How old is too old?

When my YA novel was being considered for purchase, the acquisition team was concerned that my protag (who was 17 then) was going to be too old for YA at the end of the trilogy based on my synopsis for the rest of the story. (They thought that years were going to pass instead of months.) So if 19-20 was giving them pause, I'd have to say 28 is going to be an issue for you.

If your protag starts at 18, you're probably better off writing it as an adult novel. Lots of SFF has younger protags in them.

Megan McCafferty, the author of the Jessica Darling series, has a character who is sixteen at the start of the series and by the fifth one is in her mid-twenties. I don't think eighteen is too old for a YA. An agent may suggest that you lower her age to say, 25 or 24 maybe. I don't know. But if Megan McCafferty did it, I don't see why you can't.


And don't you just hate it when characters won't stay out of your head?

I'm thinking 28 is definitely too old for YA.

Yep 28 seems a little too old for YA, especially if it's the first book of the series. You could get away with your MC being 17/16 at the start of the series and mid-20s at the end. I've seen it plenty times.