I just attended a writers' conference on writing for YA and I learned about "New Adult" literature, a newish market category for ages 18+. Has anyone ever heard of this before? What do you know about it?
"New Adult" Literature
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It hasn't really taken hold. A lot of people are hoping it becomes a genre in it's own right, but for now it's still a tough sell and isn't recognized by most agents/publishers. I read an agent blog just last week that said "new adult isn't a genre" on a query critique. Some agents are giving it a shot, and hopefully more will get on board. For now though, it's in a tricky spot.
As Stiger said, it's being talked about but it hasn't been truly accepted as a category. I know that Entangled Publishing had "New Adult" as one of their categories on their website, but I just looked at their site the other day and it has been changed to "Young Adult". Maybe New Adult isn't as up-and-coming as they thought? No idea.
I really hope it gets more recognition though. I have one MS that I am not sure would be accepted as completely YA and it's definitely not Adult. So, fingers crossed.
I really hope it gets more recognition though. I have one MS that I am not sure would be accepted as completely YA and it's definitely not Adult. So, fingers crossed.
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It's not really a market since only one publisher (St Martin's) has it as a category. A very few others (Entangled) will call it YA - which is fine, because they're excellent novels. Most of the things you'd find in New Adult could very well just go under regular old adult. Or aged down to high school age and become YA.
Most agents will pass on it simply for the fact that there isn't a market for it.
Most agents will pass on it simply for the fact that there isn't a market for it.
I've heard the term before too. I think there SHOULD be a market for it and I'm not really sure why the industry seems to be resisting it so much. The reason I say 'should' is because when I was a junior/senior in high school, I wanted to read about people in college, people between the ages of 18 - 23, basically, the person I would become after I graduated, but there really weren't many options, you either had YA or Chick-lit which focused more on 21+ career girls. Nowadays there are waaaay more options but still not nearly enough. Publishers need to realize that YA readers don't remain teenagers forever and will not be as interested in reading about first kisses and chem class in 5 years time. They need to progress along with the reader.
HOOOKAY, I'll get off my soapbox now! LOL. I'm not even writing any 'New Adult' stuff, but I have a lot of feelings okay??
HOOOKAY, I'll get off my soapbox now! LOL. I'm not even writing any 'New Adult' stuff, but I have a lot of feelings okay??
Okay have you seen Mean Girls?
Gretchen Weiners/ YA Authors: That's so Fetch (New Adult)!
Regina George/Agents+Publishers: Stop trying to make 'Fetch' (New Adult) happen, Gretchen (Authors), it's not going to happen!
And now I guess they're on crack.
Wait. If you haven't seen Mean Girls just ignore this post.
Gretchen Weiners/ YA Authors: That's so Fetch (New Adult)!
Regina George/Agents+Publishers: Stop trying to make 'Fetch' (New Adult) happen, Gretchen (Authors), it's not going to happen!
And now I guess they're on crack.
Wait. If you haven't seen Mean Girls just ignore this post.
It's not really catching on with publishers, however, self-published authors (such as Jessica Park and Jamie McGuire are breaking through the top 100 charts on Amazon with their books that are set in college). It's kind of an interesting thing to be watching...people are buying this books but publishers haven't been coming out with many of them, so it's all going on through self-publishing.
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I see more authors jumping on the term than publishers. I do think more YA authors are starting to write it (college-aged protags), so either the industry will continue shuffling it into YA or Adult as they feel is appropriate, or, eventually, New Adult will catch on.
When I signed on with Entangled, HUSHED was considered New Adult. Since then, though, Entangled has cut their categories down to just YA, but they have a banner on the main page:
So who knows.
I think as long as book stores aren't making a NA section in their shops, it isn't going to fully catch on.
When I signed on with Entangled, HUSHED was considered New Adult. Since then, though, Entangled has cut their categories down to just YA, but they have a banner on the main page:
So who knows.
I think as long as book stores aren't making a NA section in their shops, it isn't going to fully catch on.
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I'd also love it if it took off, but it seems unlikely to happen at this point. A lot of agents will roll their eyes at the mere mention of it, so I'd avoid it if possible.
Everyone above has basically said it right.
Ideally, "new adult" is for the college age crowd - 18-early twenties - with themes that are a little too mature/isolating to a teen (like college - something most teens can't relate to yet) but might not appeal to all "adult' readers (just as YA won't appeal to all adults). Some claim it's an "untapped" market, but, in reality, it's hard to sell, not only to publishers but to readers.
College students - generally - aren't reading much outside of required reading. They don't have time. And those who are just read adult or YA. It's not a big enough or hungry enough market to feed, which is why publishers and agents typically pass.
