posted
I don't understand what makes a Y.A. novel, besides it being a story publishers expect will interest teens (and, presumably, not adults). How do publishers make this decision? In some cases a story is obviously geared toward youth, but in other cases the decision to market it to kids seems arbitrary. I've read that one of my favourite authors originally got bounced from one of the Big 3 to a Y.A. publisher (who then, incidentally, decided it wasn't Y.A., and bounced it back). Does anybody know what publishers are looking for when making this kind of determination? What themes/characters/storylines "smack" of Y.A. lit? What makes a story "adult" (asside from the obvious: x-rated themes)?
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posted
I think most of the time the main difference is the age of the protagonist. If the protagonist is a teen, it'll most likely end up in the teen section.
Posts: 299 | Registered: Oct 2008
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Other than age grouping, one other prime characteristic of young adult literature is a tendecy to orient on protagonists with issues relevant to young adults, the coming of age story being a prevalent defining aspect. Character, context, and predicament.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited February 16, 2009).]
posted
Thanks for the replies. Steffenwolf: you're undoubtedly right, but there are several examples of 'adult' works of fiction featuring young protagonists and I wasn't sure what it was that made publishers say "The protagonist's a kid, but this should be marketed to adults". The example that springs most readily to mind is Ender's Game. I think, Extrinsic, you put your finger on it: the relevance of the theme or overarching concern of the protagonist.
I also wonder whether there are approaches to story-telling that lead publishers to conclude a work isn't going to sell to their audience. I ask because I'm not sure whether the story I'm working on now would fall clearly into one category or another. My protagonist is naive and displays child-like ignorance in certain circumstances, and in my mind it's an adventure story/space-opera, though it has some very dark undercurrents and much of the story centres around the protagonist trying to figure out where they fit into the world. So some aspects are 'young', others 'adult'. I don't want the story's target audience to be so ambiguous that what I write is deemed unpublishable.
posted
I don't think the line is clear cut. I remember going to the library as a teen and finding some of the same books in the YA section as the adult section.
Posts: 968 | Registered: Jul 2008
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YA is the only segment of the book market that is growing (note: this is something I heard at a literary festival a little more than a year ago. It may be old or inaccurate news by now, but I tend to agree based on my read of the shelves at the bookstore and the success of the Twilight and Harry Potter universes.)
YA can be dark. In fact, YA readers will tell you straight out that they don't want to be pandered to, don't want to be talked down to, don't want you to try to shelter them from bad stuff. Read the Golden Compass books if you aren't sure (which actually teeters on the brink of another sub-genre often called "mid grade fiction" which features protagonists under 12 years old. Lyra in GC is 11 I believe.)
In my estimation, one difference in writing I've noticed between YA and regular adult genre fiction is that the adult stuff tends to have many more complex plot points, layers, inverleaved storylines, subplots with a lot of complexity, etc. Not to say YA or other youth fiction is simple or easy, but that it tends, to me at least, to be a bit more straightforward. Maybe it's because I've read some Gibson and Asimov and Clark recently, but the YA books I read seem to be clearer about what is happening. Not that they don't leave plenty to the imagination, but they don't meander, they don't expound on philosophical points, they don't tee up mysteries that seem impossible to think through, much less solve (YA works instead seem to tee up mysteries that you *almost* have enough information to solve. Almost.)
Anyway - those are just some of my thoughts.
In the end, as I understand it, it's the publisher's call. However, you should have some good concept about where your book fits into the marketplace before you start trying to market it. The children's division of major publishers is often physically located elsewhere than the other divisions. Targeting your pitch is really important.
If you haven't lately, I suggest reading some in the YA genre. There are some really great works of recent years. I'm not a big Gaiman fan but he's got plenty, I already mentioned Pullman, Scalzi did Zoe's Tale in the last year or two and it's excellent (not a lot of YA sci-fi out there, which I hope to rectify some day soon, LOL...) I'm sure others here could give you suggestions, there are many of us who read YA and mid-grade. I really like the Peter and the Starcatchers series (Barry and Pierson, I think), many love the Inkheart series (Funke), my all-time favorite fantasy is the Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (and The Blue Sword, also by same.) I recently read an excellent book called The Mysterious Benedict Society, blanking on the author's name but I highly recommend it.
Anyway - hope these ideas help! Best of luck to you. We'll take the YA market by storm. Some day.
posted
The Outsiders, (1967) S.E. Hinton, is a noteworthy example of an "adult" themed Young Adult novel. On the top 100 list of most frequently challenged books by the American Library Association, it's objectionable material includes almost all the characters being from broken homes, sex, underage tobacco use, alcohol and drug abuse, and violence. Ponny Boy's, the protagonist, struggle is that of not feeling connected to society. Robert Comier also wrote adult themed Young Adult novels in a similar vein, coming of age and dissociative disorders and attachment disorders.
