Indian Publishing: Top 10 Trends Prediction for 2024

One of India’s leading literary agents and founder at Labyrinth Literary Agency, Anish Chandy recently listed the top 10 trends which he believes Indian publishing will see in 2024. ‘Here’s how I think 2024 will trend in Indian publishing and book-to-screen markets,’ he said in a post on LinkedIn. We think the list is quite interesting and with Anish’s permission, we present the full list here.

1. Loads of political books will be published in the election run-up. The funding behind some of these books will make for a very interesting book.

2. Book-to-screen deals will decline because of industry consolidation (Zee/Sony and Reliance/Hotstar) and inventory pileup. However, the number of industry events promising deals for a fee will increase.

3. Genres that will do well: Biographies, Horror, History, Military, Self-Help, Business, Finance.

4. Indian young adult fantasy and children’s books are untapped high growth areas. Hopefully some talent emerges that goes global. If this happens, it’ll most likely be a debutant with a fresh voice.

5. In 2023, audiobook companies pulled back from book conversions. They are seeing growth in podcasts and custom content. 2024 will throw light on where this market is going.

6. Cover design and titles for debut fiction will get edgier in an effort to stand out.

7. No change in the continuing suffering for short story writers and poets. These genres don’t sell so they aren’t published but continue to be the most pitched.

8. A number of mediocre non-fiction books were legit bestsellers because the author had a following or the subject had a captive audience (company biography). These are financially important for publishers and help fund other non-commercial niche books.

9. Physical bookstores will claw back some more market share from online. This is a continuation of 2023 trends.

10. Conventional advice is to treat Jan 1^st as blank page and to start writing everyday like a hyper-maniac. A smarter way to do it would be to ask yourself what do I need to do in 2024 to win in 2025.