3 Popular Best Selling Book Genres Today
There are literally hundreds of thousands of books coming out across the world in regular intervals. From heavy and historical accounts to light hearted teen stories, from business books to travel tomes, the world of books and book publishing is a humongous and diverse place to be. Publishers and book distributors in India and around the world are seeing a constant rise in the number of manuscripts coming their way and the very lucky and limited few manage to get their work published and become commercially successful.
Most writers dream to have their books reach worldwide best selling charts and have their work line and then fly off the bookshelves, both real or virtual, all around the world. Some work by instinct and have a fixed genre in mind that they want to explore, while some are keen on first finding out what genres of books are the ‘in’ thing or are commercially popular today. Whether fiction or non-fiction, there are a few genres that seem to be trending heavily these days and if book sales are anything to go by, then the fact is that the readers are lapping it up!
Want to dip your hands into what is going strong today? Let us take a look at some of the popular genres that are setting the shop registers on fire –
Romance & Adult Romance Novels – Romance has to the genre that has never ceased in its popularity! From the good old ‘Mills & Boon’ offerings that were replete with heroines with heaving bosoms and strong armed heroes to the modern and contemporary offerings that inject humour into the mix. Romance books never die down and continue to rule the roost. In fact a large chunk of the publishing industry today from writers to publishing companies to even online offerings and magazines are involved heavily in this genre. Feel good romances and even sentimental sagas never go out of fashion. Another aspect of romance albeit a slightly more edgy one that has surged in popularity is a more ‘adult’ fiction with darker them that are more sexual and intense. Who can forget the furore and frenzy the ‘50 Shades of Grey‘ series created. It had cash registers and readers sizzling around the world and spurned a wave of adult romances and offbeat love stories to be written, published and devoured!
Fantasy Fiction – J. K. Rowling may have made an immense name and garnered much fame and critical acclaim for herself with the Harry Potter series, but she also did one more thing. The popularity of this series and its books and movies once again brought fantasy fiction right back in to the forefront. From witches and warlocks to spells and alternative worlds, from space fantasies to mutants and aliens, fantasy fiction for adults and kids alike is super popular again nowadays and an amazingly diverse and fun genre.
Self Help – While fiction usually edges out non-fiction in overall popularity charts, no one can deny the rise of the self help genre. From industry advice by trail blazers to weight loss diatribes from an innumerable amount of experts to books for personal development and growth, the self help genre is going strong and is a multi million dollar industry today. With more and more people looking for answers today on everything from taking care of their homes, managing their relationships, advancing their careers, understanding themselves or the opposite sex and more, self help books have exploded in recent times.
Although, there is never a clear cut answer to what kinds of books are selling the best, some genres often surge ahead of the others. If you wish to write a book targeted toward commercial success, you must research the current scenario. Stay on top of what is happening in the literary world and what the readers are asking for.
Bio-Megan D’souza is the author of two e-books and also has her own blog/website. She worked with a publisher and book distributor in India for 5 years and now spends her days writing.
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