Reading trends call to mind a type of ecosystem, all equally important to the literary food chain. There are the giant redwoods that keep the book industry thriving (thrillers, romance, sci-fi, inspirational). The root systems that fuel (domestic suspense, historical romance, fantasy, self-help). And the hundreds of subgenres that contribute to the tree’s livelihood beneath the surface, just as the environs in the forest.

In 2023, there was a lot of interest in niche and sub genres. Steamy reads, paranormal romance, music history, travel humor, mysterious wives, feminist magical realism, dark fairy tales, Arthurian fantasy, comedian memoirs, witch lit, novellas, poetry—all of these thrived this year. So what can we expect in 2024?  While there’s no surefire way to predict genre trends, working as an editor and publisher can offer a glimpse at emerging trends or even possible voids. We’ve compiled our predictions for the trending literary genres of 2024.

Short novels and novellas

Readers have made it clear there’s a hunger for shorter yet satisfying reads, whether that’s horror, literary fiction, humor, or short stories. There’s a desire to consume the genres we love in digestible bites, without the burden of length. Another bonus to writing shorter books: the publishing industry has seen a rise in paper, glue, and printing costs—not to mention shipping and gas costs. When you’re paying to print per unit, less pages equals less production costs.  At the end of 2023, the average 300-page book cost about $4 to produce, whereas a book around 175 pages cost $2.50 (these are prices through Lightning Source, so larger offset print runs of 750+ will cost a bit less per unit). But given buyers’ enthusiasm toward shorter reads and less costs to you as the author, it’s a win/win to edit that manuscript down a bit more, or try your hand at a new genre.

Translations

According to The Guardian, in 2023 “more under-35s are reading more internationally than ever before” as sales from translated fiction increased 22% from 2022 to 2023. The majority of popular translated texts have come from smaller indie publishers. This trend has also been rooted in Booktok recommendations, ranging from Latin American political fiction to Japanese horror. Hopefully this trend continues to grow in 2024, bringing international viewpoints to the next generation of readers.

Culinary Fiction

There’s no shortage of romance and cozy mysteries that involve food, as well as culinary memoirs, but with the extreme popularity of shows like The Bear, our obsessions with cooking competitions, celebrity chef memoirs, and endorsed products on the rise, a wave of culinary fiction may be on the horizon. Think everything from foodie narratives, restaurant fiction, stories focused on cultural traditions, restaurants, vineyards, cooking school/competitions, and more. We’d like to see the beauty of culinary arts front and center, with an interesting backdrop, and layered, thrilling character dynamics that hit on a deeper level.

Female satire with a psychological/supernatural slant

In 2023 we saw books that centered around the female experience in a dark way: Why women must make the hard choices they do, toxic women, women who will do anything to succeed, the female experience and relationship to society. In the past few years, books in this realm become very popular—think Night Bitch, Daisy Darker, Sign Here, The Writing Retreat—all titles exposing the dark side of feminine power, motherhood, and family dynamics.

Speculative fiction/AI

With the rise of AI, virtual reality, the Metaverse and much, much more, this is a genre where the possibilities to create worlds, interactions—and horrifying chaos—seem endless. This genre often explores the crossroads of technology and its effects on individuals and society, both positive and negative, and how technology can also take on a life of its own. The envelope can be pushed far and wide in this genre, just as the technology itself is pushing our own realities and boundaries.

Dystopian and climate fiction

Cli-fi and dystopian fiction have been around for decades now, but there’s been an influx of interesting takes on the genre in recent years. From unique communities and post-apocalyptic culture to the impacts of environmental issues on society as a whole, this popular genre doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, even as many of the issues hit a bit too close to home for many of us.

Self Help/Mental Health

Like with the highly anticipated Just Friends by Gyan Yankovich, a fall-out that seems to continue from the pandemic is how we connect with each other, particularly our friends—and females relationships have been hit particularly hard. We live in a world that has continued isolation but also forced our social skills to adapt, particularly for those who came into college and the job market during the pandemic. Books that offer guidance and advice for resilience, nurturing connections, personal growth, happiness, and success are likely to remain popular.

Gothic and Noir

Noir and gothic novels, particularly domestic and tech, have been popping up on best seller lists nonstop the past few years. There’s something readers find delicious about these genres, they are moody, layered with textured language, paranoia. But it provides a fresh take for science fiction fans as well: while these genres typically include some SF, it’s not so much looking to the future as it is looking at the past. Authors like S.A. Cosby and Silvia Moreno-Garcia do this particularly well. And of course, there was an uptick in pandemic fiction as well in 2023; it’s no surprise: as the Washington Post stated in an August 2023 article, “In pandemic-fueled thrillers, the danger is inside the house.” With all the writing that was done during the pandemic, our guess is that pandemic fiction will only continue to flourish.

Authors co-writing with AI

2023 brought a boom of self-published books using ChatGPT driven by AI technology—much to many readers’ and authors’ dismay and amazement. It remains to be seen, but the positives and negatives of this technology for writing and publishing seem to be in a constant see-saw motion. It’s predicted that this new space will be like when Amazon publishing hit the scene, an influx of content that readers will need to sift through to find the gems. Regardless if a market emerges at all for such reads, there’s no doubt that thousands of authors will use AI to develop and write books.