2026 Trend Forecast
Are we at an inflection point?
hi friends, and welcome back to romancing the phone, the newsletter where I try to read the tea leaves based on the frankly disturbing amount of online content I consume (although I did successfully delete Threads from my phone and I have never been so blissfully ignorant). Sorry this one is late! Truly dragging myself across the finish line here in 2025. No new newsletter next week!
This week, I’m taking a look in my crystal ball and attempting to determine which trends we might see explode in 2026. It feels a bit like we’re at an inflection point, with romantasy having reached such a saturation point that readers’ tbr piles are getting full just keeping up with continuing series they’ve already started. There will still be breakout romantasy novels, particularly in the indie space, although it feels like these are getting picked up faster and faster by traditional publishers (see Souls in Ruin and Kissed by the Gods). But what else are we going to see as the world of BookTok expands and readers are looking for books that feel different: darker, weirder, longer, shorter, sexier, less sexy? I have a few ideas but not much certainty.