YA Book Trends 2011 from Rachael aka Horserider

[LM Preston]

Rachael aka Horserider gave this great post on trends in Debut novels for 2011. This may help you gage where your book/mss fits in with publishing trends. Then again - - don't be afraid to break the mold.

http://writerschasm.blogspot.com/2010/12/2011-debut-novels-observat...

2011 Debut Novels Observations

So last weekend I was going through all the YA and MG debut novels that are going to be released in 2011 adding them to my Goodreads for the challenge and I decided to take notes on things that I observed. However, I am not qualified to study trends or predict them.

Genres and Subjects:

• Fantasy appeared to still be very big
  
• A few paranormal romances, but not as many as I expected.
  
• Quite a few dystopian and apocalyptic novels
• A few mermaid novels
• A few faerie novels
• Tale retellings -- particularly the lesser known tales
  
• I was surprised to see how many books there were about girls that want to be popular and then discover the pitfalls of becoming so
  
• Still a few books featuring female characters that discover they have special abilities and are sent to schools for people with those abilities that end up falling in love with a guy that has a "dark secret"
  
• Did not see a lot of vampires, though there were a couple of funnier takes on vampires
• Didn't see a lot of werewolves
• Less of a focus on creatures and more of a focus on ghosts and psychic abilities
  

Male Love Interests

• Mysterious, sexy, and dark male love interests are still prevalent.
  
• Dark secret that threatens to destroy him/the girl/life as the know it may or may not be included.
  
• Mysterious love interest may also be "beautiful" or "brooding".
• In novels with something threatening to destroy everything the girl loves, it's usually hinted that the dark, mysterious, sexy, beautiful, brooding love interest is involved.

I'm looking forward to the mermaids. What are you most looking forward to seeing next year?

Posted by Horserider at 7:00 AM

[C. Lee McKenzie]

I loved this summary of what's hot/what's not. Of course, I'd love to see more realistic fiction for teens--both sexes. That's my favorite, yet I do dabble in a bit of the ghostly, magical area. That's always fun.

[LM Preston]

I knew dystopian novels were going to be hot next year. I saw so many of them popping out in early reviews.

[LM Preston]

Oh, and I knew vamps/werewovles were out when I started sending out request for reviewers and my pub told me that places were telling him if it was a vamp/werewolf or someone had a friend/cousin or toe that was a vamp - they wouldn't even review it.

[Susan Kaye Quinn]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. :)

[Stina Lindenblatt]

LOL. There're a lot of cliches in the male love interest category. ;)

[Angel Lawson]

very interesting. I suppose my ghost novel is behind the times then...sigh.

Oh well, I've always loved Vampires and that kind of stuff and always will. Remember Vampire Diaries came out in 1991 which was YEARS before even Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv show. Every YA book I pick up at the store seems to have Angels in it...which again I like. I do get tired of the boarding school thing. It seems like a way to easily wash over any parental involvement.

And as much as l LOVE Hunger Games and dystopian novels I personally would be a little sad if this was the only thing on the book shelves in the next year or so. I like to mix it up.

[Sandra S. Rice]

Thanks for sharing. Here's mine.

* Mermaids sound cool.
* Dystopia--Nah, I'm sick of the depressing stuff.
* Male love interests--Yup!
* More Urban Fantasy with adventures and mysteries, not just romance

[L. A. Steven]

When you say that fantasy is still popular, what kind of fantasy are you seeing? Traditional (or High)? Urban? Steampunk? Something else?

[Sidney Williams]

Interesting observations.

[Dawn Cassandra Heather Fuller]

I'm surprised too! i look foreword to reading them all! lol

[Tracey Neithercott]

Very interesting! I'm looking forward to reading more dystopians. I love reading those so I hope the trend stays hot. Not so much on when it comes to paranormal.

[Rebecca Ryals Russell]

This is GREAT news! I have 2 Dark Fantasy series coming out this year, my WIP is Dystopian, I'm planning out a Steampunk and working on the next installment in my Fantasy series which includes Elves, Fairies, Dwarves, etc. YAY!