St. Martin's, however, is doing New Adult. A friend of mine is an editor there, and she said that they have a few upcoming titles, but they are still really selective and watching the sales carefully to see how it goes. It's still in an experimental phase. If it actually does do well and take off, the other pubs will hop on board in a heartbeat. For now, though, there's no real market.
Ideally, "new adult" is for the college age crowd - 18-early twenties - with themes that are a little too mature/isolating to a teen (like college - something most teens can't relate to yet) but might not appeal to all "adult' readers (just as YA won't appeal to all adults). Some claim it's an "untapped" market, but, in reality, it's hard to sell, not only to publishers but to readers.
College students - generally - aren't reading much outside of required reading. They don't have time. And those who are just read adult or YA. It's not a big enough or hungry enough market to feed, which is why publishers and agents typically pass.
St. Martin's, however, is doing New Adult. A friend of mine is an editor there, and she said that they have a few upcoming titles, but they are still really selective and watching the sales carefully to see how it goes. It's still in an experimental phase. If it actually does do well and take off, the other pubs will hop on board in a heartbeat. For now, though, there's no real market.
Could I have a link? I heard someone else talk of this and want to read the agent's blog!
I'm not sure if it was this agent blog post Stiger was talking about, but I came across this one a bit ago: http://bigglasscases.blogspot.ca/2011/10/putting-a-in-ya.html
Also an interesting reading on new adult: http://www.fromthewriteangle.com/2012/02/in-support-of-new-adult-fiction.html
Also an interesting reading on new adult: http://www.fromthewriteangle.com/2012/02/in-support-of-new-adult-fiction.html
I'll look back through my history on my home computer and see if I can find it. It wasn't on a blog I read regularly and I can't remember how I found it (I think it was linked from something else). It was a query critique. I was slightly appalled that the agent just wrote it off like she did.
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In that first blog post Soopykun linked to, someone made a good point:
I DO think there's a market out there for it. For HUSHED, and several other NA titles I've seen/read, reading through the reviews you'll notice a lot of readers appreciate having older protags who aren't dealing with high school stuff anymore.
I know when I'm browsing YA books, if I find one that falls under 'upper YA' or 'new adult,' I'm instantly more interested in reading.
I DO think there's a market out there for it. For HUSHED, and several other NA titles I've seen/read, reading through the reviews you'll notice a lot of readers appreciate having older protags who aren't dealing with high school stuff anymore.
I know when I'm browsing YA books, if I find one that falls under 'upper YA' or 'new adult,' I'm instantly more interested in reading.
I think that "New Adult" may take off but at the same time, it's really the same audience that got hooked by the YA boom a few years ago. It's really just the YA readers getting older. It would be stupid to not write books appealing to these aging YA readers with college-age protagonists, with plots and stories that have themes in-between YA and adult, but at the same time . . . how many of the YA boom readers are going to make time to read a book? As someone who recently got through college, it is DAMN hard to have time for other activities especially if you're working . . . unless you want your grades to fall a letter average or so.
I think that we mostly have to wait and see on "New Adult". I think YA with 17 or 18-year-old protagonists might be more likely to break out than "New Adult", same with "adult" fiction that have protagonists in their early to mid twenties.
I think that we mostly have to wait and see on "New Adult". I think YA with 17 or 18-year-old protagonists might be more likely to break out than "New Adult", same with "adult" fiction that have protagonists in their early to mid twenties.
Lots of people, I know most people who left my school didn't go onto college or university. Of course my comprehensive was in a town and university was just not the thing everyone aspired to because of family, family businesses, lack of money or just no desire to continue their education after 16. They just got jobs and settled down and have families now. I'm 22.
Thanks Soopykun and Stiger05. Those links are a pretty good read. Bookmarking!
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If you really care about reading, you're going to read no matter what. I just got a promotion at work and I've been doing more overtime and getting more and more stressed, but I still keep reading because it keeps me alive.
When I was in university, I read a LOT. Because I hated university and ignored my classwork until the last possible minute XD
It all comes down to priorities. And if you're someone who loves reading, reading is going to remain a priority no matter what.
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I agree with all of this. I think another issue with this "New Adult" marketing category is that it's really niche, specified market if you think about it for a second. It's directed at a pretty small age group (18-23ish) and usually featured something "college-aged" people can relate to. But here's the thing: a lot of people don't go to college. A lot of people don't relate to "college-age" experiences.
Young Adult is popular because it's very universal. Everyone can relate to being a teenager. We all had to do it. The themes of growing up, fitting in, finding love, finding our place in the world, etc. are often shared by the collective consciousness. When you get to "college-age," that scope narrows quite a bit. Some people go immediately to adulthood. Some languish in the adolescent haze (in which case they'll probably relate more to YA). College is certainly full of unique experiences, but I don't know that the market is there or if it's universal enough to make it enough of a "thing" to warrant its own marketing group.
