The vampire YA market

xxmagicboxersxx · Mar 2, 2010

Okay so, I should start off saying that I've always loved vampires. Always. I remember being ten years old and reading Anne Rice, loving every minute.

I do not, however, love Twilight. They are not vampires. Stop saying they are.

Regardless of my feelings about Twilight, it is hard not to notice the sudden trend it set off. Vampires have always been around, but vampire YA novels being published in this magnitude is new. I don't know if this is fortunate or unfortunate for me.

Before Twilight came about and killed a bit of my brain (I know I'm being harsh... >.>), I started writing this vampire/paranormal novel. YA, of course, since I was 14 at the time. Four years later, I've finished it, scrapped it, and started again - new concepts, new characters, new settings, new twists. The book itself is, I think, very good. I like to throw in bits of my mixed heritage into the pot (Mexican/Native American), and use themes from stories my mother told me when I was growing up. If you know what the Nahual are, I will love you forever.

ANYWAY.

I love this book dearly. I want to share it with other people so they can love it, too (or hate it, I suppose). But... how bad, would you say, the competition in this market is? Should I even bother with is as my debut novel, or should I send in one of my other works first?

LynKay · Mar 3, 2010

I know what Nahual is! *waves arms around* I belong to a mythology rp and actually rp Atlacamani there. One of the characters that she interacts with is Tezcatlipoca; though he shifts into a jaguar not a coyote. Anyway....

Though I disagree about your feelings about Twilight. I do think that since this has become so huge, my experience with agents as I started querying the original manuscript of Spheres was not negative but there was hesitation on some of them. I had to rewrite and rewrite that original idea and shape it into something that at least for me, was new and different.

I think that Vampires will never die After all, look at all the writers that are publishing new books on their vampire series, LJ Smith comes to mind. I think the really important thing when querying your book is to present it with a great hook and show the agent precisely why your novel is different from the sparkling vampires or any other story out there.

shaldna · Mar 3, 2010

I would say that the market it completey and utterly saturated at the minute. I have even seen in several submission guidelines 'no vampires'

I think that anyone is going to have a hard time placing a vampire book at the minute because :

a) there are so so so so many of them about at the minute

b) in two/ three years when the book hits the shelves vamps won't be in anymore, something else will be the hot trend and you're book may be seen as out of date.

Such is the way of the market.

However, a good book is still a good book, and some some genres and sub genres will always have a dedicated readership, but may loose that mass market appeal due to the fickle beast that is trends. especially in YA, which definately moves alot faster than the adult market.

Momento Mori · Mar 3, 2010

xxmagicboxersxx:
Before Twilight came about and killed a bit of my brain (I know I'm being harsh... >.>), I started writing this vampire/paranormal novel. YA, of course, since I was 14 at the time. Four years later, I've finished it, scrapped it, and started again - new concepts, new characters, new settings, new twists. The book itself is, I think, very good. I like to throw in bits of my mixed heritage into the pot (Mexican/Native American), and use themes from stories my mother told me when I was growing up. If you know what the Nahual are, I will love you forever.

How close are you to finishing the manuscript? Are you at the stage where the first draft is almost finished or do you have quite a way to go?

The reason I ask is because shaldna is right in saying that the market for YA books is quite saturated at the moment, to the extent that some publishers are saying 'no' to anything vampiric unless an agent can persuade them that there's something seriously original about the author's take.

However, if you've still got a way to go with finishing your manuscript (and by finish, I mean completing the first draft and then going through the endless and painful editing process) then bearing in mind that you'd be realistically looking at a publication date 2 to 3 years away, it could be that the market is back to looking at vampire books.

In addition, the fact that you're including Mexican/Native American aspects into the story would definitely work to give it a hook that might make an agent want to take a punt on it.

Ultimately it comes down to how much you want to finish this book and how much you love this book. If you think you've got a good story and a good plot then I'd say finish it and see how it goes out on submission. You can always work on your next book when it's doing the rounds and psychologically, I think it's important to get a manuscript finished so that you can prove to yourself that you can do it.

MM

shaldna · Mar 3, 2010

Momento Mori said:
because shaldna is right

I never get tired of hearing that.

In fact, I;m thinking of paying a handsome man to follow me around and say it every time I speak.

Cyia · Mar 3, 2010

Remember, too that vampires aren't just a "trend". They're an ongoing sub-genre that will ALWAYS have readers. There are people out there who are vampire fans, just like others would classify themselves as romance readers or horror readers or action readers. Vamps will always have a place in the market, right now there's just more of them out and about than normal.

shaldna · Mar 3, 2010

Cyai is right, but it's important to look at those publishers and writers who do continually produce vampire books.

at the minute it seems like every publishing house has at least one out. but you'll find that the majority of them won't in a year or two and there will be a few publishers who have always published them who will continue to publish them.

