usual in the “New Year, New You” self-help and related categories. They will likely want to turn their attention away from the vitriol and stress and relax with soothing books, informative books, inspiring books, books that help them to restore their equilibrium.

What book/genre/topic ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Trends don’t interest me all that much. I actually think authors do themselves a disservice when they try to write according to what’s hot now or what they think will be hot five minutes from now. I’m interested in quality fiction (and narrative nonfiction) with a strong voice, memorable characters, and a compelling narrative arc. It’s funny that on the 25^th anniversary of launching our international mystery imprint, Soho Crime ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Agents must try to be immune to trends. We have to plan for the future: if I sign an author today, it can take six months to edit the book into shape, then (let’s say) another two months for submissions, contractual wrangles, faffing around—from that point it’s still going to be 12 months minimum before the book is published in hardback, maybe another 12 months for the paperback, so the trend ...

Dystopian, YA sports novels set in outer space, and literature in translation set under the sea. Seriously, as a press that publishes primarily literary fiction, along with a smattering of nonfiction, following trends or even being concerned about them is an exercise in folly. Literary fiction doesn’t follow trends, as a good novel or short story collection arises from a singular, unique vision, which is not something you can—or should—try to ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2016? 

Let me preface this with: I don’t like trends. I don’t believe in following them. They are gone too soon to catch up to. Writers who follow trends often flounder because they are not writing where their true talents lie. To that end, I do think there are genres that are making a comeback and that there are always themes within genres that will tend to peak now and again. I do ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Fairy tales and books based on fairy tales, coloring books, and hybrid books. The adult coloring books have been going strong, so we are finally releasing a poetry/coloring book by Gary Lemons. The fairy tale interest may be the generation of avid YA readers moving into adult books based on myths and fairy tales, but we’ve been doing well with Ron Koertge’s fairy tale–based flash fiction and are now adding a ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

In the mid-2000s, in just a few short years, an amazing number of major new fantasy writers were introduced, with my discoveries of Brandon Sanderson (Elantris, Tor) and Peter V. Brett (Warded Man, Del Rey) as well as other authors like Patrick Rothfuss and Brent Weeks. Now, I feel like there’s more of a buzz surrounding science fiction than I’ve seen in a long time. I’m really excited by our debut ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2016? 

Branded and successful s​elf-published authors who are ready for the leap to traditional publishing houses. In my personal opinion as an author and an agent, the industry has been in such flux over the past decade with the onslaught of indie works and new authors who haven’t been vetted through traditional channels that it’s nearly impossible to predict what will hit next. But if you look at what’s happening in the social landscape ...

What are some upcoming trends?

I’ve always been perplexed by the “trend” question, because I’ve never chased them. The best books come from the minds of writers, and the best writers are so often those who see the world a little differently, who express the familiar in surprising ways, or who immerse us in worlds we haven’t seen before. Some of the most successful books I’ve represented, such as Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm or Piper Kerman’s  Orange Is the ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Just coming off the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, I would say the trend in science-fiction novels has continued and grown, with many authors diverging from the traditional space opera and taking their stories and characters to many exciting new places, like our author Gabrielle Prendergast and her upcoming novel, Zero Repeat Forever. The genre in itself offers so many different landscapes and storylines that it’s an exciting category to see taking ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I have no idea. I work pretty hard to avoid knowing much about trends, other than how to buck them. I mean, it’s become far too rare that a trend is “Read more Latin American literature.” It’s more usually, “Buy adult coloring books” or “Buy 50 Shades of Grey” or “Buy 50 Shades of Grey adult coloring books”—in other words, the kind of bottom-line corporate dreck that my wife ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2016?

What I’m hearing from colleagues in the industry is that there is an ongoing interest in picture books with a clever concept and few words, adult coloring books remain a strong category, and fantasy and science fiction are on the rise. We generate IP [Intellectual Property] internally at Scout Books & Media, and we’re hired by publishers and media companies to work on ideas they’ve developed. When we start on a project, we ...

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

I really loved the relatively short-lived TV series The Bletchley Circle. These incredibly talented [code-breaking] women were expected to resume their lives as housewives and secretaries once the war ended. But they found a way to continue to use their talents. I’d love to see something like that.

Books that have a clever concept that is relatively easy to sum up in a sentence or two tend to ...

What are some upcoming trends for the beginning of 2016?

Let me wish for a trend instead: it is understandably tempting for publishers to copycat successful books, especially in times of uncertainty. But it’s better to start a trend than chase one. I think we will always depend to some degree on the frames of reference provided by recently published books. But it is my sincere hope that publishers and authors maintain an open mind and appetite for original material that ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2016?

In the small scale of my own books and reading, I’ve noticed a real appreciation of science, or elevated science fiction that’s intended for a general audience. I have a book called The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church that was chosen as the No. 1 Indie Next List pick for May, and it deals with women in science at the time of the making of the atomic bomb in Los ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

If only we could predict, but trends ultimately choose us. The real goal, I think, is to work with innovative authors and magnetic storytellers, because they create the kind of material that is most likely to inspire a trend. But what I can anticipate seeing in the next year or so, since we’re coming up on an election, is a surge of political titles on the nonfiction side. As far as ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Self-help that is voice-driven, edgy, and packaged in an engaging way, which I often refer to as Not-Your-Mom’s-Self-Help books. One example is Leave a Cheater, Gain a Life: The Chump Lady’s Survival Guide (Running Press, May 2016) by my client Tracy Schorn, who is the founder of chumplady.com. It’s an illustrated self-help book about infidelity with a strong, irreverent (and at times snarky) voice that offers a new message to ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year? 

My company, Book in a Box, lives in the nonfiction world, so I’ll focus specifically on the biggest trend I see in nonfiction: focus. Historically, books needed to be broad enough to reach a wide audience. Publishers traditionally wanted to hit a home run, and books that were too specific to have a chance at major success usually never got out the door. However, with the growing number of books ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Trends in the academic world are often slow-moving and take years to develop, but there are certainly topics and approaches that have been increasing in popularity. Environmental historians continue to find new and interesting ways to approach their field, including histories of health and the impact of the environment on our bodies. Multiple disciplines have undertaken new ways of incorporating food studies into their work, often focusing on issues of sustainable ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

We anticipate readers checking out:

Engaging stories by and about musicians, composers, and critics: Soul Serenade: Rhythm, Blues & Coming of Age Through Vinyl by Rashod Ollison; Ramones at 40 by Martin Popoff; Who Is That Man?: In Search of the Real Bob Dylan by David Dalton; Words Without Music: A Memoirby Philip Glass; Porcelain: A Memoir by Moby; and Delta Lady: A Memoirby Rita Coolidge and Michael Walker ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

My response has more to do with how we work but is certainly connected to what we publish—and I hope it will become a trend. In January, we announced our partnership in a four-year, $682,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that aims to diversify academic publishing by funding a formal apprenticeship program. Together with the University of Washington Press, the MIT Press, Duke University Press, and the Association ...

