Did you know that I’m a magical witch who has a crystal ball that can tell the future?!
Okay, maybe I don’t *actually* have a crystal ball (yet!), but I do keep my eye on writing trends and a pulse on publishing, and that means I see things that are headed our way.
Inspired by my friend Nick Wolny ‘s 2023 predictions for online content creation, I wanted to share with you my predictions for publishing in 2023.
What do you think? Are they spot on? Do you disagree?
Read them and then reply and let me know what you think.
Lauren
Prediciton #1: We’re going to see less diversity in traditional publishing deals.
I hate this one. I really do. But I’m seeing it talked about among my author friends and I’m worried it’s true.
In 2020 and 2021, under intense social pressure, publishing was forced to open its doors to people that had been historically silenced or relegated to specialty presses for most of publishing’s history.
Sadly, I’m seeing those doors close back up again. Publishing is in an upheaval right now, and I worry the people who will pay the price are those of us already underrepresented in the media.
Don’t worry, though, all is not lost! With the Harper Collins’s strike emphasizing the lack of diversity in publishing and many imprints focused on amplifying diversity, I hope we’ll see this prediction end up not coming true.
What you can do about it:
BUY DIVERSE BOOKS FROM INDY BOOKSTORES! I cannot stress enough how important it is to buy books from diverse authors at independent bookstores.
Independent bookstores are at the forefront of amplifying diverse voices and quite literally give the mic to historically underrepresented authors. But they can’t host book tours, reading groups, or book clubs if they’re out of business, so ditch Amazon and buy your books from indy stores.
If you don’t have an independent bookstore in your town, you can buy your books online through Bookshop.org and choose a bookstore to support somewhere else.
Or, if you’re an audiobook fan, check out Libro.fm , which allows you to support an indepenent bookstore with your purchase.
Prediction #2: We’re going to see an uptick in hybrid and self-published books.
More and more, I’m hearing of friends giving up trying to appease traditional publishers and going the self-pub or hybrid publishing route.
And I’m not mad about it.
Many of my clients have seen great success in self-publishing or going with a hybring publisher, and I love having those books on my shelf that would otherwise not be there.
There are pros and cons to all types of publishing, but places like BookBaby, SheWrites Press and Scribe Media and helping to reduce the stigma and enhance the quality of self and hybrid published books.
And best of all, you don’t have to wait for some straight white man in an office in NYC to think your story will sell so you can tell it. Instead, you can get it out into the world on your terms.
What you can do about it:
WRITE YOUR BOOK AND PUBLISH IT! If you’re interested in learning more about hybrid and self-publishing, check out these School for Writers podcast episodes:
- Ep. 31 Producing Your Own Book with Logan Rená
- Ep. 38 Writing and Editing a Self-Published Book
- Ep. 53 Alternative Styles of Publishing with Roxan McDonald
- Ep. 24 How to Write a Book: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Ep. 4 Self-Publishing as a Healing Practice with KishaLynn Moore Elliott
Prediction #3: Audiobooks are going to exponentially rise in popularity.
As podcast popularity grows, so have we seen an uptick in audiobooks. With big name narrators and high production values, publishers are upping their audio game.
But despite all the money being thrown at production value, the biggest reason I predict an uptick in audiobooks is exhaustion.
Everyone I talk to these days is overwhelmed. We keep wondering when it’s all going to ease up, but more and more keeps being added to our plates.
By the end of the day, our eyes are tired and we can’t keep them open long enough to read or even binge watch TV.
That’s where audiobooks come in.
I’ve always been a huge audiobook fan, and audiobooks are one of the reasons I read 50+ books a year. But usually my friends fight me on audiobooks, saying they’d rather physically hold a book.
That is changing.
More and more of my friends have been reaching out to me lately asking for good books to listen to while laying on the sofa or going for a gentle walk. They don’t have the time or energy for physical books, but they still want to read.
When you’re sick, when you’re exhausted, when you want a full body escape, listening to a book is a great way to absorb stories.
