Bologna deals: romantasy vs. MG

At the 2026 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, agents said young adult deals still tilt toward romantasy, while middle-grade buyers are testing whether readers are coming back. (publishersweekly.com) Diane Roback reported from the fair on April 13 that rights teams were tracking two questions at once: whether romantasy still “leads the pack” in young adult and whether middle grade is “making a comeback.” The fair itself runs April 13-16 in Bologna and is expected to draw more than 33,000 visitors, with roughly 1,500 exhibitors from 90 countries. (publishersweekly.com 1) (publishersweekly.com 2) Erica Rand Silverman of Stimola Literary Studio said she was seeing “an appetite for older middle grade and younger YA,” alongside continued requests for romantasy, dystopia, and fantasy. Alessandra Birch of Writers House said romantasy still leads in young adult, but a handful of brand-name authors dominate the space, making it harder to launch new series. (publishersweekly.com) Birch said that squeeze is pushing interest toward adjacent categories: near-future dystopia, fantasy-thriller blends, and horror. She also said contemporary young adult remains difficult, except for some highly commercial romantic comedies. (publishersweekly.com) The middle-grade question comes after a weak stretch in the United States market. Circana said in July 2024 that middle-grade print sales fell 5% in the first half of that year, or 1.8 million units, and called the category the most underperforming children’s age segment. (circana.com) Circana also said middle-grade buyers rely more than other children’s segments on school book fairs and recommendations from friends and family. In the same report, it said growth pockets inside middle grade were tied to escapist themes including robots, dragons, adventure, and wilderness stories. (circana.com) The sales backdrop in 2025 was mixed. Publishers Weekly, citing Circana BookScan, reported in January that children’s fiction unit sales rose 1.6% in 2025, while young adult fiction fell 1.8%. (publishersweekly.com) Romantasy’s commercial pull was still visible in adult shelves, where romance sales rose 3.9% in 2025 even as fantasy sales fell 8.7%, according to Publishers Weekly’s summary of BookScan data. The same report said Rebecca Yarros’s “Onyx Storm” sold nearly 1.7 million copies in its collector’s edition and another 573,000 in its standard edition. (publishersweekly.com) Bologna matters because it is where children’s publishers and agents test export demand before many English-language books reach shelves. The fair’s Rights Centre describes itself as the hub for copyright trading and says it hosts 200 professionals from around the world. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com) So the split agents described in Bologna is specific: young adult buyers still want fantasy with romance, but they want fresher versions of it, and middle-grade buyers are looking for signs that illustrated, adventurous, and escapist books can widen the audience again. (publishersweekly.com) (circana.com)