It worked pretty well last week, so I'm continuing. :-)
- Art and craft of writing
- High concept ideas
- Publishing
- Markets
- Writing contests
- Trends - what subgenres are hot--or should be
- How-to items
- Writing life
Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts
Friday, May 18, 2012
Ask Me Anything Friday
Once again, it's Ask Me Anything Friday.
It worked pretty well last week, so I'm continuing. :-)
I'll reply either in the comments section during the week or in another blog post within a week of the question asked (more or less, depending on how many questions I get).
Some topics:
It worked pretty well last week, so I'm continuing. :-)
Friday, May 11, 2012
Ask me anything...
Within reason. :-)
I've decided to designate Fridays as "ask me anything" day. Why? Because I frankly can't think of things to post every week, and I'd love to keep on a regular schedule when it comes to blogging here. I find I can blog best when someone asks me a question, and I have to come up with an answer.
So, I'm starting Ask Me Anything Friday. Rules are:
I'll reply either in the comments section during the week or in another blog post within a week of the question asked (more or less, depending on how many blog-post-worthy questions I get).
Some topics I've commented on have been:
I've decided to designate Fridays as "ask me anything" day. Why? Because I frankly can't think of things to post every week, and I'd love to keep on a regular schedule when it comes to blogging here. I find I can blog best when someone asks me a question, and I have to come up with an answer.
So, I'm starting Ask Me Anything Friday. Rules are:
- Keep it clean (about a PG-13 rating, more or less)
- Not too personal (I talk about every-day personal stuff on a non-daily basis on my other blog, The Pollyanna Files)
I'll reply either in the comments section during the week or in another blog post within a week of the question asked (more or less, depending on how many blog-post-worthy questions I get).
Some topics I've commented on have been:
- Art and craft of writing
- Publishing
- Markets
- Writing contests
- Trends
- How-to items
- Writing life
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Emerald City Conference at the Bellevue Hilton, WA - Fini
As usual, the Greater Seattle RWA chapter's Emerald City Conference was very fun, very informative, and very full of creative energy. I believe we had more attendees this time than last; I understand that it's the largest chapter conference on the west coast of the U.S. There has not been one time I have departed from that conference with anything less than renewed enthusiasm for writing and full of ideas.
Quite a few authors were there of course: Cherry Adair, with her marvelous "Write the Damn Book" challenge; Deborah Cook (a.k.a., Claire Deveraux); Lisa Jackson; Alexis Morgan; Pat White; Stella Cameron; Jane Porter; Gerri Russell; Christine Warren; Yasmine Galenorn; Katie McAllister; Susan Mallery; Megan Chance; Terry McLaughlin; Bob Mayer; Eileen Cook; Robert Dugoni; and many more. Oh, and me. :-)
The workshops were set to appeal to writers of many levels, from brand new to multi-published and everything in between. Is a critique group right for you? There was a workshop to help you decide. What about the editor/author relationship? How does that work? Assistant Editor Peter Senftleben of Kensington Publishing and two of his authors, Gina Robinson and Shelli Stevens gave their expertise with that. Are you an author who needs to think about career planning? Katie MacAlister gave a workshop on that. Interested in writing for the Young Adult market? Authors Heather Davis, Serena Robar, and Dona Sarkar talked with expertise about what's allowed, how far you can go, and the current market trends. And research! If you wanted to know about Medieval castles, dragons, the Old West, and urban fantasy, there were workshops for those topics, too.
I want to give a special shout-out to Serena Robar for her workshop on the "Long Tail of Sales." This was a workshop I gladly moderated, as I feel it's a marketing model that will shortly become the dominant one. It favors smaller niche markets, and as romance is so very much about niches, it should adapt extremely well to this model and make a good deal of money doing it. It also favors the quick, mobile companies; mom-and-pop shops; and other small, flexible companies and individuals that are good at acting on the spot. I will do my best to suggest this workshop for the RWA National Conference, as I believe it's a very important one in our current economy if individuals--and companies--are to survive.
