What's the most popular book genre in 2022?

[alhawke]

Genre. Let me tell you my observations. I wear a couple genre hats. All my books have romance and fantasy, but I've written in sci fi, urban fantasy and paranormal (you see my covers). Browsing through the new releases lately (indie and trad), the majority are either romance books or mystery/thriller. They always are. Why? These make the most money. Right?

My own books: I released two trilogies over the past two years: one epic fantasy and the other paranormal. I've hit them with similar marketing. I've ran freebies and was fortunate to land multiple Bookbubs on both series. The epic fantasy sells about a 1/3 as well as my witch paranormal romance books. From a marketing pov, it tells me to focus on paranormal romance. Or is it the books? One of my most successful new release launches was with the first book in my witch series. But is that because I marketed it well? What about luck? Or is it just the book? Ads also do better with those books than fantasy. In other words, it's easier to sell paranormal romance. Honestly, I can't even get an ad to really work with my fantasies. BB ads work with my witch series. Many of you are probably saying duh at this point. Romance sells. Anyway, my passion is writing. I can delve into mystery/thriller if that suddenly makes my life easier. If I did, I'd probably write under a different pen name. Or is that genre too crowded? I'm focusing here on marketing. I'm not asking what genre is better or more fun to write in.

[TimothyEllis]

Magic seems to be more popular with me.

Of my last 4 books, only one was based on magic, and it did a lot better than the others.

My next 3, and possibly 4 are all magic based, so I might get a better handle on that as I go.

I'm Space Opera/Fantasy with a mish match of everything else.

[alhawke]

Magic seems to be more popular with me.

Interesting. That would definitely match the popularity for my witch series. Magic is more like a subcategory within genre.

Fifteen years ago, the subcategory vampires were the rage. You know, Twilight came out and we were inundated with vampire novels. Tons & tons of them. Fortunately for me, I don't have any inspiration of writing an unpopular vampire novel right now, even though I write paranormal (I'm not saying vampires are unpopular, but the popularity is not what it was). It seems to happen any time there's a raging bestseller. Like billionaire romance novels popped up after Fifty Shades of Grey. There's no reason to chase it, though. It seems to me that by the time you shadow the success of a bestseller subcategory, the subcategory gets saturated.

[LilyBLily]

This is why I am not writing about small town bakery owners who fall in love with firefighters. They're everywhere now.

Most of my characters are the equivalent of white-collar workers; that is, they hold responsible office jobs and are not business owners. The rest are professionals or in the arts.

Aside from the ranchers, that is. I try to be very vague about just exactly what my ranchers do all day, because I really have no idea. They might be plotting to buy up failing ranches, or maybe they're researching cattle prices, or maybe, just maybe, they're wandering around having actual contact with large smelly bovines. 

[Crystal]

Mystery, thriller, and romance sell the best.

They're also the most competitive.

The best genre for you is the one with the best overlap of what you love and what the market loves and where the market is hungry, or at least not over-saturated.

Sometimes, it is hard to tell how saturated a niche is. A niche with a lot of books might still have room in the market. A niche with few books might be oversaturated. Talk to authors, follow their careers, stay up to date on what sells and what people are doing.

The saturation of the market changes with time, so IMO, the best thing to do is pick a niche but keep it flexible. Write PNR, but switch from, say shifters to werewolves when shifters get saturated. Or start writing RH shifters. Whatever interests you and has room for success. Those are made up examples because I don't follow PNR.

You can't pick a niche and stay there forever. If you succeed, people will notice, and they will come and saturate that niche. Often, people don't really get why you succeeded and copy the wrong thing and fail. But, eventually, if you have found a unique (enough) niche, people will come and fill it.

There is no set it and forget it.

[alhawke]

Mystery, thriller, and romance sell the best.

They're also the most competitive.

That's what I thought. And that's the trade off.

You can't pick a niche and stay there forever. If you succeed, people will notice, and they will come and saturate that niche. Often, people don't really get why you succeeded and copy the wrong thing and fail. But, eventually, if you have found a unique (enough) niche, people will come and fill it.

