Despite the rise of digital media as the go-to source of entertainment, the book publishing industry remains surprisingly strong and on pace to continue growing in 2024. Authors would be wise to keep an eye on market trends and consumer tastes.
Romantic fantasy (“romantasy”) had a breakout year in 2023 and will remain popular. I’ve heard folks describe this as a new or innovative genre; it’s actually been around for as long as I can remember. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros or Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross are two bestselling standouts. Do you have to be named Rebecca to write romantasy? I don’t know. Evidently it helps.
“BookTok” is another zeitgeisty trend, referring to online content creators who focus on the literature niche as well as popular TikTokers who parlay their online following into the paper and ink format. Search the hashtag #booktok for a glimpse at this world. A number of bestsellers have emerged from, or received a boost from, their eternally scrolling fans on the app.
As a ghostwriter and head of a writing company, I cop to overlooking visually based platforms such as Intsagram and TikTok, concluding that our company’s target market is not binging 10-second reels on IG. There is some truth to that; our clientele tends to be +50 and TikTok famously attracts a younger user base, but nevertheless, the #booktok trend shows that there is a home for bookworms on TikTok and Instagram as well. Interestingly, one of the ventures of ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, is a heavy investor in iReader, a digital reading platform and ebook reader.
Self-help, and particularly self-care, are also on the upswing. Personal growth, spiritual development, health and fitness, and women’s health are attractive subgenres for authors looking to contribute to a growing niche.
Finally, audiobooks and ebooks are likely to grow in popularity, outpacing paperbacks and hardcovers. About one-fifth of U.S. adults listened to an audio book last year. And during another hot election year, political nonfiction (and political fiction for that matter) will be at the forefront of consumer tastes.
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