What are some upcoming trends for the beginning of 2016?

For nonfiction, platform is unbelievably important. With each passing day, publishers want bigger and bigger platforms. Because there are so many books, they have to stand out from one another and have built-in qualities that attract attention, and modest-size platforms just won’t cut it anymore. A platform is the number of copies the book can potentially sell without the publisher doing their own publicity or marketing. And when the publisher ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

There will be more high-profile self-published books with writers coming out of the woodwork—and that’s a great thing. Think of it as a readers’ version of the People’s Choice Awards, since electronic and Internet publishing have opened up new opportunities for new authors and for readers and reviewers. One of my favorite examples is the Wool Omnibus sci-fi collection by Hugh Howey. Howey published Wool in 2011 through Amazon.com’s ...

What are some upcoming trends for the beginning of 2016?

Trends are difficult to predict or be objective about. That said, here at 192 Books we have a lot of passion for literature in translation. We have a special table set up near the front of the store where we display some of our favorites like Clarice Lispector, Yoel Hoffmann, Robert Walser, and Guillaume Apollinaire. We carry an impressive selection of translations from all over the world. I also like that there ...

If my inbox is any indication, sci-fi and fantasy are alive and well in the query trenches—which definitely makes me happy. And, even better, I see more and more of these deals listed on Publishers Marketplace! I’d say the immense popularity of shows like Game of Thrones, Arrow, The Flash, and Daredevil is going to continue to boost both dark and light fantasy of all varieties and subgenres. I’m very much hoping ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

There is a difference between trendy and current. While my nonfiction projects do not tend to be trendy, they must always be current. I tend to generate my own nonfiction titles by staying up-to-date with or ahead of current events. I am constantly listening to podcasts or reading newspapers, magazines, journals, and blogs. As I do so, I reflect on which topics demand reconsideration and think about how they might be ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I dislike the term “trend,” as it suggests authors and publishers copycatting bestsellers. But rather than “trendy” publishing for 2016, I see a very cool and very important movement toward high-concept stories (always popular) starring often underrepresented races and orientations. I’m thinking of books like The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie (which the author summarized as “Lesbians. Pirates. Kaiju”), Rahul Kanakia’s Enter Title Here, about an Indian-American teen who ...

What are some upcoming trends for the beginning of 2016?

Last year, I read so many brilliant middle-grade books with groundbreaking LGBT and gender non-conforming protagonists. I think we were just seeing the beginning of this trend and I think we’ll continue to see an even more diverse array of realistic fiction that expands our idea of what these stories for young readers can look like.

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

I work ...

What are some upcoming trends?

I certainly can’t claim to be a big trend spotter/chaser—my main goal in acquiring new books for young readers is to find those that will stand the test of time, not flame out with the latest craze. But I do hope some of the current positive trends about reading continue—young readers still prefer reading print books to e-books, and reading is still the top leisure activity for ages 2 to 10.

What book/genre ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I work in nonfiction, where trends are often set by world events and historical anniversaries. 2016 is, of course, an election year, so I’m expecting a lot of books on politics: issue-driven books on terrorism and immigration and health care and such. Fall is usually the season of the year’s biggest books; with the election likely to soak up a ton of media attention, it will be interesting to see what ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

There has been lots of talk about fiction with unreliable narrators, following the huge successes of books like The Girl on the Train, Luckiest Girl Alive, and Gone Girl. When I first read Wendy Walker’s All is Not Forgotten (to be published in July 2016), I knew we had a winner—I literally felt chills as I was reading the opening chapters. The unreliable narrator was the bonus. Thankfully, the early indicators ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

While I hate to admit it, I am absolutely terrible at predicting trends, be it publishing, fashion, music, or what have you. I like to think I know what the trends should be, but rarely does my opinion make it to the trendsetters. However, the trend I hope for in 2016? Science fiction coming back with a vengeance. The Martian by Andy Weir saw smashing success in print in 2011, and ...

What are some upcoming trends?

I spend a lot of time thinking about just that question. Our new imprint, Hot Books, has multiple books scheduled that I hope will become a new trend in short books by serious investigative journalists about important political, cultural, and social issues. These are books about defending victims and holding people accountable. To name a few: The Beast Side: Living and Dying While Black in America by D. Watkins, Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies ...

What are some upcoming trends?

When I got into publishing, it looked like books for young readers—picture books, middle-grade and YA novels—were the next big trend. Ten years later, these books are still performing, and Twilight and Harry Potter (which were then in their infancy) recently popped back onto the bestseller list. That kind of regularity and consistency is a sign of real strength. I always thought that if I focused on a few categories where the books have lasting ...

What are some upcoming trends?

I don’t want to cast this as a trend because that minimizes its importance and implies that it is an ephemeral concept, but thanks to campaigns like We Need Diverse Books, I think we are finally acknowledging that it is part of our responsibility as publishers to support writers from all manner of racial, ethnic, gender, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It is critically important that literature reflects a diverse range of human experiences, and I’m ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

The major trends that I see are a push for diversity across all age groups and an interest in unconventional stories.

In fiction, readers are looking for a representation of different races, sexual orientations, gender identities, and people with different abilities. In adult fiction and YA fiction, we’re seeing more LGBT romance or just LGBT characters. Some of these were originally self-published, like Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat. We are ...

What are some upcoming trends?

This is an incredibly difficult question to answer—of course, there are trends (see Gone Girlfollowed by The Girl on the Train), but as an agent it’s not fruitful to chase them. By the time I take on a writer, work with her on a manuscript, and then submit and sell said project, it will stillbe up to two years before the book comes out. What I try to be responsive to, therefore, are issues ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I think we’re cycling out of a darker trend in science fiction and fantasy. There’s been a lot of talk about the drive toward grimdark fantasy over the past few years. Now I think we’re shifting to something lighter, more traditional fantasy. I’m curious to see how it’s going to manifest—I think Naomi Novik’s Uprooted is a trend toward more “shimmery” fantasy, but also people keep talking about the old Dragonlance ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

For children’s, there is definitely a demand for books featuring diversity, whether it’s in terms of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. But what seems to be different from the past is that those books no longer need to be about diversity. The protagonist’s ethnicity or sexual identity can be secondary to the plot. I’m also still seeing a strong demand for middle-grade and YA fantasy, perhaps in part because of the ...

