Reading has become more popular in lockdown. But what are people reading?

We conducted our own market research here at the Kate Nash Literary Agency to find out.

Here is our report.
1/12
#LockdownReading

We discovered 3 key trends in reading during lockdown:

* Reading through FEAR
* Reading to ESCAPE
* Reading about HELPING

We also discovered readers perceive book covers are becoming brighter, in stark contrast to our 2019 research. More about that later.
2/12
#LockdownReading

We analysed bestselling books from the UK Kindle Top 100 chart for the month of April 2020 and found the picture to be diverse in terms of genre, more typical of what you see at Christmas.

This suggests the digital book market has expanded.

3/12
#LockdownReading

We analysed key words from book titles in the same UK Kindle Top 100 during April.

The bigger the word, the more times it appeared within a book title.

Many title words reflected findings elsewhere in our research: family, friends, man, woman, hope.
4/12
#LockdownReading

We were startled to discover that some trends, like isolation, were not new.

Many themes and trends mentioned by readers matched those mentioned in a similar piece of online research we conducted last September.
5/12
#LockdownReading

In 2019 who could have predicted what we would be reading about in 2020?

Actually we did - some of it.

But it is also fascinating what last year's readers didn't predict: feel-good stories, comedies, men asking for help, family and survival.
6/12
#LockdownReading

Let's look in more detail at the trends and themes identified by readers under lockdown.

There were 3 groups of emerging trends:
* Escapism
* Tie-ins
* Strong voices
7/12
#LockdownReading

Overall trends in reading during lockdown fell into 3 broad segments.

The first of these we've called "Staying In" as it deals with the psychological and the dystopian. Readers reading about fear.
8/12
#LockdownReading

The second of these thematic segments we have called "Going Out" since it reflects this focus directly (reading about travel) and indirectly (feel-good stories).

Readers are reading to escape.
9/12
#LockdownReading

The third and final segment we have called "Being Supportive" since it is a collection of themes all around helping others.

Readers want to read about helping.
10/12
#LockdownReading

And finally, we wanted to understand the "look and feel" of reading now, the semiotics.

We were startled by our findings and for these to make sense we first need to share our findings from Sept 2019. Then "on trend" book covers were dark and menacing.

11/12
#LockdownReading

The "look and feel" of book covers that look right for reading under lockdown are very different.

They issue little threat.
They look neutral and clear, literally clear as well as in colours like white and blue.
12/12
#LockdownReading