There’s a lot going on in publishing. One really interesting thing to watch is what’s happening in different genres. Usually, I think the term “genre” here refers to the big three: romance, sci-fi/fantasy, and maybe thriller/crime. But there’s so much more to it.
BookNet Canada has been studying popular genres and releasing reports. One report was about cookbooks, which found that most cookbook buyers were either between ages 19-29 or 55-64.
Another example is comics, which don’t have to be limited to books even. Comix I/O is a site where you can “create your own xkcd-style comics using HTML markup.”
There are also publishers who specialize in certain genres. One is Fahrenheit Press, which publishes crime fiction.
And of course there are a number of cool sci-fi/fantasy examples. One is about, Ari Popper, who started his own business, SciFutures, where writers create sci-fi stories for companies such as Visa, Ford, and Pepsi, according to The New Yorker. These stories don’t necessarily pay that much, but executives read them, and they can shape future products.
There’s also a new Science Fiction Advisory Council, which “assist[s] XPRIZE in the creation of digital ‘futures’ roadmaps across a variety of domains [and] identify the ideal catalysts, drivers and mechanisms—including potential XPRIZE competitions—to overcome grand challenges and achieve a preferred future state,” according to Slate.
Also in the sci-fi realm is Fireside Fiction, a publication with Patreon supporters that cares a lot about its website’s code and uses Github.
And of course, there are success stories, such as Patrick Rothfuss, who, according to Vulture, is about to be fantasy’s next superstar. His series is The Kingkiller Chronicle sells really well. Plus:
Lin-Manuel Miranda has signed up to serve as executive producer on forthcoming film and television adaptations of Rothfuss’s work, and numerous articles have predicted those adaptations will fill the void left by Game of Thrones once the final season wraps up in 2019.
Have you heard of cool developments in different genres? Please share in the comments!
