The Next Big Thing

In publishing people always seem to be looking for the next big thing, the next big trend. Agents, publishers, even authors. Sometimes this desire to not miss a trend can take on ridiculous proportions. But maybe that’s part of the charm of publishing?

So what’s the next big thing in YA? I think for the adult market this question might have been already answered. Fifty Shades of Grey sells hundreds of thousands of books and while I haven’t read it and won’t, I still have to admit that it started something. Now many publishers seem desperate to acquire their own Erotica/BDSM book. And doesn’t that prove what we all knew all along? Sex sells.

But for obvious reasons that trend won’t spill over to the YA market. And yet books like Fifty Shades of Grey and other recently acquired romanc-y erotica show the reader’s desire for romance, for the prince that sweeps them off their feet.

Does that mean the time of YA contemporary romances has come? Will we see more books like Perfect Chemistry and Anna and the French Kiss? Will YA authors become increasingly more daring with their steamy scenes?
Perfect Chemistry has some steamy scenes but of course it's nothing compared to the likes of Fifty Shades.

I wouldn’t mind more YA contemporary romances, but will they take the place of dystopians as the next trend? I don’t know. What do you think? Will the hype surrounding Fifty Shades influence the YA market? Will this lead to more sex in YA books?