Pirates would be awesome. You could really play with the bad boy trend if you were writing about pirates.
That's what I'm afraid of.
Pirates would be awesome. You could really play with the bad boy trend if you were writing about pirates.
Weird. Steampunk costumes have always been big at SFF conventions. Though I can see how it'd be new for Ren-festsA bit random, but it relates to this thread in a way. We have a local Ren-fest around here, and one of the biggest costumers is now including STEAMPUNK!!! in their repertoire.
It's spreading...
A link for anyone interested. I know there are a couple of Steampunk cos-players here.
I don't think I've ever read a superhero novel. Well, unless it was a graphic novel. Is it already an established genre in print?
What about retellings
Oy, please don't feel you need to write to trend as you will then likely never finish anything. You'll be halfway through writing something and someone who thinks whatever you are writing about is dead in the water will mention that fact and then you'll want to quit.
You really truly need to write what you are passionate about. That's the only way to deal with all the crazy stuff we can't control. Not a single one of the mega blockbuster books was written to trend:
HARRY POTTER: children's books at that time were not profitable. It is because of JK Rowling that both MG and YA are are popular as they are now.
TWILIGHT: People were sick of Vampires, no one thought after the 90s with the huge Anne Rice stuff that there was going to be another upswing in their popularity for a long time.
HUNGER GAMES: Everyone else was writing paranormal romance. Trying to write to the TWILIGHT trend.
You really can't write to trend. And you can't predict what will be the next big one. Almost everyone in this thread has talked not of what will be the next trend but what they hope will be based on their own personal tastes. We all have a vested interest (either as readers or writers) for what becomes huge next. And so far almost every genre has been speculated about. So what are you going to do? Write every single genre?
Write what you want to. Truly. Yes you need to know what's going on, but honestly, in the end, the only thing you can control is the quality of your story.
Also stories not set in the USA get sold all the time. Mine's set in the UK, for example.
So sad about paranormal--I have a partially written YA urban fantasy series (non-episodic, actually a trilogy) which I really like, and more paranormal ideas and bits than I have time to write. That's not to say they are all great, but.You're looking at it from the wrong end of the market. Paranormal, zombies, etc. burned out over a year ago on the acquisitions end.
I wonder if (or hope!) things are different in the UK? My agent knows what I'm writing and hasn't said I should forget it.There's been a spike in selkie stories lately; it came with the mermaids. And the retellings were already cooling last summer. I had one almost finished, but after speaking to the agents who offered representation at that time, it wasn't worth finishing then.