Dear O'Abby,
I'm a published author whose been out of the publishing arena for a few years (I had kids, had to get a day job, got out of the habit of writing....) and am hoping to dive back in this year with a new novel I've been working on for a few years.
I know the world changed a lot through COVID and I'm just wondering what publishing actually looks like in 2024. Do you have any insight into trends or anything that might be useful to know as an author heading back into publishing after a period of time away?
Kind regards,
Old Hat
Dear Old Hat,
I'm not sure how long you've been away or what kind of book you've written, or even if you're looking at traditional or self-publishing, so my answers may not be what you're looking for. Feel free to check back in with me if you need to know anything specific!
Political books are popular. Some of the biggest sellers in the past few years were books by political figures (Barak Obama, Bill Clinton) or about them (Donald Trump, Joe Biden).
In kidlit (children's and YA books) diversity is a must. Since publishing realised there was a distinct lack of diversity in books for young people, publishers have actively been seeking out books featuring people of colour, those living with disabilities, those from the LGBTQIA+ community and others who have historically been underrepresented in fiction.
Self-publishing is booming. With the popularity of e-books skyrocketing during the COVID years, the number of authors choosing to take control of their own work and career is growing. And with readers increasingly using social media platforms to access information about what's good, authors are becoming more digital savvy in the ways they market to them. There's a reason people are talking about "Book Tok" and "Bookstagrammers". If you're going to sell books in 2024, you'd better be good at social media if you want to stand out!
While the publishing giants keep trying to consolidate and become one giant publishing machine, some small presses are seeing significant growth. Some of these presses are very niche, but they are also more likely to take risks on unknown authors or books that don't fit neatly into a specific genre.
Audiobooks continue to grow in popularity. And as self publishing tools make creating audiobooks simpler, we are likely to see even more growth in this area.
I don't think we can talk about publishing in 2024 without mentioning AI. As far as I can tell, AI hasn't managed to write a good novel yet, but as its use becomes more and more normalised across other types of writing (marketing, PR, articles etc) and the machine consumes vast quantities of other peoples' writing to "learn" how to write, I suspect it is only a matter of time. Personally, I don't think this is a good thing as writing is an art and good art is created in response to human experiences and emotions. But I don't think the people who stand to profit from more use of AI give much creedence to what I think. There are already AI-written novels out there, I'm sure, even if they are not brandishing that fact on the cover (which is probably also AI generated).
And that's just a few of the things I'm seeing in publishing. Just let me know if there is anything else you would like to know.
X O'Abby
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