This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Caroline Hogg has worked in publishing for almost ten years, at Little, Brown Book Group and more recently at Avon, HarperCollins. She's currently at Pan Macmillan as Senior Commissioning Editor for Commercial Women's Fiction. She knows her stuff!
Today's question comes from a Novelicious reader who asks:
What do you predict to be the next trends in Women’s Fiction?
Caroline says: I wish I could predict the Next Big Thing. I’d buy twelve books in that area and then retire to Devon and eat cream teas morning, noon and night. But although I don’t think it’s possible to try and pinpoint what the next major trends will be (or necessarily wise – you risk putting all your eggs in one basket), I do think it’s safe to put my head above the parapet and say: women’s fiction is better than ever.
There have been so many comments and articles over the last few
years that have trumpeted the death of women’s fiction but I think the truth is
that the readers of these books haven’t disappeared and the books themselves
are still of the highest quality. Women’s fiction readers are discerning and I
think they look for good books regardless of genre – so they may pick up a
crime novel that’s getting lots of critical acclaim, or try erotica for the
first time, but that doesn’t mean they’ll abandon their favourite women’s
fiction authors or never try a new author in the genre.
It’s true that publishing commercial fiction has never been so competitive as market conditions get tougher, but the readers are out there and for our part, publishers need to select and publish the best books to keep those readers engaged and happy. And crucially, coming back to read more!
Have a writing or publishing related question for Caroline? Just email a question to kirsty@writingtipsoasis.com, ask on our Facebook or Twitter or just leave a comment below!