I'll admit it. I pay attention to trends in books. I don't write to them, I'm a firm believer in going where the story takes you. But when one specific genre crowds the bookshelves (physical and virtual) it's hard not to take notice.
One thing I have noticed is that vampires, once only a few years ago the dominant force in bookstores, seem to be fading back in the background. Like most things, I think phases like this are cyclical. Their time will swing back around.
What do you think? Do you agree vampires have had their moment and it's time for some other hot ticket to take their place? If so, what?
4 comments:
I completely agree Sara. Not so long ago, all you could buy on the paranormal/fantasty bookshelves seemed to be Vampires. I am not saying that i dont like them, becasue i do--i mean who doesnt love a buff, strong man with eternal life--But i chose maybe three or four authors who i thought did vampires well, and stuck to them. I got annoyed with the AMOUNT of different books all about the same thing. it frustrated me as a reader, and as a writer it made me avoid writing anything that might seem anything like a vamp.
I like Vamps, and i hope that the subject as a whole isn't dead *Excuse the punn* But i do hope to see some different ideas on the shelves.
I don't think interest is waning, but I believe readers are becoming more picky - they want something radically different, rather than the same old tropes rehashed.
But I am seeing a reduction of vampire and werewolf stories, and it comes as interest in Twilight/New Dawn fades. Very much how magical stories dropped off after Harry Potter ended.
With that in mind, I'm going to bet on the new trend being superheroes, what with Thor now on DVD and The Avengers coming this summer. But again, readers want something different and not just "good vs evil". So flawed heroes and villains with a heart. Sounds good to me!
I think we're seeing a natural ebb and flow in the cycle of vampires. I remember when you couldn't find vampire books and every single one you did find was such a treat (think Anne Rice, LJ Smith). Then they saturated the market with so many that it became difficult to separate the dreck from the gold, now we're evening back out. We have strong vampire series, but balanced with new trends.
I agree that SuperHeroes are on the rise which makes my inner comic book nerd happy. I collected comics for years and was always a fan of DC and Marvel. So I am excited to see the new trend rising and hope that it doesn't bubble, I'd like to see it grow as a viable sub-genre for decades to come.
It's not so much vampires being on the ebb, but rather what authors *do* with them. For instance anything that shows vampires in a high school setting, unless it goes off on a complete tangent, probably won't be very well received.
There will be trends, yes, but some tropes are so firmly entrenched, there will always be new titles written, and readers to buy them.
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