We’re beginning to understand and accept that Covid-19 has changed our lives in a myriad of ways. The normal we knew isn’t going to return any time soon. So, the critical question on everyone’s lips these days is what’s next? What will our lives be like when social distancing restrictions are lifted, and main street shops and restaurants reopen for business? How will they have changed?

Like you, I’ve started giving that a lot of thought. My focus has been on the literary world. We take books and the visual arts that flow from the printed word—movies and streaming videos—for granted. Still, I believe our current condition will have subtle effects on the choices we make going forward. 

21st century America has already seen significant changes in book publishing. Print-on-demand technology has dramatically reduced the cost of much fiction. In general, that’s a benefit. But it has also led to the production of literally thousands of book that never should have been published: cheap, quick, poorly written reads that can be tossed aside halfway through if we don’t like them so we can move on to the next cheap, quick, poorly written read. That’s going to change going forward. Everything in life is going to be more important, more precious to us. We aren’t going to be so frivolous with our time in the future; our stuff is going to seem more important to us. We’re not going to spend our dollars as freely as we did either. Value will become more important.

The subject matter of fiction is likely to see some changes too. Dystopian novels are likely to become less popular—we’re already in a dystopian time, why read about it? But historical fiction that tells good stories about the way things used to be may become more popular, I call that “The Good Old Days” syndrome. But “historical” is likely to take on a new definition. Anything earlier than the Pandemic of 2020 may become historical—he good old days.

I think we’ll see kinder and gentler stories, too. By that, I mean not so much fiction about people living off the grid, and more about first responders and personal acts of kindness and bravery. Also, books about people working together for common goals may become more popular. Not cartels and corporations, but individuals who see wrongs and come together to right them. John Grisham’s The Guardians is a good example.

I may be totally wrong, but those are my thoughts looking ahead. What are yours? I’d like to hear your visions for the post-pandemic world. Not just books, but any subject that comes to your mind. Please send them to me, and I’ll share them. You can be anonymous if you prefer. To me, the important thing is that we collectively start sharing our thoughts about what will come next. I won’t promise not to steal them for my next novel.