What are some upcoming trends?

It’s so hard to say what’s going to be the next big thing. I know what I like and I acquire what I think readers will want to buy. Maybe one of those acquisitions can start the next trend. I think the worst thing an editor can do is chase trends.

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

When I’m looking for a breakout title, I want to see an ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

So many editors are asking for fantasy right now, which makes me happy because I happen to love fantasy. Game of Thrones has definitely brought the genre back into the mainstream on both the children’s and adult sides. Of course, that can change on a dime, but I plan to enjoy this trend while it lasts. Everyone is looking for the next Kristin Cashore and Tamora Pierce. And, of course, the ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Now more than ever, people want to feel like people—not like robots, mere extensions of their phones and their email. We want to feel connected to our communities, to people across the world, to nature, to our bodies, to our sense of humanity. It’s why the conference culture popularized by organizations like TED is so prevalent and why “Humans of New York” has over 15 million followers on Facebook. Photography is in some ways the ...

What are some upcoming trends?

ISIS erotica. Works by Franciscan philosophers about what poverty meant in the 12th century. Writings by artists. Experimental artist e-books. All trending.

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

What’s a transom? Sorry, we only publish two days a week.

What topic don’t you ever want to see again?

There are no topics that are not worth being topical if they are approached with real verve and a genuine sense ...

What are some upcoming trends?

A trend that’s been around for a while is literary novels set in a dystopia or post-apocalyptic setting, like Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel or Gold, Fame, Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins. It seems like authors who might have shied away from a sci-fi or genre-influenced setting are using those tropes to project our anxieties about the future and also to explore traditional topics in literature with a new and extreme vocabulary. I’ve ...

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

We’d love to see more books exploring queerness in relation to other marginalized social positions. We very much hope that we’ll see a shift in the larger LGBT culture away from assimilation to the dominant culture. Of course, these books already exist, but we’d love to see more evidence of queers joining in larger struggles for a more just and compassionate society for all people everywhere. Queers are ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Although it is good to be aware of trends, it is also important not to give them too much weight. When I’m considering new clients, I’m looking for unique voices that contribute something new to a genre. Someone who takes, for example, literary mystery or upmarket women’s fiction and writes in that lane but in a way that I have not read before. If I must pinpoint a trend, there seems ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I think novels with unorthodox narrative structures and unusual characters will continue to rise in popularity. Think the creepy unfurling of events from the unreliable narrator in The Girl on the Train, the sinister and yet hilarious frenemy in Luckiest Girl Alive, and the fragile and bizarrely absurd characters in The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty. 

I think indie publishing is facing stagnation as readers are continuously inundated with an unprecedented ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Adult coloring books! No, wait, that was yesterday. I meant books about the life-changing magic of tidying up. They’re going to be big, I can feel it!

Seriously, I have no idea. I only publish 25 books a year, so I don’t spend much time looking for spikes or dips in various categories. I just need to find 25 good, interesting books.

But here’s a story I heard from a woman at a large and ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Generally, everyone’s always looking for manuscripts that bring something new to the table, something commercial with a quirk. Contemporary romance is always a favorite. New adult is a tough sell these days, as it never really developed the way everyone had hoped. As for middle-grade and YA fiction, editors are on the hunt for more horror, ghost thrillers, and fairy-tale twists (or so they told me); as for realistic stories, humorous ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I think people are really starting to understand the need for diversity. Some would call it a trend, but I would prefer to think of the growing conversation around the need for diversity in books for young people as a watershed moment that’s been building for quite some time. 

As far as content trends, I’m seeing a lot more contemporary mystery and suspense, which has been a gap in YA ...

What are some upcoming trends?

If I had a crystal ball for every time I got asked that question….Actually, this question used to make editors everywhere shudder. By the time we’ve identified a trend, it’s over, we’d say; or conversely, we’d watch a particular “trending” genre consume the hearts and minds of readers…for a decade. But in the rapid-fire landscape wrought by e-publishing, it’s actually possible to identify trends the moment they bubble to the surface. Our challenge now ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Reality-based fiction is certainly the trend for YA. Teens want to read about other kids going through things they can relate to—granted these situations are often heightened for dramatic impact. For middle-grade, kids are crazy about graphic novels and heavily illustrated novels. And I don’t blame them—there is so much good stuff in the genres. From Cece Bell’s El Deafo (which was the first graphic novel to receive a Newbery—yeah!) to Smile to Diary of ...

What are some trends you were pleased with in 2014?

From where I sit, overseeing materials selection and circulation for a large public library system, I loved watching the publishing industry recognize that YA books are being read by people other than teens. I think there’s lots of marketing potential there, for instance, with different covers of a title for different markets.

It was also interesting to see e-book and print sales stabilizing, and to see the first research into ...

What are some upcoming trends?

It feels as if American readers are embracing international trends, which is a change from the norm.  The biggest self-help book of the year is Japanese: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and the adult coloring/mindfulness trend started in France and Korea. The buzzy books at the London Book Fair this year were novels from France and Hungary. The biggest novel of this year is British: The Girl on the Train, which, granted ...

What are some upcoming trends?

I have been seeing a lot of 1980s nostalgia recently—lots of books on the Reagan era and other events. Interestingly, the ’80s are just becoming history, and a lot of events of that time are starting to become worth revisiting in book form. And fortunately, that era doesn’t feel overdone yet.

And it’s not something I’m personally especially interested in, but nonfiction essay collections seem to be having a rebirth of sorts, with the success ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I wouldn’t so much call this a trend, as I prefer to think of it as the continued evolution of YA (my little corner of the industry), but right now we’re seeing such a big push for diverse books. Representation is becoming more a question of “why not?” than “why?” Why wouldn’t you want a book to accurately mirror such a diverse readership? I’m thrilled, and I think the ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Since I do a lot of work in the romance industry, I’ll focus on that market. Right now, contemporary romance (vs. paranormal or historical) is in demand, and I see that continuing. Classic tropes like billionaires, everyday heroes, and Fifty Shades spinoffs are still popular. The new-adult subgenre is shrinking, but I believe women’s fiction—commercial books that address a woman’s whole life more completely—will become more prevalent in the romance industry ...

What are some upcoming trends?

The notion of trends always trips me up. I never consciously follow what seem to be “trends,” since I find that by the time you’re following one, it’s changing or over. And in terms of fiction, it never seems to be a good idea to follow a popular subject (as vampires were a few years ago) unless you’re fully in love with the book itself.

