Is nonfiction dead?

Rumors of nonfiction's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Still: it’s a challenging time to sell new nonfiction, and if you’re writing it, you might want to strategize accordingly.

I’m about to repeat a publishing blind item sourced in hearsay.

Call me the DeuxMoi of niche publishing gossip.

This is a second-to-thirdhand rumor I’ve heard from several different people. I’m going to share it with you not necessarily because it’s true—I suspect it’s actually not; more on that in a second—but because it’s an anxiety artifact worth studying.

Put another way: I’m more interested in the plate tectonics underneath this rumor than I am in the rumor itself. Even if it’s flat-out false, it flew my way on winds of real (and well-justified) agita.

Anyway, here’s the the blind item:

Allegedly, this head of a Big 5 publishing company has been going around town telling people “nonfiction is dead.”

Nonfiction is dead.