The target audiences (and adult audiences) ate up the works of both authors, primarily because they felt they weren't being talked down to, nor blocked from the real-world issues that young people face. However, the works of both authors generated considerable controversy, even today.
What science fiction or fantasy publishers might make of similar themed or context content is, in my mind, subject to greater resistance than in the mainstream marketplace. The literary and artistic caliber of Cormier and Hinton's stories overrode much of the objections of censors. Today, I've come to believe that most publishers err on the side of caution when it comes to controversy, anymore, largely because they're litigation shy. Yet, once upon a time, say, in the '60s and '70s, that kind of attention was worth its weight in gold. Controversy sells, big controversy sells big. Shock value has lost lots of its strength from being overdone, but the right kind of shock value...
posted
Fantastic responses - thanks. I admit that with the exception of the Harry Potter series I haven't read a Y.A. or mid-grade novel since I was about nine. Perhaps I'll take a look next time I hit the bookstore.
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posted
Asimov's Norby books are considered YA. I actually own several, but I have to admit I haven't gotten around to reading them. I recently received them as gifts.
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posted
I may be wrong, but I've noticed a difference in pacing as well.
I read my son books aimed at first graders, and the pacing is bang-bang-bang fast, in correlation with shorter attention spans.
I've noticed the older the target market, the slower the pacing. Adult novels often spending vast amount of prose on self inspection. This is not always true, of course, my husband has a shorter attention span than my four year old.
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I have noticed that YA authors often progress their stories, when writing a series or a set, from YA to adult. I find this is especially true with fantasy work.
Examples:
The Hobbit - The Lord of the Rings The Narnia books The Dark is Rising Harry Potter
posted
In addition to the above erudition, I'd offer a couple of thoughts.
I think YAs are more inclined to see the world in black and white, idealistic terms. They'll fight longer than adults for what they believe in, having not yet learned they'll lose; they'll relate better to protagonists who do likewise and don't, for example, pick their battles and finesse the ones they know from bitter experience they can't win.
With their fewer years they enjoy less breadth of knowledge and reading. They're less likely to understand references to Sergeant Bilko or Samantha Stevens, and similes like "He was dressed like something out of a yellow submarine." Nor will they be likely to get references to the three laws of robotics, the ship who sang or the strange being in the strange land. Thus, satire and layers of meaning may be harder to do well for them.
posted
I'm inclined to emphasize the "young adult" in "Y. A."---the characters go from "young" to "adult" in the course of the adventure / story / whatever. The lead character, at least, matures. (This tends to limit the story protagonists to teenagers almost exclusively, being the ones on the verge of maturity.)
I don't know if I'd count The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings as "Y. A."---most of the main characters are mature by the standards of their culture, and some are pretty well up there, too. Perhaps they learn from their experiences, but they are already mature. (Of course, some of the characters weren't "born" in the conventional sense of the word, either...)
posted
Tamora Pierce writes great YA fantasy.Wild Magic is the first book in one of her series. She writes up to 4 books in a series, and each series is about a different protaganist, but they all take place in the same world, and her characters from previous series often show up as adults in the newer books, although one of her more recent books Beka Cooper is about a distant ancestor of one of her characters. I think it's fun stuff. Melanie
Posts: 938 | Registered: May 2008
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posted
Even though the typical YA novel features an adolescent as its protagonist, I don't feel that YA refers to the MC but instead to the reader.
The Hobbit is considered a children's book by many literary organizations. However, I feel that it is the quintessential YA novel. It is a story of a character of childish proportions and behavior who makes a journey into adulthood. It addresses all the fears and excuses that adolescents often have in making this transition. The Lord of the Rings is definitely more adult oriented. However, I wouldn't completely rule out The Fellowship of the Ring, even though it is within the same story, as having YA elements.
I think fantasy, more than any other sub-genre, breaks from the traditional adolescent MC motif. Consider stories involving animals as the MC, such as Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH or Watership Down. Both of these examples are often considered children's books (although I seriously question WD), but they have more YA themes.
Fantasy novels often feature "journeys" of some kind or another, which is a prevalent metaphor for entering adulthood.
posted
"I don't feel that YA refers to the MC but instead to the reader."
That's true. While YAs will relate to an MC who is a YA and not a balding man with a mid-life crisis, all of us here in the UK grew up with Biggles, Dan Dare and Batman, none of whom were youngsters.
posted
I will say that Enders Game appeals to em every bit now as I did when I first read it when I was much much younger and it's not likeone of those sweet youthful memory type things either it's an enjoyable read. I feel the need to go read it again.
In any case I dunno about the difference between YA and adult. I think mayhaps it could be related to discovery. I have an idea where I think i could fit it into either category depending on whether I decide to make it an exploration peice or a conflict peice.
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