New to YA, and I have a logistical problem I'm hoping you can help me with!

writerwithQs · Jun 15, 2010

So I am writing a YA paranormal novel... it's my first foray into the YA genre, so I have a few logistical problems I'm hoping you guys can help me out with.

My MC is a seventeen year old girl with a gift. She goes to a school for gifted students and everyone knows from the first line of the book what she is. A few chapters in, another character is introduced. He has a central role, but the reader doesn't know what it is, aside from the fact that he's not human. (No, he's not a vampire.) How long can I keep his identity a secret? As it stands right now, I don't think my MC is going to find out until the end of the book. Is that going to be a problem when it comes time to sell my book. I don't want the back cover to have SPOILER ALERT written in huge red letters above the blurb...

Any insight is welcome!

Mayfield · Jun 15, 2010

I'm not sure I follow the context completely, but I don't think withholding that information is a problem as long as your MC (whose perspective the story is being told from) doesn't know. If you're just not saying to keep it a secret from the reader to build a false suspense, then that can feel deceitful. Or if any of the sections are from his POV, then it sets him up as an unreliable narrator. I hope that makes sense.

Sage · Jun 15, 2010

You don't have to reveal the twist in your query (or your blurb). I assume there are other things that make your novel an interesting read, since you're expecting the reader to read on from the beginning to that plot twist. If you're marketing it as paranormal romance, however, you're going to have to make sure that there's something paranormal throughout most of the book and in your query.

If the twist is a particularly good selling point, you can add it to your query just to sell it to agents, but if you can get away without it, that'd be better.

chocowrites · Jun 15, 2010

I've seen the not-human twist hinted at in blurbs with something along the lines of "And [LI's name] may have a secret that will change everything." So it definitely doesn't have to be revealed in the blurb.

Sandy Shin · Jun 15, 2010

I agree. You don't have to reveal his identity in your query or blurb; many YA paranormals don't (THE DARK DIVINE, for example). However, you do need a hook that isn't tied to his identity if you don't want to disclose it in your query letter, because the line chocowrites gives as an example is so common that you shouldn't rely on it as a hook.

writerwithQs · Jun 15, 2010

It's definitely paranormal the whole way through... and there is a separate hook. The whole book is written by one MC, and she doesn't find out til the end. So it's not a ploy at all, it's just part of the plot...

Thanks for all of your advice! I just wasn't sure if that would pose a problem or not.

writerwithQs · Jun 15, 2010

Sage... I do have a question for you, since you mentioned it. Should I be marketing it just as YA paranormal novel or a paranormal romance?

I think the most accurate comparison would be Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels. There is a romantic theme, but it's a series, and she will go through a few guys before she lands on the one she'll end up with. (He does get introduced in the first book, though, and it could be a stand alone novel, with her ending up with someone at the end of the first book).

New to YA, and I have a logistical problem I'm hoping you can help me with!

writerwithQs

Forgetting book endings is my superpower

Mayfield

sleeping the sleep of the sleepless

Sage

Our Lady of Parentheticals

chocowrites

scaredy cat

Sandy Shin

procrastinating, clearly

writerwithQs

Forgetting book endings is my superpower

writerwithQs

Forgetting book endings is my superpower