That said, a book I’m really excited about that ...

What are some trends you were pleased with in 2014?

I think, along with everybody, I was pleased to see more diversity in 2014—novels in science fiction and fantasy like [Ann Leckie’s] Ancillary Justice, where gender is treated much more fluidly, were winning awards and breaking boundaries. For me, I also enjoyed seeing some more traditional and heartwarming fantasy published, in the form of novels like [Katherine Addison’s] The Goblin Emperor. I’m desperate to see SF/F move away from ...

What are some upcoming trends?

It feels somewhat impossible to pinpoint trends across an entire industry, but there are a few that particularly excite me as an editor (and reader). First, the rise of the complex and flawed heroine with less focus on “likable characters.” I’ve seen numerous articles labeling this “the Gone Girl effect,” and while that feels rather reductive, I’m excited about it nonetheless. One more recent example might be Miranda July’s The First Bad Man ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Genre fiction that transcends its base, selling across and especially up the market. Gone Girl ignited a psychological-thriller bonfire, and The Girl on the Train is stoking the flames. Although this brand of moody, provocative suspense has existed in popular fiction for some time—Ruth Rendell was an early pioneer—it’s only recently that American audiences climbed aboard. The best psychological thrillers, by the likes of Sophie Hannah, Nicci French, and of course Gillian Flynn, bristle with ...

What are some trends you noticed thus far in 2015?

I’ve noticed that essay collections have been very popular in the past year or so. I think with the critical and commercial successes books like The Empathy Exams, On Immunity, and Bad Feminist have seen, publishers are more open to publishing collections where maybe they weren’t before. I’ve also been noticing a lot of really intriguing debut novels being published this summer. It’s really encouraging and exciting to see debuts getting more ...

What trends were you pleased with in 2014?

It was a relief to see the industry coming to some peace about all things digital. We’re not seeing the anxiety that we used to about how e-books and online bookselling are transforming the business (OK, maybe there’s still some anxiety about Amazon’s dominance). In part, that’s because the market for e-books has plateaued but also because publishers, authors, and agents have gained some competency with digital publishing. E-books are now part ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Interpretations of both U.S. and world history, with a focus on European. I think that while we may not always learn from history, we do like to read stories that allow us to feel less like it’s the end of the world as we know it. Looking at the aggressive campaigns in the Middle East and Africa by European states, as well as the development of the Soviet bloc and ...

What are some upcoming trends?

It’s not a trend strictly for genre publishers/readers, but it’s been thrilling to see so much sci-fi/fantasy and geek culture becoming more mainstream. It makes the books we publish more accessible when we can guide people from Guardians of the Galaxy to a space opera series or satiate those waiting for The Winds of Winter with some of the amazing epic fantasy that’s available right now. I love seeing books that have subtle ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Being an agent in today’s fast-paced, ever changing publishing world is much like trying to eat a bowl of Lucky Charms on a Tilt-A-Whirl. Just grab that spoon, and hold onto your hat…we’re in for one wild ride! While I always try to caution writers about the dangers of writing for a trend, it is fun to pull out my crystal ball and to try to peg what hook will really ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Hopefully we’ll see more blurring of defined genres. I get inspired when I see publishers taking a risk to break a book out of its obvious box. It’s a great antidote to stale publishing, particularly at a time when the industry is being taken over by platform-based books (celebrities, bloggers, etc.). Science fiction has been leading this charge, as it always seems to—I’m thinking of a book like The Martian. Fifty Shades achieved this, making ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Publishers will continue to seek out ways to attract the huge population of millennials with books like those published by Atria’s imprint Keywords, which seeks to translate YouTube celebrity into book sales. Essay collections are going to continue to be popular. The bestselling humor essayist Jenny Lawson has another one coming up in the fall; Graywolf announced Angela Palm’s Riverine as the recipient of their next Graywolf Nonfiction Prize; and Little ...

What are some trends you noticed in children’s books and elsewhere in 2014?

My inbox has been bursting with contemporary realistic, which I love. I hope to find the next Huntley Fitzpatrick or Rainbow Rowell. ​But many submissions I’m seeing have​ taken a darker turn—suicides and dead siblings—and a more violent direction​. The last time I saw things go this way, it went right into paranormal—the creature type (vampires and werewolves). I think this time it could go in a ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Wouldn’t you know, my crystal ball just broke this morning! But I’m happy to speak to one trend that we seem to be in the middle of, and it’s one that I’m hopeful will not disappear anytime soon. There has been a spate of books recently, written by women, that don’t overtly subscribe to the conventional rules of the novel—searching, probing voices that are emotionally acute, unabashedly cerebral, and shot through with bold humor and ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

One of the best things about book publishing is that it’s full of surprises! Spotting trends is an unpredictable and often arbitrary pursuit. I tend to avoid looking at them because our business looks so far out that current trends are often past trends by the time any sort of relevant book would come out. I instead tend to focus on authors with strong voices (for fiction) or brands in place ...

What are some upcoming trends?

It’s tough to say—as soon as you identify a trend, there’s a good chance it’s at its peak. For example, we’ve had a flurry of projects that address Christian-Muslim relations from various angles: interfaith families, Muslim converts to Christianity, and broader examinations of radical Islam as a global threat. But it’s hard to tell whether the ongoing conflict will translate into sustained interested or market fatigue.

One thing I am relatively sure of: as millennials ...

What are some upcoming trends?

With the push toward diversity (which I love) and more teens looking to make a positive impact, in addition to the racially diverse titles the market needs now, I hope we’ll be seeing books from major publishers as well as indies that showcase the experiences and viewpoints of those from other marginalized categories in our society, such as those with mental and physical disabilities. Seeing The Crossover, All the Bright Places, Rain Reign, and books ...

What are some upcoming trends?

I wish predicting upcoming trends could be my superpower. I think trends only happen after something becomes a surprise success—just imagine what my inbox looked like after Fifty Shade of Grey came out. I got BDSM fiction and nonfiction submissions for months.

What I can say in the world of romance is that sex and danger continue to sell, small-town romances continue to sell, historical romances continue to sell. So I foresee more of the ...

What are some trends you noticed in science fiction and elsewhere in 2014?

I think science fiction—and most other fiction—has broadened its horizons in the last year or so, in the best way. LGBT characters are becoming more prevalent—less a major plot point and more just a character trait. The same goes for minority characters. We’re starting to see more and more people of all ethnicities, which is vital to great storytelling. The best fiction is based on reality.

