Do readers actually want to read seasonal books?

The lead-up to Christmas is always a special and stressful time of year. The publishing industry often goes through a significant boom during this period, as bookstores sell all manner of texts designed to be passed on as gifts to loved ones. Many authors will even target the holiday season with their releases, hoping to top the charts due to the boost that comes from Christmas present consumerism.

However, every year, publishers also promote their seasonal texts, books designed to be read around the Christmas season. These novels aren’t so great as presents considering they are out of date by the time they’ve been opened, but in theory these texts transport the reader to a more festive world, to set the scene for the holiday season. Although it’s easy to come across these kinds of books, we’ve got to analyse whether anyone actually reads them. 

We’ve all seen Christmas books lining the shelves of well-known chain bookstores. There’s a couple of genres these novels usually fall into. On the fictional side, the space is dominated by romance titles, the kind of book that could easily be adapted to a Hallmark-style festive film. These novels are set during the holidays, feature an unlikely love interest and often conclude with a happy ending just in time for the big day. Those are generalisations, but often these festive books follow a pretty familiar formula.

Of course, there are texts that completely break those trends. Horror and fantasy elements have been woven into plenty of seasonal works, to set a completely different scene. And although it’s less conventional, there are science fiction works out there as well, which try to put a new spin on the festivities. Within the fictional column there are also kids' texts, which range across various genres, but are all designed to sprinkle a little more magic in the lead-up to the holidays. These are perhaps the most commonly found books, with the children’s market arguably becoming the most prominent during the season.

The non-fiction side of the publishing industry also embraces Christmas, but is largely taken over by "how to" guides. From craft books to cooking manuals, non-fiction Christmas texts are designed to show their audience how they can get the most out of the festive season. Informative and fun, these achieve the same goal as the fictional novels and set the tone for the end of the year. There have been some truly bizarre concepts within this field that try to take advantage of the wackiness of the season. But for the most part, consumers are more likely to come across a Christmas cocktail book than they are to buy a title about decorating a garden shed for the holidays. 

While we might all be familiar with the classic archetypes of a seasonal book, be it fiction or non-fiction, it’s important to stop and think about how many of these novels we actually own. If these types of books were truly big, then we’d likely all have a copy or be able to name a few famous ones.

In the non-fiction category a whole range of best-selling titles pop up, usually based around the food genre. Major chefs like Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson have contributed to the space and Kirstie Allsopp has jumped in with her own crafts text.

On the fictional side there are some standouts such as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Terry Prachett’s Hogfather and Dr Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Everyone has their own favourite seasonal story and perhaps that goes to show the sheer range and depth of the market. Just like any other publishing sector, there are mainstream hits from throughout history and then lesser-known titles from notorious or debuting authors. So there’s an established market there, but does anyone actually buy new or classic Christmas books?

The best way to see if consumers are actually reading Christmas books is to look at the best sellers for the end of the year. Of course, this data is influenced by those books that became widespread Christmas gifts that are not related to the season. Amazon’s current bestseller list for example is full of titles that are sure to make the Christmas tree like Richard Osman’s The Last Devil To Die or Mary Berry's Mary Makes It Easy. However, among that list is also kids books like Tom Fletcher’s The Christmasaurus, Fiona Watts’ That’s Not My Christmas, Katie Kirby’s The Completely Chaotic Christmas of Lottie Brooks and yes even Dr Suess’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

The WH Smith’s best seller list tells a slightly different story, although one that’s no less seasonal. While kids texts aren’t quite taking off on the platform, that hasn’t stopped cosy romance books from taking over. The Christmas Rose by Dilly Court, The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan and The Whittiers by Danielle Steel all deliver on the festive spirit. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore even jumps in on the action, albeit for a slightly different seasonal celebration. Indeed, regardless of the listing or the year for that matter, from Alison Cochrun’s Kiss Her Once for Me, to Lyssa Kay Adams’ A Very Merry Bromance, there’s an endless supply of festive fables that consumers are lapping up like good eggnog. 

Ultimately, it seems that there is a genuine interest in these easy to read, cosy books, that elevate the festive period slightly. Although some might not be mainstream and there’s a huge variety to choose from meaning the market is slightly saturated, audiences are still looking to gain that Christmas fix in a slightly different way. And just like festive films, it’s doubtless that we revisit our favourites every year, to get in the spirit again! So keep on buying those Christmas texts, the season will be a little more fun because of them.