Even if we don’t notice it, buzzwords permeate our skilled lives. Who hasn’t heard of phrases like “return on investment” or “customer journey”? They sound very company, sure, however they make long-winded concepts straightforward to recall and make complicated info simpler to digest.
It’s no surprise, then, that buzzwords are well-loved in the literary realm. There have been many buzzwords in the publishing world over the years, equivalent to “high concept,” which normally refers to the high quality of a plot, or “comps,” that are the comparative titles a manuscript has when authors pitch to literary brokers.
Perhaps the largest buzzword in 2023 and presumably this 12 months is “romantasy,” or the fusion of the romance and fantasy genres. This is clear in the continued rise of romantasy novels on TikTok and on bestseller lists, equivalent to Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas.
Publishing is an business that depends on bestsellers like these above-mentioned books. When a writer releases a e book, they hope it turns into the subsequent Fifty Shades of Grey, promoting like hotcakes round the block. The majority of books, nonetheless, don’t attain that degree of success. This is why, this 12 months, publishers are capitalizing on the romantasy pattern by releasing extra books in the style. Truly, it’s an business that bleeds one pattern dry earlier than shifting on to the subsequent.
A single-word buzzword is easy sufficient to spin, however a portmanteau buzzword just isn’t, nonetheless. Despite the undeniable fact that combining romance and fantasy components in a e book is frequent, the time period “romantasy” didn’t turn out to be well-liked till late final 12 months. Portmanteau buzzwords like romantasy should sound good to be thought of a portmanteau in the first place.
In publishing, I see PR professionals primarily use bookish portmanteaus to advertise books. Buzzwords are used to pitch books to content material creators or journalists. Then, bloggers or vloggers use the identical phrases in on-line areas like blogs or TikToks. Readers then decide them up. The cycle begins, and portmanteau buzzwords are born.
But except for romantasy, what different bookish portmanteaus are going to emerge? I requested some business professionals what they suppose.
The Next Buzzy Bookish Portmanteaus
“GenAI”
This is already a preferred buzzword in AI circles, referring to AI-generated content material. Given the business’s heavy reliance on know-how, I anticipate it to achieve publishing bubbles as nicely.
This portmanteau, I consider, will likely be used to differentiate between content material written by people and content material written by AI. Examples of GenAI content material embrace AI-written copies, AI-generated photos, and AI-written ebooks which can be allowed to be offered in marketplaces equivalent to Amazon.
“Cli-Fi”
This one just isn’t a brand new portmanteau, however it’s changing into ever extra well-liked.
“The book world loves blending genres, so I’d keep an eye on cli-fi, which is gaining traction as environmental issues become more pressing,” stated Ibrahim Taha, a reader and senior supervisor at on-line studying platform Roowaad.com. One of the international points receiving media consideration is local weather change. As the world feels its results, many are placing out content material about caring for the surroundings. If local weather fiction features vital traction in the publishing world, “cli-fi” might doubtless be adopted.
Book blogger Harrison Alley has another, nonetheless: “ecolit.” “This term could encapsulate narratives that seamlessly blend ecological themes with various genres, offering readers engaging stories while fostering a deeper connection with nature,” she informed me.
Books on this style embrace Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake.
“Femtrepreneurship”
“Femtrepreneurship” fiction exhibits potential to take flight, in line with e book blogger Niklas Göke. He defined that this mixture of the phrases “female” and “entrepreneurship” neatly encapsulates tales celebrating girls in enterprise.
This portmanteau will take the highlight, Göke stated, on account of the rising prominence of feminine entrepreneurs in actual life, which gives fertile materials for fictional tales. He believes that upbeat, empowering tales about girls pursuing their goals and discovering achievement by entrepreneurial endeavors enchantment to readers, significantly youthful ones.
The -preneur pattern is well-established in e book genres, with examples equivalent to “momtrepreneurship” and “solopreneurship,” Göke elaborated. Thus, femtrepreneurship matches logically into this concept-driven class. “Femtrepreneurship fiction synthesizes today’s themes of female advancement and ambitious small business ownership into a succinct, marketable genre label primed for its publishing moment.”
Books like Girl Code by Cara Alwill Leyba and How to Be a Bawse by Lilly Singh fall below this microgenre.
“SpicyTok” or “Smuttok”
BookTok. FantasyTok. More -toks.
This explicit portmanteau could also be added to the frequent bookish parlance quickly. Right now, the time period just isn’t being taken significantly exterior of BookTok or e book blogs. But as romance books dialogue on the platform turn out to be extra frequent, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than SpicyTok follows go well with.
In reality, Harlequin is launching an imprint devoted to SpicyTok content material. Soon, you might even see the use of the time period SpicyTok in mainstream publications.
Talia Hibbert’s Act Your Age, Eve Brown, and The Roommate Risk, in addition to a few of Colleen Hoover’s works, are thought of SpicyTok books.
“Sci-Fantasy”
This just isn’t a brand new subgenre, however it’s one which has lately grown in demand, together with different genres of escapist fiction. This is clear in the recognition of N.Ok. Jemisin’s novels (like the Broken Earth trilogy) and Dune.
In sci-fantasy, there’s a steadiness of each science fiction and fantasy. This time period shouldn’t be confused with the acronym SFF, which refers to 2 genres which can be grouped collectively solely for the function of categorization. Some publications even add the closing H for horror, making it SFFH. These don’t mix genres in a single e book, whereas sci-fantasy does.
Books thought of sci-fantasy embrace Dune by Frank Herbert and Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James.
“Darcademia”
The darkish academia subculture emerged out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its recognition unfold to the literary realm. In reality, this aesthetic should still be well-liked for years to return.
“Dark academia,” nonetheless, is a bit lengthy to pronounce, so some individuals opted for the portmanteau “darcademia,” which is less complicated to roll off the tongue. Some books embrace Atlas Six by Olivie Blake and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.
Buzzwords assist attain readers in search of particular genres. Aside from these bookish portmanteaus, listed below are some business adjustments which may come up in 2024, together with the continued rise of romantasy.
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