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| literary agent Gordon Warnock |
If people could truly predict what sells well, there would only be about 200 books accepted for publication per year, according to senior literary agent
Gordon Warnock, the featured speaker at a recent Writer's Forum. But with 2 million titles published annually, (200,000 by the New York "big six" alone), how can you tell what the industry will seek next? Start with the bookstores, Warnock advised. Notice the lay-out of what's on display, and see what changes throughout the months. Whatever is selling best is easily found at the front of the store, with the most appealing or popular titles facing out. "Nothing in a bookstore is random," he said.
"But don't write to the trend that's happening now, or you'll be too late," Warnock warned. Since it typically takes 1-2 years for a book to reach the shelves, he said, and that's
after you get a publisher, you don't want an agent to pass you over just because the market will be saturated with your topic by then.
"The industry wants what is both fresh and familiar," he said.
