Thanks to booktok and my podcast, The Lazy Book Lovers Podcast, where we discuss upcoming indie book releases, I see a lot of new stuff that is coming out at the moment. So, I thought I’d make a random chaotic list of trends I’ve noticed that I enjoy.

1. Beautiful cover designs

Th effort people are putting into their covers lately? Sublime. Gone are the boring, minimalist covers. I fucking love it.

2. Trigger warnings at the start

I love that this is becoming the norm! Even if you don’t like them, they do you no harm but they could help someone else a lot, so get over yourself. Additionally, if you’re book is playing with controversial topics, it’s a great way to indicate to a younger reader that the relationships etc you are portraying are not normal, where they might not be able to tell otherwise.

3. Tropes and tags listed in the description

Especially in indie published books. Genre lists are fine but trope lists? Fucking perfect. It’s the easiest way for me to know if that book is up my street.

4. Inclusivity and diversity becoming the norm

Books with representation of characters from all walks of life are becoming the rule and no longer the exception and I love it!

5. Stories driven by what readers want

Rather than what the market research of a publishing house’s marketing department say they want. We can especially thank booktok for that.

6. Embracing the cheese- both readers and authors

Whatever the genre, I enjoy that we are moving towards the open acceptance of embracing the cheesy tropes of that genre, leaning into what makes it fun, rather than trying to be high-brow. I also enjoy this shift in readers openly reading what they want, revitalising genres that have been looked down on the past, like romance.

There you go, short and sweet. Do you have any to add to the list?