Zombies ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I think we’re going to see a lot of bighearted, outlandish eccentricity in the next year or so. After spending so many months worrying over tedious, bureaucratic things like the government shutdown and the user friendliness of a federal website, we’re ready to cast our eyes heavenward. Imagination is paramount. I’m thinking of books like Porochista Khakpour’s The Last Illusion, about to be published by Bloomsbury, a wild fable about a boy who ...

What are some trends you noticed in 2014?

2014 was certainly the year of John Green–inspired contemporary fiction in the YA sphere—maybe someone needs to coin an adjective in that regard? Johngreenian? Johngreenesque? With the market having been saturated with paranormal and dystopian offerings in preceding years, both editors and agents were eager to take on projects with contemporary themes and sophisticated voices much closer to adult crossover. YA mysteries and thrillers were particularly in demand as well. And of ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

2014 was a very strange year in a couple of the major markets I work in, and one of the things that made it so strange was that there wasn’t a breakout trend that got everyone excited about a new direction to explore. We didn’t have our Twilight or Hunger Games or Fifty Shades or new-adult juggernaut that Changed Things, though there were some very big books, to be sure. So ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Judging from the stack of manuscripts on my desk right now, I would say an upcoming trend is definitely…well, I’m not sure, actually. I’d need some kind of pattern-recognition expert to help figure that one out for me. The truth is, I spent almost 15 years working at monthly magazines before coming to Random House, and so I spent a good/scary part of my life thinking about trends and relevance and what would be ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

One upcoming trend I see is more interest in works that use text and illustration to tell a rich, layered story in unusual formats or for a new readership. (A recent article in the Wall Street Journal referenced the way publishers are targeting female readers in the next generation of graphic novels.) Some examples are Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, Cece Bell’s El Deafo[a finalist ...

What are some trends you noticed in 2014?

The continuing consolidation of publishing with mergers and company purchases. It is definitely something that continues every year, so it will probably be more of the same in 2015. It results in operational efficiencies but less competition and opportunity for authors.

What else are you anticipating for 2015?

The Christian market where I work has had its share of consolidating, and the result is that about a dozen companies comprise about 90 ...

What are some upcoming trends? 

In the context of my work at Archipelago, I don’t spend a great deal of time considering trends. I’m in the unique—and I think fortunate—position of working in an environment where books are bought almost exclusively because we believe that the writing will remain vital and will affect sensitive readers 100 years from now. Something I have noticed is the steady proliferation of literature in translation. Of course, international works still make up a ...

What is unique about your corner of the industry?

My list consists of American and world history titles ranging from ancient times to the present, including academic and trade books, almost entirely written by authors in the academy. What I think has been consistent across the discipline is the splintering and Balkanization of different subfields of history for the last three decades or so. That is, there has not been a book or article that everyone in the field has ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Trends are rather fascinating. By the time we recognize a genre or a type of story as trending, it’s probably too late to identify it for writers—even if we want to be helpful! The time to begin writing in a trend is probably 12-plus months before a trend has been identified. I never read something or take on an author because I think the story fits into a trend. And I ...

What are some trends you’ve noticed throughout 2014?

It’s been hard, I’d say in the last two years, to spot clear trends. I’m knocking on wood here, but I would say that it’s easier for the misfit books to do well. In young adult, for example, books like Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith, which is zany and hard-core and meaningful. Another one is The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer, one of my agency’s titles, which has this ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

No one can predict trends with absolute certainty, but you get a feel for the way the winds shift. Right now, with more flexible, digital shelves, I think (and hope) that books that challenge genre definitions will be big.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs made it big in challenging format, combining images with the novel, which continues in upcoming works like The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley ...

What are some trends you’ve noticed throughout 2014?

I don’t know if I’d label it a trend, but I love being able to suggest the smartly written, witty books that have made a splash in the past year, including Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project and Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, to our community of readers. I feel an affinity with curmudgeonly protagonists for whom there is growth, like Ove and the characters in Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of ...

What are you anticipating for 2015?

I’m starting to think we’ll see a big shift in the new-adult category next year. As an agent, I’m seeing a greater variety of projects that seek to redefine the way the general reading public currently views new adult, and I’m hopeful that this transition is successful in refocusing perceptions. While romances that focus on sexual exploration have certainly helped to increase visibility for the category, it has also led to the false assumption ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Apocalypse literature has been the trend most often noted, which must have been news to science-fiction imprints who have been publishing it for decades. I can’t speak to what’s upcoming, but a welcome development this year at the Strand has been the immense success of female essayists: Leslie Jamison, Rebecca Solnit, Laurie Penny, Marina Keegan, Sarah Ruhl, Susan Howe, Lena Dunham and Roxane Gay. Whatever quirk in publishing led to this impressive wave of writing ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2015?

It’s a dangerous thing to make predictions, especially in publishing. Who would have predicted the phenomena that were E.L. James or the Divergent series? If I have to make a prediction for 2015, I’d say that we’ll continue to have lots of surprises—whether among books that get on prize lists or surprises that continue to come from the self-publishing world. I think some of the biggest books of 2015 will be books we haven’t even heard ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?  

I think right now publishers are playing it safe and looking for titles along the lines of books that are already working. So in women’s fiction, that would be writers like Jojo Moyes and Liane Moriarty, who are writing plot-driven books with great characters and lots of heart. The Rosie Project is another good example. And I think on the slightly more literary side, quirky books about families are ...

I don’t suppose the growing popularity of audiobooks is news, although a lot of our attention in libraries right now is on serving the increasing number of patrons seeking not just good reads, but good listens. Lately, I’ve been intrigued by what is going on with audiobooks in relation to self-publishing and how titles that we’d never dream of seeing commercially produced on audio are now on the market, facilitated by open platforms such as ...

What are some trends you’ve noticed throughout 2014?

“Dystopian” is a genre that some say is a trend (The Hunger Games, Divergent, Gone). But I feel it is its own genre that is here to stay. The debate on that is open.

Also, regarding middle-grade books especially, the age-old adage of “Boys don’t read because there aren’t enough boy books,” and “We don’t want ‘boy books’ because enough boys don’t read,” is like the chicken-and-the-egg quandary. I represent ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

I think that we are going to continue to see growth in subgenre fantasy, such as epic tales to satisfy the George R.R. Martin fans. Steampunk is crossing over successfully from science fiction to fantasy, as with Beth Cato’s The Clockwork Heart. Urban fantasy is still strong, especially with female protagonists. Epic authors like Jacqueline Carey and Anne Bishop have each launched new urban fantasy series over the last couple ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Oh, the dreaded trend question! Well, last year we saw an increase in witch-themed young-adult books on submission, and they’re starting to come out now, including our own Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper, The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker, and the Beautiful Creatures spinoff series, Dangerous Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Other witch books that have pubbed recently from other publishers are Conversion by Katherine Howe and Half ...