Sensible. So you have to remain flexible. Thanks! 

[idontknowyet]

RH seems to be very popular especially RH PNR
Those ladies are voracious readers. I have a ton of friends in that genre making bank.

LGBTQ+ romance is a hot market. And interesting most do very well without much advertising. (or they bomb terribly never to be resuscitated)

I decided to shoot myself in the foot by writing clean mafia romance ... Avoid that non existent genre. Though clean romance is popping for a ton of authors right now too.

[PaulineMRoss]

You can't pick a niche and stay there forever. If you succeed, people will notice, and they will come and saturate that niche. Often, people don't really get why you succeeded and copy the wrong thing and fail. But, eventually, if you have found a unique (enough) niche, people will come and fill it.

There is no set it and forget it.

I don't think that's entirely true, because certain subgenres are definitely evergreen. I write traditional (ie no sex) Regency romances, have been writing it for six years now in more or less the same way, and my sales and revenue grow year on year. Mostly it's slow and steady growth, but there was a big jump for the third series. Apart from that, it's all been steadily upwards.

Have more people joined that niche? Sure they have, more move in every month and some have done really well (better than me!). But there still seems to be room for more.

[angela]

I've got 3 active pen names, and the one that surprises me is the domestic thriller. (think "Girl on the Train" genre). I have 2 books under that name, both stand-alones. They don't sell an astounding amount, but they do sell a few copies, which is remarkable for a couple of stand-alones.

Something that has surprised me is that a Bookbub on one book will move copies of the other one, even with no character overlap.

if I were looking to get entirely into a new genre, I'd consider that one.

However, the challenge with that genre is the charts are utterly dominated by a couple of digital-only publishers like Bookouture and Joffe Books and a few others. Some indie authors are doing well in that space, and it may be one of the few genres where stand-alones work.

My best releases are in my paranormal cozy series, which is at 14 books now. I started in 2016, and I certainly wasn't inventing it as it was already popular then, but you are 100% right about people piling in and utilizing themes from successful series.

[alhawke]

I've got 3 active pen names, and the one that surprises me is the domestic thriller. (think "Girl on the Train" genre). I have 2 books under that name, both stand-alones. They don't sell an astounding amount, but they do sell a few copies, which is remarkable for a couple of stand-alones.

When you look at BookBub estimated sales, as an example, thriller and mystery make the tops. So, perhaps, the popularity is pushing your standalones? But your success in standalones does make me consider experimenting. Is it difficult to write in the thriller genre? I write paranormal as well. It always seemed to me that a thriller/suspense book takes more fine tuning with outlining and plotting in comparison to fantasy writing ??

I write in a lot of genres, but, really, I'm a romance & fantasy writer. I can do a similar kind of thing in all my genres, and any one genre has some overlap; with the risk of being too simplistic here, I find sci-fi involves more science research; epic fantasy involves more world building; urban fantasy must have more action. But they're all flights of fancy to me. Moving to mysteries or thrillers seems more daunting.

[angela]

I've got 3 active pen names, and the one that surprises me is the domestic thriller. (think "Girl on the Train" genre). I have 2 books under that name, both stand-alones. They don't sell an astounding amount, but they do sell a few copies, which is remarkable for a couple of stand-alones.

When you look at BookBub estimated sales, as an example, thriller and mystery make the tops. So, perhaps, the popularity is pushing your standalones? But your success in standalones does make me consider experimenting. Is it difficult to write in the thriller genre? I write paranormal as well. It always seemed to me that a thriller/suspense book takes more fine tuning with outlining and plotting in comparison to fantasy writing ??

I write in a lot of genres, but, really, I'm a romance & fantasy writer. I can do a similar kind of thing in all my genres, and any one genre has some overlap; with the risk of being too simplistic here, I find sci-fi involves more science research; epic fantasy involves more world building; urban fantasy must have more action. But they're all flights of fancy to me. Moving to mysteries or thrillers seems more daunting.

