Readers around the world want one kind of book right now (and here's what it is)

This clickbait brought to you by what I learned at last week's London Book Fair.

Kent and I went to the London Book Fair last week. While there, we had dozens of meetings with foreign co-agents, book editors, and scouts — primarily to talk up Neon’s titles and pitch rights acquisitions, but also to hear about readers in foreign markets. LBF and fairs like it are great opportunities to gather intel on market trends from local experts.

This was the first LBF I can remember in which the vast majority of those experts were after just one thing. I can’t recall a time in the past when I heard this kind of uniformity in desire, even during the High Vampires Era. The English and the Turkish; the Germans and the Poles; the Brazilians and Spanish and Central Americans and French: all of them said their readers wanted this one particular kind of book. (Southeast Asian countries were the exception; more on this momentarily.)

I just got back from Europe last night, which means my middle-aged brain is pudding. This week’s newsletter will therefore be short. But I wanted to share with you what we learned in these meetings, because it’s something I suspect many of you will find useful to know.

What they described is a rare trend in book publishing: one that is both capacious and relatively shelf-stable. Unlike vampires in 2009 and BDSM in 2011, I suspect it will still be around in a few years. Whether you’re marketing a finished book or just getting started on one, therefore, you might want to keep it in mind.

You ready to hear what it is? Hint: it’s also the leading growth category for US print books.

Drumroll, please: [makes evil face as she draws the paywall curtain]