What are some upcoming trends?

Move over fan fiction—crowdsourcing is making headway. Or is it? We will let our teens decide as we watch what happens with Swoon Reads (an imprint of Macmillan) and its first novel, A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall.

Also, we have recently spotted a kind of reverse trend: Some patrons have started to ask the library to add print editions of items in our e-book collections—so don’t stop the presses yet!

What book/genre ...

What are some upcoming trends?

For decades, juvenile fiction has held a true and steady course with fiction that celebrated school and family life—commonalities among children’s audiences over the last 50 years. However, trying to deal with the explosion of audience response has become increasingly difficult. The question is: Do we aim books at young people themselves or at the adults who love to read children’s books for the faster paced storytelling—which seems to be diminishing in much of adult ...

I happily select adult fiction for the library, so I’ll mention a few trends I’ve seen in that area.

The popularity of The Hunger Games led to an explosion in YA dystopian novels, and it’s spread to adult fiction, too. There are several notable, recent titles, like The Bees (2014) by Laline Paull, California (2014) by Edan Lepucki (yes, this is the one promoted by Stephen Colbert), and Station Eleven (2014 ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

It’s hard to predict what’s rattling around in the imaginations of authors. I know I never cease to be delighted, impressed and gobsmacked at their creative wordflow. I’ve been seeing fascinating, witty and sobering treatments of our society in demise: part science fiction, part nonfiction, part thriller, part literary drama. These books make readers look at global concerns from ecological, political, medical and political perspectives, dropped into recognizable communities filled with ...

What are some upcoming trends?

It’s impossible to predict trends and often quite useless: Every genre will always be in demand by certain readers. One not-genre-specific trend I’ve been noticing (and loving!) is an increase in published books incorporating some other medium into the storytelling, whether that be illustrations, photographs, bar codes for digital content, etc. Books like Night Film (2013) by Marissa Pessl or Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2013) by Ransom Riggs are great examples of what ...

Nancy Ellegate: The increasing importance of certain parts of the world. For example, we need new work on India as new realities replace old stereotypes in the wake of the country’s continuing economic development. One such book is A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two is Not One by Anantanand Rambachan, which discusses the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedanta in light of contemporary concerns about patriarchy, homophobia, ecological crisis, child abuse and ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

The upcoming trends are that there are no trends, right? But seriously, the trend I enjoy the most is comics and graphic novels that are written for adults. It is so refreshing to read a series like Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Of course, all ages are reading Saga, but it’s nice to know that the comic world realizes their readers are growing up, and perhaps following a married couple ...

Q&A: Danielle Dutton, Founder of Dorothy, a publishing project

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

On our website, we say we’re looking to publish “works of fiction or near fiction or about fiction, mostly by women.” Over the past five years, that’s meant a couple of first novels, a reprint, a collection of stories, a translation, a novel in stories and even a novel in verse. At this point, I’d love to get ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Our library customers are like most readers, always looking for a great book that keeps them engaged and the pages turning. I see a lot of what I would call crossover reading, in that adults are reading teen titles and vice versa. The usual suspects continue to be popular—mysteries, thrillers, romance. I would say the biggest trend I see is that the printed book is still strong. We have avid e-book ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

Is it fair to guess since we’re halfway through? In terms of fiction, the post-apocalyptic novel still seems to have gas, and the unreliable narrator and literary fantasy seem popular. A friend and I were discussing that perhaps this last trend is a manifestation of those writers who came of age during the Harry Potter series, but I can’t claim to know the inspiration!

What book/genre/topic would you like to see ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

Princeton Architectural Press has always published books that interest us intrinsically. Is the story strong? Are the images interesting? Is the writing accessible? So while we see trends in design, architecture and graphic design, it’s really not how we publish books. We want to have a unique voice that, we hope, leads trends rather than follows them and stands out from the pack. A few favorites coming this fall are some great photography books ...

What are some upcoming trends for the next year?

Well, the grittier variety of epic fantasy will remain a trend as long as Game of Thrones remains on HBO, but that’s a no-brainer. Beyond that, I’m hopeful that we’ll see a burst of new space opera in the next year. Between this August’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie, the preliminary buzz that’s already building for the new Star Wars films, the Syfy channel’s forthcoming adaptation of James S.A. Corey’s ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I’m seeing a few more books dealing with sexuality (specifically among transgendered teens, etc.) and, in general, tough issues that teens deal with on a daily basis. But I also see lots more gothic horror, vampire, werewolf​ and dystopian books as well.

For middle-grade and baby books, I don’t see anything trending. There are always the favorite authors—Rick Riordan, Jeff Kinney, etc.—that middle graders gravitate toward and the classic baby books that ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

In my job, I focus more on patron trends than publisher trends. Don’t get me wrong, publisher trends are fascinating, but I’m more curious about what our circulation numbers are telling us about reader interests. (Then my job is to make the publisher trends work for the patron trends.) A few things we’ve noticed: E-book circulation, which previously reflected more Kindle use, is now evening out between Kindles and tablets. Audiobooks are still ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

Oy, that’s always the hardest question to get asked. It’s like asking a musician, “What will the kids be listening to?” When we hear it, we know. It’s so hard to predict. I guess I would say that the publishing world has not fallen apart given the emergence of digital books. I would hope that the reading experience can be enhanced digitally and online with YouTube and other devices so that we ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

Engaging readers with a book beyond the book itself will be something more and more publishers try through transmedia publishing, in which a story unfolds across multiple platforms beyond print and ebook: social media, video and mobile. A great example of this is The Chatsfield, a collection of eight romance novels based on a hotel of the same name. Beyond the complete stories in print and ebook formats, readers can discover new characters ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I wish I knew! Publishing is such a whimsical beast, and the industry is in a state of flux. That said, I think Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century has made such a big splash that a fair number of economists will try to capture some of that readership by writing similarly elaborate, theoretical books. I also think that the pullout of Afghanistan and pivot to Asia is going to really focus ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

This is probably a bad thing for an acquiring editor to admit, but I’ve never found it too fruitful to try to think about trends. For one thing, unless you specialize in instant books or are exceptionally prescient about spotting nascent trends (neither of which describes me), by the time you note a trend, find the right book and author, wait for it to be written, then edit and publish it, the trend ...