The thriller or mystery reader has high expectations to not just be entertained and enjoy the characters, but to test their wits against yours. They want you, the author, to win, but only if it's a fair fight. And only just barely.

So, there's that.

The domestic thriller readers are pretty tough... or I haven't gotten there yet with my skills. My cozy books usually average 4.2 and up, even higher for the series ones. With my domestic thrillers, I'm lucky if I can hold 4.0. The readers have really high expectations, and I haven't figured out what the catnip is. And by catnip, I mean the deep itch.


Taken from Malcolm Gladwell's appearance on the Joe Rogan show:

Western -- there is chaos, no system, and the man comes along and imposes order. Malcolm Gladwell says Lee Child books / Jack Reacher is like that. The police can't be found, in the books. Reacher just roams around on his own, and solves the problem himself without utilizing the cops. You can't call cops in a true Western because they don't exist.

Eastern -- there is law and order, and institutions of justice, but these institutions have been subverted by people from within. Serpico -- crooked cop. The bad apple. Lots of Hollywood movies. The system is also corrected from within by an insider.

Northern -- law and order exists, and is morally righteous, and the system works. L&O the TV show is this, and it works. The Brits love this. All the famous detective stories fit here. The police may be bumbling, but they're not corrupt.

Southern -- all John Grisham novels. The entire apparatus is corrupt, and the reformer is an outsider. The system is rotten to the core, and only the white knight can save everyone.

[LilyBLily]

Really, the "white knight"? Tell me that isn't a Freudian slip about Southern novels.

[alhawke]

Western -- there is chaos, no system, and the man comes along and imposes order. Malcolm Gladwell says Lee Child books / Jack Reacher is like that. The police can't be found, in the books. Reacher just roams around on his own, and solves the problem himself without utilizing the cops. You can't call cops in a true Western because they don't exist.

I think I need to study Westerns. I've never actually read one, unless you count Ian Fleming's James Bond series. I've got a story in my head that I've written four full manuscript failures over  . It's about a guy and his horse, in this case, his car, and how he's protecting a girl driving across the country. One of many sources of failure is not finding the right genre. That's a big problem. I thought of writing it as a sci fi time travel story, then I switched gears to paranormal romance with angels. Or Urban Fantasy?? Needless to say, it might never see the light of day without a home. Or a good story. A modern Western angle doesn't sound half bad??

Maybe we should write a thread lamenting the amount of time we waste on our project failures?

[LilyBLily]

I used to take one failure out of the file cabinet every now and then. Practically every word and every idea in it would have to be changed to make it palatable to readers today--of any genre. It has one good moment. Just one. I have to use that in a story some day.

Reacher works with law enforcement now and then, and in his army adventures he's definitely acting under orders, so I don't think it's entirely true that he's a vigilante.

[alhawke]

I used to take one failure out of the file cabinet every now and then. Practically every word and every idea in it would have to be changed to make it palatable to readers today--of any genre. It has one good moment. Just one. I have to use that in a story some day.

Yep, same thing here. I have a sense the book won't resonate with readers, so I abandoned it. It's a very old story and times change.

When I've got a story flying off the screen, I know it's right. I'm fortunate to be working on one of those right now. But I hope to resurrect my old tale. The MC has charisma and characters that hold charisma hold promise. I just need to see where my MC fits in our world--genre & otherwise.

[angela]

Really, the "white knight"? Tell me that isn't a Freudian slip about Southern novels.

It's a concept. From the 12th century. 

[Crystal]

I don't think that's entirely true, because certain subgenres are definitely evergreen. I write traditional (ie no sex) Regency romances, have been writing it for six years now in more or less the same way, and my sales and revenue grow year on year. Mostly it's slow and steady growth, but there was a big jump for the third series. Apart from that, it's all been steadily upwards.

Have more people joined that niche? Sure they have, more move in every month and some have done really well (better than me!). But there still seems to be room for more.

