Hello dear readers, I have a post that I’ve been wanting to write for a while for you today.
I was looking back at my childhood and remembering books and publishing from when I was a kid and how it has changed since then.
That got me thinking about what I think will happen in the next ~10 years in the publishing world.
These are just things that I think will happen. If I happen to be correct, then good for me, if I am not, then oh well.
What are your predictions for the book world? Do you agree or disagree with any of my predictions? Let’s talk about it in the comments, and make sure to follow me on social media!
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Physical Books
I don’t foresee any major change in this department. I think the printing of physical books has found a happy medium in terms of sales. There might be some spikes and some lows of people buying physical books, but it will more or less stay the same with maybe a small growth.
I find a lot of less serious readers prefer to have a physical book in their hands because they don’t see the need for an e-reader. A lot of book bloggers/tubers also seem to like getting their hands on physical books, though plenty like e-books too.
e-Books
I think the demand for e-books will continue to grow at a steady pace. It is becoming a much more affordable and portable way to read. If authors and publishers want to keep e-readers happy though, I think they will need to find ways to ensure more accessible files for their e-books, which brings me to my second point.
I think we will see more variety in types of e-readers. I think a few companies will develop their own version of a Kindle, with unique features specific to their brand, which will give readers cheaper options that might fit their needs/wants better. Two companies that I believe could pursue this path are Google and Microsoft, but also possibly an out of the blue small company that focuses solely on e-readers.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks will continue to grow and become more mainstream. Audiobook services will be easier to obtain for smaller authors, and audiobook narrators will be more sought after.
I think there will be more of a division between narrators though, with a small group of narrators being regularly sought after, and listeners will look for books by those specific narrators.
Publishing
With the Black Lives Matter movement across the world, I expect to see better diversity in publishing. It’s not something that happens overnight, but I expect by 2025-7 we will see more equality between what peoples are being published. I expect there to be ups and downs, some being lower and higher based off of social upbringings, but for the most part we will see more equality.
Writing
I actually predict that writing will become less of a career path for many people. With the rise of technology and video games I think that young people won’t pursue writing as often since they won’t be reading as much.
What we will see a rise in is the number of non-white authors. I think as publishing better represents minorities, those minorities will see writing as a tangible career choice.
Adaptations
Already there are a lot of TV shows and movies that are based off of books and I think this will only continue to rise. The o only issue is that these companies too often re-make old content because they know it will make them money.
With more ideas coming from authors with a large variety of backgrounds, the entertainment industry will be forced to turn them into movies and TV shows.
I also think that books will start getting video game adaptations. I don’t see this becoming a regular habit until the late 2020s, but I think there is a lot of potential for really fun video-games that could become best-sellers if they are dated from books. Look at the Witcher Series for example.
Marketing
It’s tough to market books, there isn’t much you can do that would be new in my opinion. I think marketers will embrace certain styles of books, or books with certain voices and characters in them.
Overall
I don’t see much of a change for the book world overall in the next 10 years except becoming more inclusive. We will see a change in stories and trends, but for the most part I don’t see things changing.
If I had to make one big guess, I would assume that the desire for YA content will be greater than ever. YA content is almost universally read so publishers will pursue it as a safe bet.
What are your predictions for the book world? Do you agree or disagree with any of my predictions? Let’s talk about it in the comments, and make sure to follow me on social media!
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