I began my career at Knopf in the Publicity Department, where I am credited with inventing the author tour—for Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume II—in 1970. I spent the next 28 years as a senior executive at Knopf/Random House, serving in a variety of roles, including founding and being named the first president of Random House Audio Publishing. In late 1997, I became president and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide. After a very successful decade ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

 2014’s trends are going to look a lot like a continuation of what we’ve been seeing over the past few years: further consolidation among publishers (see: HarperCollins’ acquiring Harlequin, just announced) as well as among agencies and other players in the publishing/book space; increased conflict over margins between publishers, retailers and authors; continued high frequency of phenomenon-level mega-successes along with A-plus author-brand growth that crowds out the vast and heterogeneous midlist; further ...

Obviously, in terms of studio tent poles, everyone is looking for the next great YA title that has the possibility to break out as a franchise à la the Twilight and Divergent series. In terms of adapting books, that’s where the home runs are to be found.

What draws the attention of a film producer?

Well, first and foremost, it has to be a great story, one that pulls you into the world of ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

Political memoir is back in a big way, which is something our customers and community always respond really well to, hailing as we are from the capital. In May alone, we have sold out events with Sen. Elizabeth Warren for A Fighting Chance (2014)and retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens with Six Amendments (2014), and we’ve just announced an event with former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in conversation with Ben Bernanke ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

There seems to be an exciting group emerging of fiercely intelligent women writers/critics/thinkers who work across disciplines, tying their work into themes from their own personal experience.  Our own Olivia Laing’s The Trip to Echo Springis a hugely thrilling read investigating alcoholism, writing, addiction and creative genius. There’s Leslie Jamison’s The Empathy Exams from Graywolf, Valeria Luiselli’s upcoming essay collection Sidewalksfrom Coffee House Press, and Euny Hong’s memoir ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I don’t know that we’ll see it in 2014 specifically, but I definitely see a long-overdue influx of diversity in the near future. Underrepresented groups are banding together and being very vocal about the severe lack of diversity in literature, and I’ve been overjoyed to see agents and editors respond with such enthusiasm to work toward solving the problem.

Many agents and editors have spoken out about how they, too, want to diversify ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I publish mostly nonfiction, so I’ll confine my predictions to that realm. I think the Web is at last proving itself an extremely fertile source of raw material for books. We’ve just seen this with Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh and Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, and I strongly suspect we’ll see it again with What If? by Randall Munroe, the genius behind the xkcd website. (My colleague Courtney ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

Little Shop of Stories is a children’s bookstore, so all my answers are specific to children’s books. We are seeing a resurgence in realistic fiction, especially in YA and middle grade. Books like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2014)by Jenny Han or The Art of Secrets (2014)by James Klise felt like a breath of fresh air—contemporary and fun.

Also, in the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

It’s always hard to predict trends, and once you do, there’s only a very brief window between when you’ve identified a trend and when it’s played out. That’s why I advise writers to avoid writing for trends. (That, and because a book written for a trend is usually less engaging than a book written because the author wanted to.) But for purely academic or fun purposes: speculative-fiction fatigue and the massive success of ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014

We’re not very good at following trends at Hard Case Crime. Remember, we think it’s cool to make books that look and feel like they could have been published in 1945 or 1953. But other publishers do seem to like jumping on bandwagons, so you see lots of crypto-religious thrillers after The Da Vinci Code hits it big and lots of Scandinavian tales after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. What’s the next ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

It’s hard for me to say I have detected any themes in what is being published this year so far. Although, I have noticed a slight uptick in interest in thrillers set in the Ozarks or at least in really unreliable narrators, most likely due to the recent rediscovery of Daniel Woodrell and the overwhelming success of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (2012). A possible trend I’d like to see go away is the ...

Q&A: Stephanie Valdez, co-owner of Community Bookstore and Terrace Books 

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I’m not sure it’s a trend yet, but I hope that there are more novels about art or the art world, such as Siri Hustvedt’s The Blazing World, (2014) Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, (2013) Rachel Kushner’s The Flame Throwers (2013) or small press favorite The Missing Years of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal (2013). 

The surprise best-seller I Want My Hat Back ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I’m looking forward to reading Karen Russell’s e-novella coming from Atavist Books, and I hope we’ll soon see the launch of more companies like them that are sufficiently well-funded to experiment with Web- or app-based writing. A lot of what’s been done with digital publishing so far looks essentially insecure, seemingly telling us that literature needs to be gussied up with images or film clips. We’re going to see lots of interesting and brilliant multimedia projects in the coming years, but ...

As an independent house, trends are not really our thing. But if the idea of a trend might really mean the development of a new audience for an interesting topic, I will say we are very excited about two soccer books we have coming this Spring: Damned UTD and Red or Dead by the great David Peace. Peace is an absolutely brilliant novelist. And the audience for soccer just keeps growing—especially with the ...

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

A strong character that has a unique voice and agency to effect change in their world is a must. And I like when books take me by surprise; I will always love a strong, feisty woman, but sometimes I connect with a quieter woman or a character that isn’t in the spotlight. I’m a sucker for supporting characters and sidekicks (Horatio over Hamlet any day), so make sure ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I like to believe that we’re having a short story renaissance. Not that great collections ever went away, but there was a period when both publishers and readers seemed to shy away from them, and now there are little signs that attention and appreciation for the short story is coming back, which makes me very happy. Last year the Nobel Prize was awarded ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

Even in science fiction, trying to predict the future is a mug’s game. We try to simply publish good books, regardless of trends. Steampunk as a literary genre seems to be refining and defining itself across the field, though.

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

I am always interested in stimulating hard SF, exciting space opera and military SF, well thought-out alternate history, urban fantasy and heroic ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

We’ll be reading adult novels with absurdist, fairy-tale or fantasy elements: Helen Oyeyemi’s Boy, Snow, Bird (2014), from Riverhead, and later on, The Bees (2014) by Laline Paull and The Queen of the Tearling (2014), by Erika Johansen, both from Harper, just to name three. Also, with the exception of the new “books for readers of Gillian Flynn,” there are precious few forthcoming novels set in the 21st century. World War I ...

I am an eternal optimist, and this condition has been worsened recently by a very positive year for Europa in 2013. Discoverability is still the big question, as far as I see it. How do readers discover new books when the offer is infinite or at least seems that way? I sense that there is a return to the search for quality, for a sure thing, which, as far as readers are concerned ...