As for the market news...well, I heard a bit, not much. For now it seems to be steady as it goes: paranormals and historicals are doing fine, as I expected. First person novels seem to be popular, and I have to say, for a writer, it's great practice in keeping to one point of view. Young Adult novels are doing very, very well, and are definitely on the up-cycle (I remember a time when the Romance Writers of America dropped the Young Adult category from their contests, as there were too few entries--not any more!). Urban fantasy romances are still doing well, and steampunk is making inroads. Yes, vampires are still in, but the fantasy/paranormal romances are expanding in scope, thank God.
Romantic comedies--trust me when I say that their day is soon to come. I don't know why publishers are not publishing more of these. If they don't start coming into their own in the next year, I guarantee you'll see demand for them by 2012--only 3 years from now. If you're a writer of "romcom" get your stories written now. By the time the publishers get on board, you'll have a raft of manuscripts ready to submit. The reason I say this is that I do not think that our economy is going to recover quickly at all, and will still see some dips along the way. People buy entertainment when economies are down, and they go in droves for comedies (think of the popular movies of the Great Depression, and you'll see what I mean).
Westerns don't seem to be in, my gut instinct says they may not see much publishing light that soon, even though I do think there's a large market for it. Our economic cycle is hugely focused on urban tastes right now, and even though the more small-town areas are probably dying to read a good solid western, since the major publishing companies exist in huge urban centers, they probably have no idea that there is this huge untapped market. It's really too bad, in that some good solid, steady sales could be had in this "long tail" market. Certainly, a smaller, more flexible publishing company could take advantage of this niche.
Well, that's it for now. Next year...well, I doubt I'll be going to this lovely conference, as I'll be out of the country in Europe, if all goes as planned. It'll be quite expensive to fly out to Seattle, even to the East Coast. So unless our fortunes change, that'll be it for writing conferences.
Quite a few authors were there of course: Cherry Adair, with her marvelous "Write the Damn Book" challenge; Deborah Cook (a.k.a., Claire Deveraux); Lisa Jackson; Alexis Morgan; Pat White; Stella Cameron; Jane Porter; Gerri Russell; Christine Warren; Yasmine Galenorn; Katie McAllister; Susan Mallery; Megan Chance; Terry McLaughlin; Bob Mayer; Eileen Cook; Robert Dugoni; and many more. Oh, and me. :-)
The workshops were set to appeal to writers of many levels, from brand new to multi-published and everything in between. Is a critique group right for you? There was a workshop to help you decide. What about the editor/author relationship? How does that work? Assistant Editor Peter Senftleben of Kensington Publishing and two of his authors, Gina Robinson and Shelli Stevens gave their expertise with that. Are you an author who needs to think about career planning? Katie MacAlister gave a workshop on that. Interested in writing for the Young Adult market? Authors Heather Davis, Serena Robar, and Dona Sarkar talked with expertise about what's allowed, how far you can go, and the current market trends. And research! If you wanted to know about Medieval castles, dragons, the Old West, and urban fantasy, there were workshops for those topics, too.
I want to give a special shout-out to Serena Robar for her workshop on the "Long Tail of Sales." This was a workshop I gladly moderated, as I feel it's a marketing model that will shortly become the dominant one. It favors smaller niche markets, and as romance is so very much about niches, it should adapt extremely well to this model and make a good deal of money doing it. It also favors the quick, mobile companies; mom-and-pop shops; and other small, flexible companies and individuals that are good at acting on the spot. I will do my best to suggest this workshop for the RWA National Conference, as I believe it's a very important one in our current economy if individuals--and companies--are to survive.
As for the market news...well, I heard a bit, not much. For now it seems to be steady as it goes: paranormals and historicals are doing fine, as I expected. First person novels seem to be popular, and I have to say, for a writer, it's great practice in keeping to one point of view. Young Adult novels are doing very, very well, and are definitely on the up-cycle (I remember a time when the Romance Writers of America dropped the Young Adult category from their contests, as there were too few entries--not any more!). Urban fantasy romances are still doing well, and steampunk is making inroads. Yes, vampires are still in, but the fantasy/paranormal romances are expanding in scope, thank God.
