Frankfurt 2023 Roundup

Watson, Little had a great Frankfurt Book Fair, with over a hundred foreign meetings from over twenty-five countries, which may well be the record yet! Rachel, James and Donald were on the ground over the 4-day book fair, handling back-to-back meetings fuelled by iced lattes and schnitzel.

We had 384 requests for 104 titles, with the top 3 being a rom-com and two thrillers. It has been a busy month of follow-up emails, and the agents are looking to rework their bios and submissions requests over the upcoming festive break. Keep an eye out of for those!

At the book fair, everyone wanted a slice of the YA, Romance and Fantasy pie, and the TikTok frenzy pushed Sports romances to the top of request lists. The feverish popularity of ice hockey seems to have broken, and enthusiasts are looking for the next sexy sport to write about. Curling, anyone?

Thrillers were as popular as ever, with a particular enthusiasm for twisty and commercial stories with clever hooks and concepts. Horror and grimdark stories are enjoying increased attention as well.

Perhaps the next book trend will be a combination of these two… romantic suspense?

Other honourable mentions include Asian fiction – think cosy and speculative; feel-good titles in women’s fiction, and pre-20^th century historical fiction, with an uptick in stories aimed at more mature readers. Heart-warming bookclub fiction that sits across the upmarket and commercial space is also a hot topic.

In non-fiction, smart thinking and popular psychology books remain at the top and there is a desire to see more self-help books with an evidence-based, ‘stealth’ help angle.

What do you think 2024 will bring for book trends?

If you have something that you would like to submit to Watson, Little, please do send it to submissions@watsonlittle.com. Our submissions guidelines can be found here: https://www.watsonlittle.com/about/submissions/.