What you can do about it:
Yes, Audible is the big name that everyone talks about, but it’s connected to Amazon, has really sketchy monopolistic practices, and does nothing to support your local community. Plus, you don’t own your audiobooks, Amazon does.
Libro.fm has everything Audible has PLUS you get to support a local bookstore with your purchases AND you own your books, so you can share them with friends!
And, you can try it for free with this link – which gets you and me both a free audiobook when you sign up.
Here are some of my favorite audiobooks, if you need recommendations:
- House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune – Love, love, love! It’s queer, has monstrously hilarious children, and shows hunanity at its finest.
- Broken Horses by Brandi Carlisle – Not only does this singer-songwriter narrate the memoir herself, she also sings between chapters. So good.
- Becoming by Michelle Obama – It’s really intriguing and interesting to hear Michelle Obama’s intimate details on her life before and during her time as first lady.
- The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri – This book, and the sequel The Oleander Sword, brought me into an Indian fairy tale world of powerful witches and empresses that I never wanted to leave. Bonus points for being very queer.
- Portrait of a Thief by Grace Liu – Chinese-American students stealing back art Western museums stole from China. It’s got all I want in a heist!
What audiobooks have you loved? Reply and share your recs with me!
Prediction #4: Robots are going to take over (and I’m not sure how I feel about that).
Whether you like it or not, artifical intelligence is here, and it’s being used everywhere from personal social media posts to massive corporations.
I played around in ChatGPT the other day, just to see what the fuss was about, and I’m not going to lie – I was impressed. I thought of the hundreds of ways this technology will disrupt our current ideas of researching and writing, especially on the Internet, and not all of them were good.
I plan on doing a few posts just on this topic – including whether or not its ethical to use it – but for now just know it’s here, it’s the future, and we should be prepared to start reading a lot more content written by robots.
What you can do about it:
EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT AI. Learn how artificial intelligence is already being used and start beginning to understand how it might be used in the future. Ask yourself what you think is ethical and start knowing where you’ll draw the line (or not) for creating your own content.
Here are some recent articles I read on the subject that you might want to read as well:
- Surprising ways to use ChatGPT
- How indy authors are using ChatGPT to help write their first drafts.
- Google already knows ChatGPT will be the next big search engine, and what it’s doing about that.
- Nick Wolny (one of my favorite commentators on online content creation – a must follow) on ChatGPT vs. a Galapagos Tortoise
Prediction #5: People are going to gravitate towards real life connections, like writing retreats and in-person author events.
I don’t know about you, {{ subscriber.first_name }}, but I’m Zoomed out. Sure, I love the connections I make online, but I’m longing to gather with creatives in-person.
And I’m not alone.
Over 90% of the people I polled in my Write Your Friggin’ Book Already® program asked for in-person events for 2023. All of my colleagues are swithcing our Zoom writing accountability groups to in-person meetups. Local author book signings and writing meetups are selling out before I can get a ticket.
We’re all craving human connection after years of solitude.
What you can do about it:
SUPPORT IN-PERSON EVENTS BY ATTENDING THEM. If you’re longing for deeper connection offline with fellow writers, the first step in making that happen is checking out what’s already out there.
- Attend author events at your local bookstore (this is how I have met most of my writer friends in my home of San Diego, including best-selling author mentors, agent advisors, and the accountability group I write with in-person 2x a week).
- Check if there are writing groups that meet at your favorite coffee shops (I asked around and it turned out PARU , my favorite tea house in town, had a weekly writing night I didn’t know about and now attend regularly and became good friends with the owners).
- Google “writing retreats in ____” and fill in your town or a place you want to visit. Or “writing retreats with ____” and the name of an author you love. (Yes, it can be that simple. That’s how I found Cheryl Strayed Esalen Writer’s Camp, which I attended for years before COVID shut it down).
- Keep an eye on your inbox, I’m hoping to offer a writing retreat later in the year and I know you’ll want to be there.
Those are my 5 Predictions for Publishing and Writing in 2023. What did you think? Agree? Disagree?
Reply to this post and let me know.
Excited to see what this year brings,
Lauren
