Dear Reader
Happy new year! Welcome to your first Writing Magazine of 2020. (Yes, I know it says February on the cover.) We know you’ll have plenty of projects lined up after last month’s articles about preparing yourself for success this year, but what are you expecting to see in the wider industry over the next twelve months? What are you hoping for? As usual, we’ve canvassed opinions from some of our favourite writers and publishing experts to get their analysis of the current scene, and there look to be two sentiments that are on everyone’s lips.
The first, as you might expect, is an expectation for healing themes and inclusivity in books published, reflecting the state of the nation. The second, perhaps more interesting to us from a purely academic point of view, is a trend towards ‘small is best’. Many of the experts have noted how much more responsive, and less risk averse, small indie presses are than the lumbering Big 5 behemoths. With longer lead times, higher overheads and lower capacity for passion-fuelled projects, the major publishers are beginning to look sluggish in the face of vibrant new initiatives and boutique imprints which can capitalise on trends or break new fiction ground. Self-publishing has matured into a similar niche, with rich opportunities and less perception of it as a shop window to secure a major contract, or any need to do so. Indeed, more and more self-starters are staying where they are when the Big 5 come knocking. So read our experts’ thoughts on p12, but remember none of us has a crystal ball. Decide for yourself where best to focus your efforts this year and, just maybe, you’ll launch the new trend we’re discussing this time next year.