Another great post, Karin. Thank you! It's illuminating to see that most of the books by male authors are by people who work in publishing. But encouraging to see an uptick in deals for older authors!
Thanks, Michelle. I feel badly for male authors these days. It’s gotten so female-centric. But yes to the older authors! (Looking in the mirror: Who is that old lady?) :)
Debut authors tend to be younger these days because of BookTok. You see so many in their 20s. So in the book world 35 is old. Debut authors in 50s and 60s are so rare, although not unheard of. Bonnie Garmus and Deliah Owens come to mind.
Wow, I'd never heard of BookTok before - thank you for that tip! (61 over here). That said, did you see that the Bridport Prize has a never-too-late 60+award?
Great article! Thank you. I think of my fiction writing as literary, but I don’t have an MFA or a long list of fiction publications. Would it be wrong (i.e. false or misleading) to describe my novel as “upmarket” when pitching?
Very interesting read! Does anyome have any theories about why horror is being bought by publishers but not making it to the bestseller charts? Is this a sign publishers will be pushing the genre in marketing soon?
Thanks for the round up, looking forward to the discussion on how upmarket can be distinguished from high concept!
Another great post, Karin. Thank you! It's illuminating to see that most of the books by male authors are by people who work in publishing. But encouraging to see an uptick in deals for older authors!
Thanks, Michelle. I feel badly for male authors these days. It’s gotten so female-centric. But yes to the older authors! (Looking in the mirror: Who is that old lady?) :)
Maybe fewer men are writing and pitching?
Thanks for all the details!
You’re welcome, Dianna.
Thanks so much for the shout-out, Karin! It's always an honor to be included in one of your posts! 😊
I always enjoy your posts, Heather!
I wonder why "over 35" counts as "older" nowadays. What about authors in their 50s and 60s? Which label would traditional publishers give us?
Debut authors tend to be younger these days because of BookTok. You see so many in their 20s. So in the book world 35 is old. Debut authors in 50s and 60s are so rare, although not unheard of. Bonnie Garmus and Deliah Owens come to mind.
This system is truly skewed. No wonder GenX and Boomers feel invisible and prefer self-publishing.
Gosh it would be interesting to track the genre by author ago
I also wondered how 35 could be older. Scratching my head on that one
In light of all the BoolTok debut authors, 35 is older. Sadly. (64 years young here!)
Wow, I'd never heard of BookTok before - thank you for that tip! (61 over here). That said, did you see that the Bridport Prize has a never-too-late 60+award?
Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll have to look into that.
My thoughts exactly!!
Maybe the are classed as older older. I am definitely in that category 🥺
I was wondering that myself, are we going to be the new force!
Great article, Karin. So informative to see it all together.
Thanks, Renee.
Great article! Thank you. I think of my fiction writing as literary, but I don’t have an MFA or a long list of fiction publications. Would it be wrong (i.e. false or misleading) to describe my novel as “upmarket” when pitching?
🌸💜💙
So very helpful!
Very interesting read! Does anyome have any theories about why horror is being bought by publishers but not making it to the bestseller charts? Is this a sign publishers will be pushing the genre in marketing soon?
Thanks for the round up, looking forward to the discussion on how upmarket can be distinguished from high concept!
Thanks, Ace. That's an issue I wanted to look at more closely. I do wonder if anyone has theories.