Hi all
Recently, Publishers Lunch posted a blurb from Scholastic Book Club president, Judy Newman, on New Trends in Children’s Publishing, and I thought it was worth posting again. Here's what she thought was notable for 2011:
1. The expanding Young Adult audience
2. The year of dystopian fiction
3. Mythology-based fantasy (Percy Jackson followed by series like The Kane Chronicles, Lost Heroes of Olympus and Goddess Girls)
4. Multimedia series (The 39 Clues, Skeleton Creek, The Search for WondLa)
5. A focus on popular characters - from all media
6. The shift to 25 to 30 percent fewer new picture books, with characters like Pinkalicious, Splat Cat and Brown Bear, Brown Bear showing up in Beginning Reader books
7. The return to humor
8. The rise of the diary and journal format (The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dear Dumb Diary, Dork Diaries, The Popularity Papers, and Big Nate)
9. Special-needs protagonists
10. Paranormal romance beyond vampires (Linger and Linger, Beautiful Creatures, Immortal, and Prophesy of the Sisters)
What do you think of these? Do you see other trends building? Do you see your fiction fitting into any of these, or do you prefer not to pay attention to trends? Which trends will you miss when they fade? What would you like to see more of?
When I see these I often wonder what they mean for those trying to get published, esp. since my WsIP are dystopian.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting list and I hadn't seen it yet, so thanks for posting. While I don't think anyone should write to trends, I also think it's silly not to keep informed of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. I never write according to trends, but it's interesting to see them anyway. It's also ironic that there will be a decrease in picture books since my first one is coming out in Spring 2011.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! This is the second 2011 genre prediction I've seen. One thing for sure is Vamps are not as popular as they were this year. I also realized this when one of my favorite paranormal author's YA vamp book was held back from it's publishing birthday. I am digging the greek peeks.
ReplyDeleteTrends scare me! Ahh! I hate them! Can't it just be a good story? The thing is I'm going to be submitting a non-vamp urban fantasy/paranormal romance (I haven't figured out the difference yet) in the next few months. And by the time it gets there the trend will have passed and I spent a year of my life on this! haha. It'll be okay.
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Oh, great list! Catherine! I don't follow trends, except when I follow trends. :-)
ReplyDeleteLet's see: young adult, mythology-based fantasy, and a bit of a journal and diary format. Yup, my 2011 release should fit in nicely.
Darby, good one! And Beth, it sounds like you're non-vamp paranormal might be a perfect fit for 2011. Yeah, LM, I teach a Greek lit segment in the spring (to a bunch of film students) and there are so many books that have been made into films that I have lots of options for showing them cool excerpts. But who cares about trends, right??
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this interesting information. 25-30 % less picture books is pretty scary!
ReplyDeleteInteresting list. Glad to see the expanding Young Adult audience. Like humor; my MG fits there. Like the Paranormal too. I don't generally look at trends because I figure that by the time I'm finished with my story they will have changed anyway. I'm a slow writer.
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating, and I'm glad to see paranormal still running strong (since I have an MS in that). I just wish SF would pick up!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm actually really surprised YA scifi isn't on there.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else notice the linked post was dated in 2009?
ReplyDeleteYes the link was 2009, but the main list on the post is brand new, from last week on Pub Lunch!
ReplyDeleteI took that pesky old link off, so thanks to Jen for pointing that out. I was eager for folks to get a closer peek at who Judy Newman is, and forgot to check the date. No more worries, the list that remains is brand spanking new.
ReplyDeleteOh good! I didn't know if the list was old and I'm glad to see its not!
ReplyDeleteWell, since I write contemporary, realistic YA, I'm hoping for that trend will come along one of these days.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of expanding the YA reading audience. We have to . There are soooo many YAs being published.
so hoping YA and mythology-based lit continues to grow! that's what I have written and, not coincidentally, what I love to read
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