Welcome to 2026 and I hope it’s going to be a good one for you.
One thing I always tell my students is never write to trends.
What’s hot today can be cold by the time your story gets published…yes, even if you’re self publishing it.
Plus, if you’re writing in a genre you’re not familiar with or even hate, it’s going to show in your story. And yes, you might hate sitting down to write it and give up, not only on that story but other stories too.
However, it does pay to look at what’s being published and keep on eye on the market.
I used to spend an hour or so in my local Barnes and Noble doing market research. You can still do that as a fun afternoon away from your laptop, but now you can do some snooping in the comfort of home too.
Check out Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo etc. and see what’s on the bestseller lists. Not only what’s selling but what are people saying in their reviews.
Do they wish to see more books like these?
Are they tired of these books, the same plots and characters maybe?
Genres
By what I can see there’s going to be a shift in one of the most popular genres and that’s romance. I get a feeling readers are done with romantic comedies and there’s almost a shift to hybrid genres where romance meets fantasy.
I did also see that dystopian fiction is on its way out.
Both of these things tell me that readers are looking for escape from everyday life more than ever.
We all read books for that reason but now’s the time to give them a story that they can get totally lost in, the plot with a new angle and the characters who are so believable you think you personally know them.
The feeling that after reading even a few chapters, time has flown by and you didn’t even realize it. If you’re an avid reader you know the feeling and what bliss it brings.
I think shorter fiction will be popular too…novellas and short stories in just about every genre. Life is busy and sometimes people don’t have time to read a book but still want their literary treat.
Same goes for audio books.
AI
And I couldn’t write an post like this without mentioning AI. I get lots of emails for writing software, writing programs, the get rich in writing schemes and while I think AI is fine for giving you prompts for ideas or everyday writing practice, don’t rely on it to create a story. I think you might even see publishers and online platforms banning anything written by AI. We are authors because we love creating stories to share with the world so why take shortcuts and cheat ourselves and our readers out of the thrill of the story being created in your heart and head.
Self Publishing
I think the trend for self publishing will continue and maybe even grow. However, I think more authors (yours truly included), will switch things up a bit and sell from their own web site rather than online platforms.
I’ll be writing more in depth posts on most of these topics in the coming weeks but until then leave a comment about what do you think will be the publishing trend for 2026?
Until next time, happy writing to all.