Momento Mori · Mar 3, 2010

shaldna:
I never get tired of hearing that.

In fact, I;m thinking of paying a handsome man to follow me around and say it every time I speak.

LOL. Your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe for more information.

MM

PoppysInARow · Mar 3, 2010

I agree with shaldna (Yes, I think you're right too) that the market is very saturated, and some agents will roll their eyes at hearing about another vampire book. But that doesn't mean you'll never be able to sell it. You juswt have to sell it in a different way, making your book original not because it has vampires, but because of something else in the plot.

Epic fantasy isn't selling very well right now, but I inadvertantly wrote one. I never explicityly said it was an epic fantasy (In my query letter), I wrote around that fact and it's doing quite well.

And yes, like others have said, vampires will never die. If you have a strong concept, then agents will jump on your book, vampires or not. It mmight be a relief from all the other regurgitated fanfictions they see since Twilight's release.

Marzipan · Mar 3, 2010

In fact, I;m thinking of paying a handsome man to follow me around and say it every time I speak.

I have one. I don't have to pay him either. Ha!

Still, I agree with what others have said. My best advice to you is to finish your story. Do the edits with beta readers. Then query. If nothing happens then trunk your novel and start something new. Trunk your old novel and try again in three years if you can't land an agent now. Best of luck to you!

xxmagicboxersxx · Mar 3, 2010

:3 Thanks guys, I appreciate all the responses. The book is near a second completion, and I've been editing it along the way. That is to say, when I don't have a muse, I go back and correct things. Of course I'll edit it a few more times when it's 100% done.

I'll be sure to market it in a way that doesn't scream HEY LOOK AT ME, VAMPIRES!

CheyElizabeth · Mar 3, 2010

I read the Vampire Diaries in the 90s and loved it.. then Twilight came out ten years later and was a huge hit. Maybe shelf the book and wait a decade... Give a new generation of teens something to sink their teeth into..

Kitty27 · Mar 3, 2010

I know what Nahual are and I say,GO GIRL!

I LOVE vampires and I agree with everyone else. Originality and a killer hook,along with a great MS,should be all you need. Vampires will never die. I think there is still a market for vampire YA but agents are looking for stories with a new take and not just romance.

Good luck!

xxmagicboxersxx · Mar 3, 2010

Chey - At this rate, it'll be a decade before I'm completely happy with it. Took me two years to write the first draft, and it's been two years since then. x_X

Kitty - :3 I don't think vampires will DIE, I'm just concerned with breaking into the marker. If vampires died out, I'd probably die with them.

shaldna · Mar 4, 2010

That was a good point about epic fantasy. there aren;t many new titles, but those that are out are selling well because they ahve a loyal readership.

they just are mass market popular at the minute, but wait until the next big epic movie adaptation and there will a flood of them.

for instance, they are just starting to film the song of fire and ice adaptations in Belfast (very exciting for me

) and when they come out i'm sure there will be alot of push for epic fantasy novels. ti was the same when the LOTR movies came out, suddly EF's were all the vogue again.

lvae · Mar 4, 2010

I've currently shelved my 'vampire' novel. It's complete, and imo, as polished as it can possibly get, and I've queried the hell out of it, but rejected partials and fulls aside, I've lately been getting a lot of personalised queries rejects that specifically mention the vampires are the problem.

Of course, I would have never queried the book if I didn't think it was flawless, stunning, amazing, absolutely need-to-read etc, however the harsh truth (that I am slowly but surely coming to accept) is that vampires are really done right now. The bar is raised a lot higher for vampire books, and the moment you mention 'vampire' in your query, they want something sensational... or otherwise it's a 'not for me' reject.

I'm currently working on a new WIP (which is dystopic fantasy. Why am I always missing the boat. Why, world why?), but I'm planning to query my vampire novel again when I've figured out an irresistable hook. (Which I think I have... but I won't jump the gun again. I'm waiting until I've finished my current WIP) My tip is that you shouldn't sideline the fact that you've got vampires. Far from it. You really need to present how your version of vampires is different. IMO, that was my biggest mistake and I won't make it again next time.

Amynta · Mar 4, 2010

A lot of what you said here resonates with me, as last year I was in that position. Finished vampire novel and... wondering what to do about it. During the writing of it I had people call me "another hack like Meyer" and "someone else who just wants to jump on the vampire bandwagon" despite disliking Twilight and having first tried my hand at writing a vampire novel a decade ago (and giving it several more goes in between).