Romantic comedies--trust me when I say that their day is soon to come. I don't know why publishers are not publishing more of these. If they don't start coming into their own in the next year, I guarantee you'll see demand for them by 2012--only 3 years from now. If you're a writer of "romcom" get your stories written now. By the time the publishers get on board, you'll have a raft of manuscripts ready to submit. The reason I say this is that I do not think that our economy is going to recover quickly at all, and will still see some dips along the way. People buy entertainment when economies are down, and they go in droves for comedies (think of the popular movies of the Great Depression, and you'll see what I mean).
Westerns don't seem to be in, my gut instinct says they may not see much publishing light that soon, even though I do think there's a large market for it. Our economic cycle is hugely focused on urban tastes right now, and even though the more small-town areas are probably dying to read a good solid western, since the major publishing companies exist in huge urban centers, they probably have no idea that there is this huge untapped market. It's really too bad, in that some good solid, steady sales could be had in this "long tail" market. Certainly, a smaller, more flexible publishing company could take advantage of this niche.
Well, that's it for now. Next year...well, I doubt I'll be going to this lovely conference, as I'll be out of the country in Europe, if all goes as planned. It'll be quite expensive to fly out to Seattle, even to the East Coast. So unless our fortunes change, that'll be it for writing conferences.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Romance market trends
From 8/8/09:
I haven't been to RWA national conference this year, and so haven't heard the market news, but that's fine...I know what they are, anyway. Which sounds arrogant, I guess, but anyone who has met me will tell you I'm not that kind of person. It's just that one of my hobbies is the study of demographics and market trends, focused mostly on publishing and in particular the romance market. I've studied it for...let's see...since 1995, ever since my vampire Regency (The Vampire Viscount) and paranormal Regency (The Devil's Bargain) first came out. Yeah, I wrote them way back before the vampire/paranormal thing was huge. I have a habit of doing that. It's tough going, because when you write ahead of the trend, most people think you're crazy. Hell, I predicted during the 2000 RWA conference that we were going to see a surge of kick-ass heroines and that paranormals were going to be huge, and gee, guess what? It happened--it was the news during that conference.
I gave a talk at the Emerald City RWA conference in 2006 about demographic trends, and predicted that we were going to see a social crisis in the next year or two, akin to the Great Depression (yes, there is a reason why our 401K is still okay, though it did take a hit, as everyone's did. Clue: look at the events 80 years ago). I did another workshop in a few years later on the exact same talk, and didn't change the date on my PowerPoint, to prove my point. The Seattle Chapter will vouch for me on this. :-D
Anyway, here are my predictions for the next few years:
Based on my observation of generations and demographics, plus the economic times, I figure romance and women's fiction--with an uplifting ending--are going to remain strong. As during the Great Depression, romantic comedies, stories with optimistic endings with the belief in the decency of every-day human beings. Think Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire, such movies as "Daddy Long Legs," "Topper Takes a Trip" (romantic comedy/ paranormal), "Bringing up Baby." Comedies in general will do well--remember that Charlie Chaplin made millions during the Great Depression when movies were 25 cents per ticket.
And gee, as an aside, is it any surprise that musicals are becoming more popular with the under 30 set? The Seattle area is considered a "bellweather" region, and I'm seeing participation in musical theater and music like never before amongst the young 20's and teens. I want to emphasize the areas outside of Seattle proper--there are relatively few children and teens in Seattle, compared to most any other place in the nation except for San Francisco. If you want to watch for trends amongst teens and the early 20's, look at King County, outside of the city. Places like Kent, Auburn, Everett, Bellevue, etc.
Paranormals, and those stories with a spiritual/religious component will still be good sellers. Again, whatever gives a belief in something beyond ourselves will be popular, because in general, I think people's attitudes about society and our elected officials (on both sides of the political fence) is sort of...soured. Easier to believe in a larger abstract higher concept than individual fallible leaders.