I’m not sure I’ve seen any new trends as of yet (I’m just starting my spring buying). It could be because I’m now buying for our newly opened second location, and my buying habits are adjusting to this new location, with new customers and a much broader spectrum of categories I can consider. It seems that there’s a continuing trend from recent seasons in which the paperback edition of a novel is sold ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I’ve never been one to follow trends; when acquiring manuscripts, I look for what speaks to me and is compelling and well-written. Though UNM Press doesn’t publish much YA fiction, I’ve been impressed with the books I’ve seen being published and the variety of themes being explored. I think YA books as a market will continue to flourish, since they often have a sales advantage because of the crossover marketing potential—so many adult ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

My biggest publishing successes have come when I didn’t follow trends; my biggest flops have come when I chased a trend I had no business getting involved with. When I was first publishing David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas (2004), a number of people told me readers wouldn’t tolerate the unconventional narrative structure. I ignored them because I knew this was a great work by an original talent. That’s why I tend to be on the ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

 As media becomes more diffuse and traditional outlets lose some of the influence they once had, publishers can no longer rely solely on reviews and bookstore attention. They need to focus on increasing direct sales to consumers. Recently, we launched Lizzie Skurnick Books, an imprint devoted to reintroducing the classics of YA literature. While the launch of the imprint received significant media attention—NPR, New York Times, LA Times, etc.—what has significantly ...

With all of the gluten-free, vegan, virgin and paleo cookbooks on the market, it has become impossible for people with busy schedules to navigate the best way to feed themselves and their families. Luckily, I think we’re beginning to see a return to accessible, straightforward cookbooks that take what we’ve learned about food from authors and activists like Michael Pollan and translate that knowledge into practical cookbooks and lifestyle guides.

I represent a ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014? 

In the second half of 2012 and in 2013, we saw a lot of self-published books shoot to the top of best-seller lists, but the market is becoming increasingly crowded, and it’s becoming more difficult for a new author to break out in the self-published world. I think we’ll still see new stars in 2014, but the quality of their writing is going to hit a higher bar. I also predict that ...

“The future is already here. It’s just unevenly distributed.” This oft-quoted statement by William Gibson demonstrates both our predicament and our opportunities. Publishing, dare I say, has not quite entered the future yet, and while that makes it an uncertain industry to work in, it also makes it an exciting one. The key is to have an open mind and watch trends across the industry for an indication of what will work and what won’t.

For instance, I’d argue ...

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

I love to read contemporary fiction and first-person narrative nonfiction. I’m always drawn into stories that show how people make meaning out of everyday experiences. I’m so excited to publish Ana Castillo’s new novel, Give It to Me (May), and Bridgett Davis’ Into the Go-Slow (Sept.). I recently read Kate Bornstein’s A Queer and Pleasant Danger, from Beacon Press, and thought it was terrific! 

What don’t you ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I’m terrible at trends; take these with a grain of salt. I think we’ll see a resurgence of contemporary fiction in kids’ books, which have been so dominated by fantasy and paranormal in recent years. Thanks to the success of The Fault in our Stars and Eleanor & Park (in YA) and Wonder (in middle grade), publishers seem hungry for good old-fashioned “real-life” stories. I was pretty skeptical of New Adult when people ...

When my wife Judy and I started The Permanent Press in 1978, 35 years ago, I’d already written 10 books for major publishers, and our greatest love was quality fiction. The name we chose for the press was quirky, but also signified our belief that a good book should never go out of print. This became a code we’ve kept, which is why we have a backlist of close to 500 titles. We started with six books and within two ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

 One thing that I hope will come to pass in 2014 is the return of the long novel. Obviously, Eleanor Catton and Donna Tartt are getting a good deal of press, but we have a generation of Harry Potter readers that have followed the same essential story arc for thousands of pages. Now that they are adults, we do have to give them something compelling to read before their phones destroy any ...

What are some upcoming trends for 2014?

I wish I could predict what’s ahead. If anything, there’s an absence of trends as far as I’ve seen. Put another way, the kind of books that sold well for me, say, three years ago still perform well, such as the new biography In Bed with Gore Vidal [by Tim Teeman], which looks at the author’s sexual and romantic lives. When it comes to LGBT books on the whole, I’d also say that ...

Marketing an online encyclopedia may not seem as glamorous as promoting a Gwyneth Paltrow cookbook. But who’s to say the goals of commercial marketers and academic marketers aren’t the same—to innovate, to spark interest and delight audiences, to surprise, to inspire.

I’ve been on the online reference marketing team at Oxford for two years, and I’ve come to realize that reference is only dry if we’re not doing our jobs right. I’m seeing academic marketers with the guts and guile ...

It’s no secret that publishers have their lists of indie bookseller “big mouths.” While I’m not sure how publishers rank the size of my mouth, I’m perennially searching for books to get excited about, and I don’t shy away from sharing that passion with colleagues in the book industry and, of course, with our customers. I’m in very good company. Independent booksellers have always been involved in the discovery of great books and in helping them become best-sellers, finding ...

If you had asked the American lingerie industry in 1977 whether they had market growth potential, I’d venture to guess they would have told you no. They would have said that every department store in America was selling bras and panties, and how much more lingerie could women need? Two words: Victoria’s Secret. 35 years after Victoria’s Secret was added to the lingerie landscape, their 2012 sales were $6.12 billion dollars. Their secret: They didn’t just focus on what ...

I sell audiobooks because you’ve got to drive to get to my store. I don’t care if you live in northern Michigan or Bloomfield Hills or Chicago or farther, chances are that if you are walking through my door, you’ve been in the car beforehand. People often have to go out of their way to reach us, and if they didn’t have an audiobook in the car already, they’ll usually leave with one. I sell audiobooks, and I love to ...

As an agent, it struck me recently that I am more and more in the position of teacher/explainer than shaper of proposals and seller of manuscripts—all because of the weird new vocabulary of publishing. It used to be when you took on a client, you would discuss things like possible publishers, the themes of the book, the arc of the story and possible desirable dates for publication. Now, my first conversation with a potential client usually begins: “What is ...

Something I’m noticing currently is a trend in survivalist or apocalyptic fiction. These are books either about the end of the world or a dystopian, bleak near future.  The audience tends to be 35- to 55-year-old men. 

When reading reviewer comments online at various websites, I can’t help noticing not only the high rankings of these mainly self-published titles, but also how these comments suggest readers can’t get enough of these types of books. Many commenters ask what ...

My wide-ranging list includes almost all the major nonfiction categories. When considering new projects, I take the point of view of what is salable but try to keep an open mind—leaving room for the author to persuade me that a project I thought would be iffy might just work. And it’s a special thrill to receive a pitch for something unexpected and interesting and that happens to have commercial appeal, too. My taste and long-term interests are at the intersection ...