There's kind of a crowbar separation between the teen/high school experience and adulthood, but I don't think there's as much of a separation when it comes to the years between 18-25. It's all kind of a blended mish-mash of adolescence and adulthood. Books about people in college do exist, they're just usually marketed as YA or general fiction, rather than trying to squeeze in a specific marketing group.
I personally don't understand why a New Adult market wouldn't take off. I went to a very rigorous university and I still saw people reading books for fun, not to mention with the major focus high schools have on getting ready for college. I'm taking a year off and I'm going back to my senior year of college next year, and you can bet I'll be reading still!
Now I'm curious as to see how people would react. I might pose this question to my friends on Facebook, which are (with a few exceptions) people aging from 18 to 25.
I disagree. I think there are a lot of universal experiences in the twenties age range that are pretty universal. I don't believe a "new adult" market should just be about college, because that's like saying The Hunger Games shouldn't be YA because it doesn't take place in high school. Separating from parents for the first time, coming to understand your own mortality, navigating living on your own for the first time, your first serious relationship, getting married--all of those have nothing to do with college but are things that usually happen in the early to mid twenties.
Now I'm curious as to see how people would react. I might pose this question to my friends on Facebook, which are (with a few exceptions) people aging from 18 to 25.
I disagree. I think there are a lot of universal experiences in the twenties age range that are pretty universal. I don't believe a "new adult" market should just be about college, because that's like saying The Hunger Games shouldn't be YA because it doesn't take place in high school. Separating from parents for the first time, coming to understand your own mortality, navigating living on your own for the first time, your first serious relationship, getting married--all of those have nothing to do with college but are things that usually happen in the early to mid twenties.
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I dunno, I feel like there are already a lot of existing novels about young adulthood, starting a career, meeting your spouse/getting married, having children, breaking away from your family, etc. When I see most writers talking about "New Adult," they largely seem to be talking about characters who are attending college or perhaps fresh out of high school (in my experience, which is admittedly limited). Maybe it will take off eventually, I don't know.
All of this! I just don't get New Adult as a distinct marketing category for all of these reasons... It makes no sense to me. I think the people who really want it to happen are probably in that age group and don't understand a lot about marketing.
I really don't think St. Martin's was trying to create the next behemoth like YA, but trying to jump the gun and set themselves up in a niche market before anyone else so they'd be the go to publisher for those kinds of titles. But I think they understood it'd be a very specialized thing, not this broad marketing category with universal appeal. Because it really only appeals to people in that age group, whereas YA is as huge as it is not because more teens are reading, but because more adults are reading YA, and I just don't see more adults beyond the early twenties reading lots of New Adult titles as opposed to, you know, plain Adult titles. So I guess I'm with missesdash and Regina George (whose name I just got now that I've seen it in print for the first time. doh!): stop trying to make fetch (new adult) happen...
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It is hard to peg where your story/novel involving college age kids should be. I'm not sure it needs a new genre, but that might be because I feel people get too hung up on genre. I see a lot of wrinkled noses at the library when patrons find out that something is anywhere but the "regular fiction" section. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time? We have that in Mystery. The Hunger Games? That's Young Adult.
I understand the marketing need for genre, at the very least, but feel almost like it's a "trap" that people get caught in. If you don't want to read about space ships fine, don't read SciFi, but also don't assume that's all SciFi is about. If you don't want to read about 20 year olds in college don't read.......yeah, what's the caveat?
I understand the marketing need for genre, at the very least, but feel almost like it's a "trap" that people get caught in. If you don't want to read about space ships fine, don't read SciFi, but also don't assume that's all SciFi is about. If you don't want to read about 20 year olds in college don't read.......yeah, what's the caveat?
Pretty sure it's because millenials are special snowflakes lol. I mean I love my fellow adulescents, but when you're over 18, you're an adult. Regardless of your chronic Peter Pan syndrome or the fact that you still feel 'lost' and are 'struggling' to 'find' your 'way' etc etc.
Some people go to college and end up with a degree, but most don't. They go out into the world and work. That transition lasts a few years for some and ten years for others. There is very little that happens in the early twenties that doesn't happen in mid to late twenties. Life after adolescence is a series of transitions.
New Adult is about as necessary as 'mid-life crisis lit,' 'elderly fiction' and 'end of life'. These aren't separate genres because they are simply check points within the 60-70 year stretch known as 'adulthood.'
/super cynical rant
Hey hey hey! I'm totally planning on making 'elderly fiction' happen! I just need to become an old lady first!