Trend watching. It’s one of the most frustrating topics for writers approaching the marketplace, because there’s a lot of conflicting advice. You’re told: “Keep your finger on the pulse of trends so you know what editors are buying.” But you also hear: “Don’t try to chase trends. By the time you write that book, editors are already on to the next big thing.”
The anxiety that you feel during discussions of “what’s hot right now” probably stems from the fact that both those perspectives are true to an extent: to be successful, you need a sense of what people are reading in order to properly market your book, but you also need to write your authentic story rather than just cranking out what you think will sell.
But how to reconcile the two perspectives? Simon & Schuster senior editor Christine Pride makes an important distinction when thinking about her acquisitions: “The most useful tool in an editor’s arsenal in terms of identifying trends is having an acute sensitivity to the mood and zeitgeist of the country, more so, say, than focusing on what is specifically fashionable at any given moment (i.e., dog books! Zombie books! Unreliable narrators!).”
So when it comes to understanding trends, what’s really important is getting a sense of the mood and tastes of readers and considering different or fresh perspectives on age-old themes, rather than trying to mimic character types or plot points.
We talked with Christine a bit more about what she looks for in acquisitions and her take on how the national mood is affecting both writers and readers:
Although she’s just one representative of our industry, Christine’s perspectives offer valuable insight on how to think like an editor and develop your own “acute sensitivity” to the literary marketplace: Read widely in your genre and note authors from different backgrounds—racial, economic, gender identity, and so on. Pay attention to how readers are responding to these different works and then think about how your own work adds to this broader literary conversation. (And if you’re writing fiction, think about how the voices of your characters will contribute to that conversation too.)
Christine Pride, a senior editor at Simon & Schuster, joined the company in 2016. She spent more than a decade as an editor at various corporate imprints, including Doubleday, Broadway, Crown, and Hyperion, and then struck out on her own for a three-year stint as a freelance editor and ghostwriter. Both in house and as a freelancer, she’s worked with a variety of established and debut writers and has published many New York Times bestsellers and critically acclaimed books, including Nick Trout’s Tell Me Where It Hurts, Stephanie Nielson’s Heaven Is Here, and Deval Patrick’s A Reason to Believe. Since arriving at S&S, Christine has acquired a range of projects, including Dear World, a memoir by eight-year-old Syrian refugee and Twitter activist Bana Alabed, Inventing Joy by business dynamo Joy Mangano, No One Tells You This, a memoir by Glynnis MacNicol, and Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, a novel by journalist and bestselling author Jo Piazza. Christine acquires contemporary, literary, and upmarket/book club fiction. She’s especially drawn to voice-driven novels, high-concept premises, and books that explore the terrain of family, relationships, friendship, coming-of-age, and race/culture. She also acquires literary and commercial memoirs—inspirational stories are a special passion—as well as select narrative nonfiction that explores race, pop culture, and women’s issues. Overall, she’s a sucker for any book that offers a distinctive point of view, sparks reflection, starts a conversation, and resonates with women. Though she spends a lot of time reading, she’s also an unabashed television aficionado. Christine attended the University of Missouri’s broadcast journalism program and worked in nonprofit management before embarking on a career in book publishing.