I don't know Regency / historical romance enough to speak to trends. But I have to imagine there are trends within historical romance as there are trends within everything. And I have to imagine your books / series are not all exactly the same? That's really what I mean. Not that you can't sell in any niche forever. More that you will have to evolve as trends evolve. (Which is something we all have to do if we want to stay up to date).

Something like "billionaire romance" or "romantic comedy" is evergreen and an author can stay there and sell for a long time. But they can't keep doing exactly the same thing forever. They have to shift with the trends.

What you don't want to do is expect forever success in a small, specific niche. Success meaning a very large amount of sales.

Though I will say... staying out of sexy romance is probably a good way to stay more evergreen. Because most people who write mostly for money are under this delusional belief that "sex sells" and "anyone can write smut" and they go into sexy romance.

[Lorri Moulton]

Westerns can have a lot of tension under the surface.  They look easy, but they're more than just rugged landscape and horses....but it's best to have those, too.

[Lorri Moulton]

The Southern example (cringe) seems very much like an outsider viewpoint.  Any small town can have corruption...but I think someone from the area moving back and challenging the 'status quo' would be more believable than a Northerner coming in and trying to change things.

I say this as someone who has lived in Washington State most of my life, but my dad was from South Carolina. 

[LilyBLily]

I don't think romantic comedy is evergreen. It's relatively new and is clearly aimed at a young audience, too. I only know of one wave of comedy in romances before the chick lit era (before chick lit broke into two pieces, one part being renamed as women's fiction and the other as chick lit/romantic comedy). 

You could claim that Jane Austen did romantic comedy, but her genre was comedy of manners, which is why there is so much in Pride and Prejudice about Mrs. Bennet, for instance, and those dreadful little sisters. But I suspect that is splitting hairs.

Even so, looking back at all the thousands of romances I have read, I don't see a strong thread of comedic moments at all. Lots of drama, but humor? Not really present.

[Lorri Moulton]

I don't write romantic comedy, but I do enjoy some good banter.  Romantic or otherwise.

[Crystal]

I don't think romantic comedy is evergreen. It's relatively new and is clearly aimed at a young audience, too. I only know of one wave of comedy in romances before the chick lit era (before chick lit broke into two pieces, one part being renamed as women's fiction and the other as chick lit/romantic comedy). 

You could claim that Jane Austen did romantic comedy, but her genre was comedy of manners, which is why there is so much in Pride and Prejudice about Mrs. Bennet, for instance, and those dreadful little sisters. But I suspect that is splitting hairs.

Even so, looking back at all the thousands of romances I have read, I don't see a strong thread of comedic moments at all. Lots of drama, but humor? Not really present.

Most of the books being called romantic comedies now aren't really comedies. They're lighthearted romances with comedic elements.

[LilyBLily]

I don't think romantic comedy is evergreen. It's relatively new and is clearly aimed at a young audience, too. I only know of one wave of comedy in romances before the chick lit era (before chick lit broke into two pieces, one part being renamed as women's fiction and the other as chick lit/romantic comedy). 

You could claim that Jane Austen did romantic comedy, but her genre was comedy of manners, which is why there is so much in Pride and Prejudice about Mrs. Bennet, for instance, and those dreadful little sisters. But I suspect that is splitting hairs.

Even so, looking back at all the thousands of romances I have read, I don't see a strong thread of comedic moments at all. Lots of drama, but humor? Not really present.

Most of the books being called romantic comedies now aren't really comedies. They're lighthearted romances with comedic elements.

Presumably the ones with cartoon covers. I apparently gravitate to romances with more angst involved.

[Crystal]

Presumably the ones with cartoon covers. I apparently gravitate to romances with more angst involved.

You would think, based on the chick lit trends of the past and general design principles, but a lot of books with illustrated covers are not particularly funny. I haven't had much pushback on mine & I tried illustrated covers on a very angsty series.

I've read a dozen adult romance trad books with illustrated covers and none were angsty but none were hilarious either. The Kiss Quotient was the funniest but it's not really that funny and the humor isn't what you'd expect with a studio romantic comedy film.