I decided that I was going to set the novel aside, work on something else and come back to it at a later date. Come back with more experience and skill, and make those touch-ups I know would make it better. And in the meantime write new stuff and get that published.

People are always going to want vampires - just right now there's too much of it and a lot isn't that great. In a few years time, after another trend has caught on like crazy, and vampires have had a few years underground... it might be a very good time then.

Kitty27 · Mar 4, 2010

I think this is in the YA and adult genre. Vampires are everywhere now,but they are of a certain kind. Sweet folks with fangs and other disrespect to vampkind.

*cries*

I write adult vampires. Very nasty,vicious,and utterly unpleasant creatures. They are SO not in right now. Vampire crazes go in cycles. I agree with Disdainful Soul completely.

Vamps will be back and hopefully,it will no longer be in to write them as Care Bears with long teeth. I do think that a vampire MS can be published,but it was to be an exceptional book.

kaitlin008 · Mar 4, 2010

Kitty27 said:
I think this is in the YA and adult genre. Vampires are everywhere now,but they are of a certain kind. Sweet folks with fangs and other disrespect to vampkind.

I don't know that this is true. I mean there are a couple (few?) series like this, but that doesn't mean every series out there right now is. I can think of plenty of good ones. You just have to want to find them.

Kitty27 · Mar 4, 2010

kaitlin008 said:
I don't know that this is true. I mean there are a couple (few?) series like this, but that doesn't mean every series out there right now is. I can think of plenty of good ones. You just have to want to find them.

Lead me to them,Kaitlin!

I love a good vampire series!

xxmagicboxersxx · Mar 4, 2010

Kitty27 said:
I think this is in the YA and adult genre. Vampires are everywhere now,but they are of a certain kind. Sweet folks with fangs and other disrespect to vampkind.

*cries*

I write adult vampires. Very nasty,vicious,and utterly unpleasant creatures. They are SO not in right now. Vampire crazes go in cycles. I agree with Disdainful Soul completely.

Vamps will be back and hopefully,it will no longer be in to write them as Care Bears with long teeth. I do think that a vampire MS can be published,but it was to be an exceptional book.

Anne Rice can be blamed for this. While her vampires are not exactly cuddly, they're more human than, say, Dracula or Nosferatu. Humanized vampires have always been around.

Anyway, I'm not going to lie. My novel does have the "cuddly" vampire bit, but even then I wouldn't call them cuddly. They're bloodthirsty and cruel just like vampires should be, but with... a soft side.

And they're Mayan (and... Greek >.>). :3

I don't think I'll market this book as a vampire novel. I'll market it... I have no idea. xD

Glenakin · Mar 5, 2010

Vampires will never die, because honestly nothing ever dies in literature. Some elements recede into the dark and resurrect later, like vampires and angels and all of that stuff. But at the moment ... way too much vampires. And it's not even the vampires that piss me off. It's the vampires who are always wanting to fall in love with the naive, ordinary girl. In a biology class (or any other class). How do I know it's a class - well, it's a YA book. Chances are the ordinary girl is in high school and will meet her hot vampire lover who she's destined to marry forever and ever in a class.

That's the bit I'm sick off. Meyer's Twilight saga was the last vampire novel I read. I'm not touching anyone again. I've also been avoiding fallen angels, because I think what writers are doing now is taking old, dusty manuscript of theirs and changing "vampire" to "angel".

@ OP, do what you gotta do. Maybe your take on the vampire myth will be interesting enough to get people to read and agents will want it.

As for me, except Bin Laden straps me to a chair and puts or gun on my face and asks me to read a YA vampire novel, or some writer comes up with something really, really, really, freaking fresh, I'm avoiding vamps

xxmagicboxersxx · Mar 5, 2010

Edited because of bitchiness.

>.>;

shaldna · Mar 5, 2010

Glenakin said:
I've also been avoiding fallen angels, because I think what writers are doing now is taking old, dusty manuscript of theirs and changing "vampire" to "angel".

i'm so glad i'm not the only one thinking this.,

xxmagicboxersxx · Mar 5, 2010

shaldna said:
i'm so glad i'm not the only one thinking this.,

I haven't seen any.

Then again, I haven't been reading a lot of YA lately...

The vampire YA market

Hanging out through Space and Time

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Tired and Disillusioned

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Rewriting My Destiny

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Tired and Disillusioned

My horn can pierce the sky!

So Goth That I Was Born Black

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

oh so shiny

So Goth That I Was Born Black

Seeing newness all the time

So Goth That I Was Born Black

The cake is a lie. But still cake.