From the perspective of an industry expert, the fiction publishing trends for 2022 are both promising and concerning. Although it’s a $26 billion dollar industry in the United States, publishing has exhibited a massive potential to undergo sizable shifts as global consumers adjust their expectations. Lately, the industry has been impacted by recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, the emergence of BookTok, and the consolidation of small publishing houses and self-publishing. Let’s discuss these three fiction publishing trends in detail, shall
we?
1. #BookTok for authors and publishers
What is BookTok? In simple words, it’s a passion for the written word brought to the internet. On TikTok, #BookTok is essentially an online book club for bookworms. It’s been the secret to success for books like The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake, Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, and more. Yes, TikTok has rekindled our love of reading! BookTok has racked up a staggering 36 billion views and its growth shows no signs of slowing. It’s turned into a fully-fledged community and has had a massive impact on the publishing industry.
Getting on board with the content in the book club has its perks. First, you get acquainted with the recommendations and reviews of publishing industry influencers. Influencers use #BookTok to share their reading lists and quirky wisdom. Second, it gives aspiring authors a place to grow. Newbies find BookTok quite helpful for finding advice and building a fan following. Even established authors are using the platform to boost their popularity by sharing tricks, tips, and much-needed guidance!
2. The growing influence of AI on Audiobooks
Artificial Intelligence is disrupting the publishing industry in 2022. We now have entire books that are claimed to have been written by AI. The technology is now generating articles with extraordinary results. Indeed, AI and related technologies have the potential to produce content (books, articles, presentations) in a matter of seconds. But AI also threatens the interests of authors and publishers that prefer the traditional ways of getting the job done.
The use of AI to create Audiobooks is a rapidly expanding market opportunity. The challenge for the technology, however, is to produce enough titles to meet the constantly increasing demand. AI will be key to overcoming the procedural challenges of creating audiobooks. Companies like Speechki focus on addressing such challenges by using AI and humans to accelerate the process of audiobook creation.
Another reason why AI is disrupting the publishing industry is that the technology doesn’t get bored, tired, or unmotivated (which reminds us of the Industrial Revolution). It’ll be exciting to see how the Artificial Intelligence ‘revolution’ shapes the publishing industry as the technology advances and bolsters its capabilities.
3. Domination of small publishers
The number of independent publishers is growing in 2022. They are willing to take more risks than commercial publishers and are finding the year more profitable than ever. Why? Because small publishers bring offer a variety in literature and are willing to publish books in trendy genres.
The strategy has paid off, as direct sales of self-published authors and independent publishers continue to climb. Indie publishers are bound to bring in more profit if they couple their content strategy with a highly effective digital marketing campaign to sell books online and build ongoing long-term relationships with readers.
Final remarks
Publishing has never failed to adapt to changing consumer trends. Indeed, the past four years have been the most disruptive ever for the industry. Still, it’s still standing, despite facing modern threats such as podcasts! While the three publishing trends mentioned above are making noise in 2022, it will be fascinating to see how the industry will adapt in the coming years.
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