For better or worse, this information comes from the blog of author and agent Mandy Hubbard.
Middle Grade is set to boom the way Young Adult did a few years ago. Editors want to see: Magical realism, humor, big books and distinctive voices.
Editors aren't buying as many dystopian Young Adult books as last year. Paranormal romance stories are still selling but the story must be fresh and original.
What hot right now in YA is ghost stories, particularly "gothic creepy ghost stories". I'd love to read something like that!
Also hot are psychological thriller/suspense/horror stories as well as books from "blended genres". What is a blended genre you ask? To give an example, a dystopian, science fiction thriller would be from a blended genre. Apparently these cross-genre books are easier to market.
These are a few of the highlights from Mandy Hubbard's article. I would encourage people who are interested to follow the link, her article is worth a read. (Incidentally, I came across Mandy Hubbard's blog post in a round-about way through Kim Aippersbach's blog.)
