posted
Have any of you had any sucsess in the sci-fi market for young adults? I am trying to determine the best format to begin my work. I have many stories that I was considering for a novella series. Or are they looking more for full-length novels? Any imput or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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posted
At the Midwest Literary Festival in the fall in 2007, the buzz was that the Young Adult market is the "it" market in book publishing, that it has growth, particularly for crossover books - books written for YAs but with the potential to appeal to older readers (think mother/daughter book clubs and the like.)
They didn't talk about YA-sci-fi in particular, but that's what I write, so I'm with you! I did ask in an open session with a few agents what the approach would be for marketing a YA sci-fi work, and the agreement was to look for an agent with YA experience, because the publication industry is set up in such a way that the publishers of children's literature are often physically located in different places even if still under a big umbrella.
Oh, and the one other tip they offered, though this isn't YA specific, is to NEVER refer to your work as a "fiction novel". That's redundant redundant and all the agents said they would immediately reject works that came with that term in a cover letter.
posted
Thanks for your insight.I am not sure that I understand what you mean by refering to your work as a "Fiction Novel". Are you refering to queries and corespondance?
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posted
Yes, the agents were talking about their slush piles, and said anything where an author wrote them to ask them to represent their "fiction novel about a girl, a dog and their three day adventure" got automatically rejected.
posted
Thanks for the valuable intel. It makes perfect sense, but sometimes in a desperate plight to get our things read we make silly mistakes such as those. I will add that to my commandments. Thanks again.
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I did ask in an open session with a few agents what the approach would be for marketing a YA sci-fi work, and the agreement was to look for an agent with YA experience, because the publication industry is set up in such a way that the publishers of children's literature are often physically located in different places even if still under a big umbrella. 