[writeway]

Romance is still the most popular genre in literature and the only genre making over a billion in sales each year. Next is mystery/suspense.

[She-la-te-da]

Everything I need to know about Westerns I learned from four seasons of "Yellowstone". (TM) lol

Egads, those people are some kind of wrong.

[PaulineMRoss]

Romance is still the most popular genre in literature and the only genre making over a billion in sales each year. Next is mystery/suspense.

That may be so in the US. It's not true in the UK, where mystery/suspense outsells it, and in Bookbub's list of genres by price (ie number of subscribers), the mystery/suspense/thriller/etc categories cluster at the top.

[Cabbages and kings]

Romance is still the most popular genre in literature and the only genre making over a billion in sales each year. Next is mystery/suspense.

That may be so in the US. It's not true in the UK, where mystery/suspense outsells it, and in Bookbub's list of genres by price (ie number of subscribers), the mystery/suspense/thriller/etc categories cluster at the top.

Wow!

[writeway]

Romance is still the most popular genre in literature and the only genre making over a billion in sales each year. Next is mystery/suspense.

That may be so in the US. It's not true in the UK, where mystery/suspense outsells it, and in Bookbub's list of genres by price (ie number of subscribers), the mystery/suspense/thriller/etc categories cluster at the top.

I'm in the US and so is the OP (seen their bio before *smiles*) so that's what I was referring to. I am sure if we take the time to pick out what genre sells in every country or continent we might get a million different answers, but I am a US author so what sells in the US is what I am most concerned about. Since again, the OP is in the US, I assumed that's what they are concerned about as well though OP didn't specify a specific country. I write mysteries and thrillers as well as romance myself. Also, I don't think that one paid mailing list (Bookbub) represents the majority what sells the best overall. That's according to the number of subscribers Bookbub has in their genres. I don't see how them having mostly mystery/thriller subscribers impact what's the best-selling genre anywhere.

[alhawke]

I'm in the US and so is the OP (seen their bio before *smiles*) so that's what I was referring to. I am sure if we take the time to pick out what genre sells in every country or continent we might get a million different answers, but I am a US author so what sells in the US is what I am most concerned about. Since again, the OP is in the US, I assumed that's what they are concerned about as well though OP didn't specify a specific country. I write mysteries and thrillers as well as romance myself. Also, I don't think that one paid mailing list (Bookbub) represents the majority what sells the best overall. That's according to the number of subscribers Bookbub has in their genres. I don't see how them having mostly mystery/thriller subscribers impact what's the best-selling genre anywhere.

Yep, I'm from the US . This topic was spurred on by my observations of new release bestsellers. I was surprised that most of them seemed to be Mystery/thriller, whereas before I've seen mostly romance. But it might have been from new releases in Kobo. Kobo's more internationally geared. I didn't think of region as a factor.

[Post-Crisis D]

Given that I will presumably be releasing a space opera this year, given my track record, my guess is that space opera is probably one of the least popular book genres for 2022.

[Crystal]

US authors can sell books in the UK and visa versa.

The US is a bigger market but the UK is less dominated by who is spending a lot on FB and AMS ads.

[She-la-te-da]

my guess is that space opera is probably one of the least popular book genres for 2022

LOL

I'm afraid if I wrote romances the market would sink into oblivion, and then I'd have millions of writers and readers hunting me down, with tar and pitchforks.

[Eli B]

I've got 3 active pen names, and the one that surprises me is the domestic thriller. (think "Girl on the Train" genre). I have 2 books under that name, both stand-alones. They don't sell an astounding amount, but they do sell a few copies, which is remarkable for a couple of stand-alones.

Something that has surprised me is that a Bookbub on one book will move copies of the other one, even with no character overlap.

if I were looking to get entirely into a new genre, I'd consider that one.

Thanks for this. I'm currently working on a domestic thriller and am experiencing a mini writer's block. Also, looking at how flooded this genre is is not exactly encouraging.  But reading how you had luck with it and managed to get sales with stand-alones in this genre definitely gives me much needed hope.  So, thank you a lot.