Top Ten Trendiest Trends

In December 2010, Scholastic’s book club, book fair, and publishing editors looked back at the preceding months and agreed on “Ten Trends in Children’s Books from 2010.” They were:

1. The expanding Young Adult (YA) audience.
2. The year of dystopian fiction.
3. Mythology-based fantasy.
4. Multimedia series.
5. A focus on popular characters – from all media.
6. The shift in picture books [actually a shift from them, with picture-book characters “showing up in Beginning Reader books”].
7. The return to humor.
8. The rise of the diary and journal format.
9. Special-needs protagonists.
10. Paranormal romance beyond vampires.

This year (I couldn’t find if editors prognosticated in 2011), Scholastic’s editors looked ahead and “Forecast Top 10 Trends In Children's Books For 2013.”

1. Bullying is THE Timely Topic in Kids’ Books.
2. ’13 Will be a Lucky Number for Science Fiction Fans.
3. Intriguing Nonfiction.
4. Novels-in-Cartoons.
5. Kid Lit on the Screen.
6. War.
7. Tough Girls.
8. Survival Stories.
9. Spotlight on Diversity.
10. Nature Runs Amok.

These predictions come with “hot” titles attached, some from Scholastic and others, I bet, carried by its book clubs. So does this list simply reflect what the editors already believe? Is it a form of marketing within the industry? Or does the company’s market share mean that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy?