The latest version of Thema was ratified by the International Thema Committee in October 2024, a culmination of two years of development and consultation. Thema 1.6 is now live on TitlePage, so publishers can take advantage of 131 new subject codes and 411 new special interest qualifiers. This new version strengthens discoverability for booksellers and readers alike, with more targeted categories and qualifiers that respond to changing market demand, and to help match books with readers’ interests more precisely. 

Highlights of Thema 1.6

A number of these new codes and qualifiers offer opportunities for Australian publishers and booksellers, particularly the following:

• Expanded geographical coverage of Australia. More regional specificity helps position books with an Australian focus, and supports booksellers in matching local content to demand. 

• Increased Indigenous focus. Additional categories and qualifiers highlight Indigenous content and Connection to Country / Welcome to Country.

• Support for UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). New qualifiers now cover individual SDGs offering a way to underscore books that address specific global issuers, making these titles more visible to conscientious consumers and educational markets

• Additional subgenres and popular tropes. Thema 1.6 introduces more categories for popular fiction genres, including romance, with specific BookTok inspired tropes to tap into growing reader communities around these trends.

Find a full list of new codes and the updated Thema browser on the EDItEUR website. 

Next steps for publishers

• Review and enhance your Thema categories. With these updates now supported by TitlePage, this is an ideal prompt to give booksellers all the information they need to get your books into the hands of readers. 

• Prepare for a Thema-forward future. While BIC remains mandatory on TitlePage, Thema is strongly encouraged and will soon become a requirement as TitlePage transitions to a Thema-based search engine.  

• Update your backlist. Don’t forget that TitlePage can provide you with Thema translated BIC to help populate backlists.

Please reach out if you have questions about how the new Thema codes can best represent your titles.