Anything with a theme of overcoming difficulties to success/love/contentment should be popular.
In particular, I think vampires, while not as popular as before (saturation in the market) they will still be good sellers, in that these have the themes of encountering something potentially dangerous and navigating through discerning if it can be trusted or not. That reflects our times, plus the early 20-something and teen set. Anything else with that theme--encountering danger, going through a period of discernment, then triumph will be popular, because those just beginning to start their adult lives are facing the theme of a scary world in which they have to make their way. However, that theme has broadened to all generations because of the current economic and social crisis.
Also, though this theme is popular overall, for the Millennial generation (those born approximately from 1980 to 2000), stories with characters having a higher purpose and/or who are special in some way will be popular. This is why the Harry Potter books were so popular, and continue to be popular with them (aside for the fact that these books are simply danged good reading). In fact, they also had the strong, very strong spiritual/religious underpinning. No, they're not obvious to those who aren't familiar with religion (and ironically, a lot of religious people aren't familiar with their own), but trust me, they're there.
Despite the economic downturn, the Millenial generation is coming into their time of buying power. It's not as huge a buying power as the Boomers (still) have, but it's considerable simply because that population is so large compared to GenX and the Silent Generation (those who were children during the Great Depression).
And historicals..they'll keep going on. But what's missing--and wlll probably be popular when they do come about--are ones set during the American Revolution and possibly Civil War. Ditto WWII. Why? They all reflect what's we're going through/going to go through now. David McCullough hit a nerve with his books, John Adams and 1776. This is why he is both a bestseller AND a Pulitzer Prize winner (well, he's an awesome writer, so there's that).
Those are the eras the current crop of Millennials will find some common themes. The young people of those eras grew up in severely divisive times--as we do. Their elders could not come to any kind of consensus, and more time was spent squabbling and pointing out scandals than solving problems. The real concerns of the rural areas and those areas with less infrastructure (the American colonies during the Revolution, and the more rural South during the Civil War) were pitted against the concerns of the more sophisticated urban citizens (the British, and the very industrialized North, respectively). One of those crises ended up with a relatively healthy unity. The other...did not. WWII ended up with a healthy unity of purpose, and that was when we built the massive infrastructure that is now, unfortunately, aging to the point of danger to life and limb.
The current era...well, time will tell. We get to choose whether we get over our differences, find common ground, and work together, and I REALLY don't want finger pointing at the OTHER side that you just CAN'T talk to. Be the first to hold out the helping hand and open mind, people, and keep doing it. Really find out where the other side is coming from, what their fears are, and I mean their root fears, where they are suffering. Your survival depends on it. Although right now, my feeling is that either side's intention in finding out about the other side's suffering is in the interests of crushing the other side into dust. Or ignoring the other sides' suffering, period, because of course they're BAD. Yes, this Pollyanna is fighting cynicism.
To get back on track: As a result, there is a certain hunger in Millennials for hope (that is their nature), for the idea that difficulties can be worked through, that people can work together, that there is a higher purpose out there for every one. And, optimism is the very nature of romance novels, so I believe you will continue to see these novels prosper. Heroic fantasy will also do well, and fantasy in which the protagonists are fighting the powers of evil (Dresden files, is a good example).
GenX--do not dismiss this generation. This scrappy generation will help get us through the hard times. They do not hesitate to get their hands dirty and get the job done, and in hard times, that's what's needed. Think Patton. Yeah, those disaffected 1980's youth dressed in black and piercings end up being Patton, wreaking havoc amongst Hitler's armies. And they are really good consumers of paranormal stories that feature grim, realistic protagonists that wade through death and degradation to wreak destruction on predators. They are good at defending the weak and innocent while shooting off a witty quip, knowing that they will get no reward for their heroism, but that they're just here to do the job, hopefully with a small group of loyal friends or a devoted partner. (Think Buffy.)
