Trends come and go... what's up next?

Hello gorgeous people,

Remember when everyone was raving about books with billionaire bear shifter Heroes?
And before that, it was dragons.

And before all that was the high stakes love triangle PNRs like Twilight and Hunger Games.

And lately, it's the 'dark' romance bandwagon, where every book has either Crown or Court in the title.

Trends come and go. Although some never seem to fade away. Vampire Heroes. Kick butt Heroines. Fairytale re-tellings.

The hardest thing ever about being an author is coming up with a fresh unique story trope. In fact, I might go so far as to say it's impossible. Occasionally an author will explode on the scene with a 'novel' take on a standard story approach. Alternatively it might just be a catchy title, or a can't look away marketing campaign that captures the reading population's attention.

But how long before a whole raft of similar books/titles/marketing campaigns swamp the trendy niche? Just saying there's a hell of a lot of books being published right now with Crown, Midnight, Court, Roses in the title.

I'm not sure there has been a better time than right now to be a fan of romance/PNR/fantasy/romantasy - the accessibility/visibility of books via libraries, bookshops and online offerings is staggering. Even better, there are people willing to blog, make lists and review a lot of those offerings to help us narrow down our purchase choices.

But what's going to be the next trend? Personally I prefer the one's that pop up spontaneously thanks to the readers. Rather than the 'big publisher' backed marketing campaigns. Though they are getting harder to spot as book influencers with large followings are getting paid for their reviews these days.

As for predicting the next trend... seriously, if I could do that I'd have written the book. As a reader, as long as I get an HEA, I'm not worried about the next trend. Because whether I like it or loathe it... wait two months and a new trend will emerge.

Like I said, best time ever to be a reader.

And may all your reads be five star fantastic.