Publishing in 2022: Top Literary Agent Shares Predictions
Two years into the global pandemic, the publishing industry is going strong. Laurie McLean, director of the San Francisco Writers Conference (SFWC), attributed the positive performance to people rekindling their love of reading and writing. She shared her predictions for the publishing industry this year in a recent post on the SFWC’s blog.
“Once the streaming binge of Netflix, Disney+, Hulu and other channels grew a bit stale, people rediscovered books and how reading engages the imagination, making it a totally different enjoyment experience than passively watching a screen,” wrote McLean. “Books have been selling at a brisk pace ever since.”
2022 Publishing Forecast
Here are the highlights of McLean’s forecast:
Diversity in the publishing industry will grow even more. The growth will be reflected in terms of more people of color getting published and getting hired by publishers. “With the hiring of high-level diverse employees within publishing companies…we can begin to see real change in the industry. It will be a joy to watch and we’ll all be the richer for it,” according to McLean.
No end in sight for supply chain and paper shortage woes. It will take a while to straighten out the publishing supply chain. This is especially true for children’s picture books, coffee table books, novelty books, and other books with a lot of images, which are mainly printed in China.
The popularity of e-books will continue. Paper shortage, price increases, and supply chain woes combined with the convenience of buying an e-book will help drive increased e-book sales.
Self-publishing will continue to grow. All of publishing is healthy, including self-publishing. “There is no reason for you not to get back on that horse and finish writing your books,” McLean advised writers.
Read the entire blog post and the 12 predictions made by McLean:
The SFWC is a nonprofit corporation that donates money and services to charities that support writing. The organization holds an annual writers’ conference, which boasts of one of the largest faculties of any writers’ conference.
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