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Most often literary agencies tell us about global book trends, because the very role of literary agencies is to understand literature, to understand what is at its peak, what society cares about, what people want to read. However, literary agencies are not the only ones who can tell us about current phenomena in the book world – social networks can also tell us about them.
Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are simply filled with book bloggers and enthusiastic readers who make videos about books, take aesthetic photos, write their own reviews of what they’ve read, and interact with similarly great book lovers.
By analyzing information from literary agencies and social networks at the current time, we can identify the following global book trends:
- Interest in fantasy is waning, while interest in fantasy, on the contrary, is increasing.
- At the peak is the rethinking of old stories: all kinds of retellings of fairy tales, myths, legends and works of classic literature.
- Increased interest in books written by authors from Africa, Latin America, Japan and South Korea.
- Huge trend for Japanese manga, Korean manhwa and Chinese manhua.
- Great demand for uplifting, optimistic (yet not silly) stories that raise important themes.
- The rapid and sudden rise in popularity of the horror and slasher genres. People want to tickle their own nerves.
- One of the big trends – “cozy crimes” – stories without the bloody details, shocking elements and all sorts of creepiness, but written with humor and containing a fascinating intrigue.
- People like biographies/autobiographies of strong personalities who overcome many obstacles on their way.
- There is a stable interest in stories about the problems of new technologies, ecology, feminism, acceptance of oneself and one’s body.
- Literature about millennials is still an undying trend.
- There is noticeable interest in works about wars and military conflicts (World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, etc.).
- There is a demand for psychological novels with family issues at the center.