Both GenX and the Millenials are hands-on, practical groups. GenX is a bit more gritty and pessimistic, while the Millenials are more optimistic. Both get the job done, and sooner or later become impatient with high-flying rhetoric.
I really also want to emphasize the religious/spiritual angle. When times are hard, when there is a crisis, people often turn to religion. This is why it is the most impoverished areas of the world that are the most religious; when you have very little, when your next day may bring hunger or the threat of poverty, then the only thing that often keeps you alive is hope in something higher and better, whether that would be your still-innocent children, or God, or both. In other words, these things represent hope for the future.
As a result, I expect books on religion and spirituality will stil be strong. Inspirational romances sales will probably hold steady, especially if there is some real spiritual insight there and realistic integration between some real, human life questions and religion/spirituality.
And...I expect the readership amongst men for romance novels will grow, and has been growing. Romance novels--especially those with suspense/mystery/action--will be especially appealing. Romance novels are probably one of the few fiction areas that feature men as good guys (we have heroes, after all!), and people, men need hope, too. That they have not much hope is reflected in the steep increases in male suicides, especially amongst teens and 20-somethings, in the last few decades, as much as 5 times that of females. It's also reflected in the fact that of all graduating high school seniors, 80% of girls apply to college, whereas only 20% of boys do, and that has been going on for a decades as well. That's another reason why the Harry Potter books were so popular amongst boys--these books are one of the few instances that featured a boy as a protagonist, a boy who was special, and who tried his best to do good. That's a hopeful thing for boys who are looking for a book to read.
So in essence:
Even so, I don't expect paper books to disappear for a long, long, long time.
You fill a need in an economy, and you will survive as a business, and publishing is a business. Hope is a need. And in this economy, everyone needs hope pretty badly right now.
I haven't been to RWA national conference this year, and so haven't heard the market news, but that's fine...I know what they are, anyway. Which sounds arrogant, I guess, but anyone who has met me will tell you I'm not that kind of person. It's just that one of my hobbies is the study of demographics and market trends, focused mostly on publishing and in particular the romance market. I've studied it for...let's see...since 1995, ever since my vampire Regency (The Vampire Viscount) and paranormal Regency (The Devil's Bargain) first came out. Yeah, I wrote them way back before the vampire/paranormal thing was huge. I have a habit of doing that. It's tough going, because when you write ahead of the trend, most people think you're crazy. Hell, I predicted during the 2000 RWA conference that we were going to see a surge of kick-ass heroines and that paranormals were going to be huge, and gee, guess what? It happened--it was the news during that conference.
I gave a talk at the Emerald City RWA conference in 2006 about demographic trends, and predicted that we were going to see a social crisis in the next year or two, akin to the Great Depression (yes, there is a reason why our 401K is still okay, though it did take a hit, as everyone's did. Clue: look at the events 80 years ago). I did another workshop in a few years later on the exact same talk, and didn't change the date on my PowerPoint, to prove my point. The Seattle Chapter will vouch for me on this. :-D
Anyway, here are my predictions for the next few years:
Based on my observation of generations and demographics, plus the economic times, I figure romance and women's fiction--with an uplifting ending--are going to remain strong. As during the Great Depression, romantic comedies, stories with optimistic endings with the belief in the decency of every-day human beings. Think Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire, such movies as "Daddy Long Legs," "Topper Takes a Trip" (romantic comedy/ paranormal), "Bringing up Baby." Comedies in general will do well--remember that Charlie Chaplin made millions during the Great Depression when movies were 25 cents per ticket.
And gee, as an aside, is it any surprise that musicals are becoming more popular with the under 30 set? The Seattle area is considered a "bellweather" region, and I'm seeing participation in musical theater and music like never before amongst the young 20's and teens. I want to emphasize the areas outside of Seattle proper--there are relatively few children and teens in Seattle, compared to most any other place in the nation except for San Francisco. If you want to watch for trends amongst teens and the early 20's, look at King County, outside of the city. Places like Kent, Auburn, Everett, Bellevue, etc.
