What will be the next big thing in books? That’s what every author wants to know. Every author wants to be in the forefront. Every author wants to have a best seller. Every author wants to have his/her book zoom to the top of the charts. And many authors try to do that by jumping on the current bandwagon. If Harry Potter or 50 Shades of Grey or Rich Dad, Poor Dad is the hot book of the year, many authors try to write in a similar vein in order to cash in on the popularity of the genre or field or category.
There are at least two things wrong here.
For one, by the time your book comes out, a year or two or more have passed since that “big book” hit, and what was “hot” has cooled down. If you’re going the conventional route, you need to first write the book, then submit it to editors at various publishing houses, and it may be a year or more before a publisher makes an offer—assuming you find a publisher at all. Then figure another year before the book sees the light of print, as it will need to go through editing, layout , cover design, printing, and more.
If you go the self-publishing route, you can skip the interminable wait for an editor to nibble, but you still have to write the book and then either find a self-publishing outfit or line up your own editor, cover designer, layout artist, and printer, all of whom will need time to do their respective jobs.
I said there were two things. That was one. What’s the other? Rarely if ever are follow-on books by imitative authors as successful as that first blockbuster.
So what’s the answer? I’m sorry to tell you there isn’t one. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, for adult or juvenile readers, what’s hot today will soon be yesterday’s old news, and you’re better off just doing whatever you do best, irrespective of what’s selling so well right now.
If you’re really, really lucky, you might write the right thing at the right time and benefit from serendipitous timing. Your book—assuming you’re a good writer—might sell well and bring some semblance of fame and fortune.
But don’t bank on hitting the jackpot by being imitative. I wish I had a crystal ball to see in advance what was going to be the next big thing before it happens. Then I could “write to the trend” before it became the trend, and cash in on it. But I don’t have a crystal ball. I have only my computer and a fertile mind.
And that’s going to have to be good enough.