Paranormals, and those stories with a spiritual/religious component will still be good sellers. Again, whatever gives a belief in something beyond ourselves will be popular, because in general, I think people's attitudes about society and our elected officials (on both sides of the political fence) is sort of...soured. Easier to believe in a larger abstract higher concept than individual fallible leaders.
Anything with a theme of overcoming difficulties to success/love/contentment should be popular.
In particular, I think vampires, while not as popular as before (saturation in the market) they will still be good sellers, in that these have the themes of encountering something potentially dangerous and navigating through discerning if it can be trusted or not. That reflects our times, plus the early 20-something and teen set. Anything else with that theme--encountering danger, going through a period of discernment, then triumph will be popular, because those just beginning to start their adult lives are facing the theme of a scary world in which they have to make their way. However, that theme has broadened to all generations because of the current economic and social crisis.
Also, though this theme is popular overall, for the Millennial generation (those born approximately from 1980 to 2000), stories with characters having a higher purpose and/or who are special in some way will be popular. This is why the Harry Potter books were so popular, and continue to be popular with them (aside for the fact that these books are simply danged good reading). In fact, they also had the strong, very strong spiritual/religious underpinning. No, they're not obvious to those who aren't familiar with religion (and ironically, a lot of religious people aren't familiar with their own), but trust me, they're there.
Despite the economic downturn, the Millenial generation is coming into their time of buying power. It's not as huge a buying power as the Boomers (still) have, but it's considerable simply because that population is so large compared to GenX and the Silent Generation (those who were children during the Great Depression).
And historicals..they'll keep going on. But what's missing--and wlll probably be popular when they do come about--are ones set during the American Revolution and possibly Civil War. Ditto WWII. Why? They all reflect what's we're going through/going to go through now. David McCullough hit a nerve with his books, John Adams and 1776. This is why he is both a bestseller AND a Pulitzer Prize winner (well, he's an awesome writer, so there's that).
Those are the eras the current crop of Millennials will find some common themes. The young people of those eras grew up in severely divisive times--as we do. Their elders could not come to any kind of consensus, and more time was spent squabbling and pointing out scandals than solving problems. The real concerns of the rural areas and those areas with less infrastructure (the American colonies during the Revolution, and the more rural South during the Civil War) were pitted against the concerns of the more sophisticated urban citizens (the British, and the very industrialized North, respectively). One of those crises ended up with a relatively healthy unity. The other...did not. WWII ended up with a healthy unity of purpose, and that was when we built the massive infrastructure that is now, unfortunately, aging to the point of danger to life and limb.
The current era...well, time will tell. We get to choose whether we get over our differences, find common ground, and work together, and I REALLY don't want finger pointing at the OTHER side that you just CAN'T talk to. Be the first to hold out the helping hand and open mind, people, and keep doing it. Really find out where the other side is coming from, what their fears are, and I mean their root fears, where they are suffering. Your survival depends on it. Although right now, my feeling is that either side's intention in finding out about the other side's suffering is in the interests of crushing the other side into dust. Or ignoring the other sides' suffering, period, because of course they're BAD. Yes, this Pollyanna is fighting cynicism.
To get back on track: As a result, there is a certain hunger in Millennials for hope (that is their nature), for the idea that difficulties can be worked through, that people can work together, that there is a higher purpose out there for every one. And, optimism is the very nature of romance novels, so I believe you will continue to see these novels prosper. Heroic fantasy will also do well, and fantasy in which the protagonists are fighting the powers of evil (Dresden files, is a good example).
GenX--do not dismiss this generation. This scrappy generation will help get us through the hard times. They do not hesitate to get their hands dirty and get the job done, and in hard times, that's what's needed. Think Patton. Yeah, those disaffected 1980's youth dressed in black and piercings end up being Patton, wreaking havoc amongst Hitler's armies. And they are really good consumers of paranormal stories that feature grim, realistic protagonists that wade through death and degradation to wreak destruction on predators. They are good at defending the weak and innocent while shooting off a witty quip, knowing that they will get no reward for their heroism, but that they're just here to do the job, hopefully with a small group of loyal friends or a devoted partner. (Think Buffy.)
Both GenX and the Millenials are hands-on, practical groups. GenX is a bit more gritty and pessimistic, while the Millenials are more optimistic. Both get the job done, and sooner or later become impatient with high-flying rhetoric.
I really also want to emphasize the religious/spiritual angle. When times are hard, when there is a crisis, people often turn to religion. This is why it is the most impoverished areas of the world that are the most religious; when you have very little, when your next day may bring hunger or the threat of poverty, then the only thing that often keeps you alive is hope in something higher and better, whether that would be your still-innocent children, or God, or both. In other words, these things represent hope for the future.
As a result, I expect books on religion and spirituality will stil be strong. Inspirational romances sales will probably hold steady, especially if there is some real spiritual insight there and realistic integration between some real, human life questions and religion/spirituality.
And...I expect the readership amongst men for romance novels will grow, and has been growing. Romance novels--especially those with suspense/mystery/action--will be especially appealing. Romance novels are probably one of the few fiction areas that feature men as good guys (we have heroes, after all!), and people, men need hope, too. That they have not much hope is reflected in the steep increases in male suicides, especially amongst teens and 20-somethings, in the last few decades, as much as 5 times that of females. It's also reflected in the fact that of all graduating high school seniors, 80% of girls apply to college, whereas only 20% of boys do, and that has been going on for a decades as well. That's another reason why the Harry Potter books were so popular amongst boys--these books are one of the few instances that featured a boy as a protagonist, a boy who was special, and who tried his best to do good. That's a hopeful thing for boys who are looking for a book to read.
So in essence:
- Romance will be strong, and hold steady
- Paranormals strong, vampires have glutted the market, but will still hold steady (and zombies as protagonists or heros--oh, please. A bump in the road. I could be wrong, but having a guy who has to keep sticking his face back on with superglue because his flesh is just a bit on the rotten side is not romantic. However, innovation does occasionally win).
- Ghosts...give those a try. Demons, ditto. However, redemption as a theme should be strong. We have a very punishing society, with almost no forgiveness unless you have money or fame. Redemption themes as a result is another source of hope for the rest of us.
- Romantic comedies--yes!
- Historicals will hold steady, but do give the eras of the American Revolution, the Civil War, and WWII a try, although I expect these will probably be most popular in about 5 years. If Europe, Puritans vs. the Cavaliers, and Tudor era would work. the The authors MUST do the research on those, as ever. Less costume dramas, more historical meat.
- Inspirationals strong, but must integrate realities and questions of life
- Perseverence and success in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is always a good theme.
- Good vs. Evil, always a good theme, but make it real.
- Oh, and the theme of fighting or subverting an ever-encroaching totalitarian government should also be popular in science fiction/fantasy/romance. Wouldn't hurt to bring back a Matrix-like theme, although I expect that'll be more like 10 years from now.
- More can-do, decent, heroic guys. Guys need hope, too, and they're going to be looking for something to keep them working and holding on. As a result, it'd be good to defeminize the covers on the action/romance/supspense romances--not a problem, as I see they're doing much of that already. Wouldn't hurt to do that to some of the historicals that have more action/suspense, etc., too.
- Forgot to mention above: Graphic novels. Always a good thing. Will do very well in the coming decade(s) as they are very adaptable to both print and electronic media, and the concepts are easily transferred to the big (and small) screen. The more mutable a story is to differing formats, the better. If a romance novel--especially if action, suspense, and/or paranormal--can be translated to a graphic novel/manga format, perfect.
Even so, I don't expect paper books to disappear for a long, long, long time.
You fill a need in an economy, and you will survive as a business, and publishing is a business. Hope is a need. And in this economy, everyone needs hope pretty badly right now.
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