Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult: How do you categorize your novel?

dreamer89

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what is the general word count for middle grade? I read the sticky was 100 pages...what is that in word count? thanks :)
 

Irissel

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I've been confused lately as to where a couple of my projects would fall. I have one that I am certain is MG, but later books in the series may be YA. Another of my projects is definitely YA. My other projects have characters of so many different ages and cover such a large expanse of time that I don't really know where they would fall. They are definitely coming-of-age stories but I don't know how Young Adults would take to them.
 

GlobalWolf

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I'm not really sure what I think of the definition of YA novels requiring subtle reminders that nothing too bad will happen because of the age range it's marketed to. Some of the more recent stories veer into "anyone can and probably will die" territory. I think that the general tone and style of the story are a better indicator of the division between older YA literature and fiction written with an adult audience in mind, particularly with stories that have a lot of crossover appeal (the character focus vs. plot focus angle seems a lot better with some than the idea of a story that feels vaguely safe, since some of them have a darker atmosphere than the target age range would suggest).
 

Stiger05

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MG/YA

I'm having trouble distinguishing my book between MG and YA. Right now it has 79,000 words and deals with a 13 and 14 year old main characters. They encounter alternate worlds and magic and themes of finding their place in the world but also murder, death of a friend, and an attempted suicide. I can't decide if those themes are too mature for MG or if the former elements are too elementary for YA?
 

Kitty Pryde

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I have certainly read MG novels that have suicidal ideation, or murder, and MG novels are practically littered with the bodies of dead friends. I've read YA with much tamer content than that as well! Go to the library and read 10 recent MG fantasy novels and 10 recent YA fantasy novels and it will be much clearer what you're writing. 13-14 yr old protags is more likely to be MG than YA.
 

Stiger05

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Thanks Kitty! I read a lot of MG/YA, the most recent being the Keys to the Kingdom and the Hunger Games series, but mine seems to fall in the middle of those two types. It difficult to know how to query. Maybe that means the book needs work if its dancing the line.
 

Jehhillenberg

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My manuscript is definitely edgy YA and is around 67K words.
 

Sarah G

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Hi

I'm really stuck on my Ms. I can't figure out wheather it's Realistic YA or Fantasy YA.

The charecters are around 19, 20 so I ruled out MG, there is death and magic, its set in our world, any thoughts anyone? would be welcome
Also its around 50,000- 55,000k
Thanks
 

Ferret

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Hi

I'm really stuck on my Ms. I can't figure out wheather it's Realistic YA or Fantasy YA.

The charecters are around 19, 20 so I ruled out MG, there is death and magic, its set in our world, any thoughts anyone? would be welcome
Also its around 50,000- 55,000k
Thanks


If there's magic and it's set in our world, it's contemporary fantasy or urban fantasy.

From what I've heard, 19 to 20 is a bit old for young adult characters--the characters in YA are usually still in high school, and older characters can be hard, though not impossible, to sell. But I write MG, not YA, so I could be wrong about this.
 
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Sarah G

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Hi Ferret,

Thanks for your reply, this clears some stuff up for me.
Sarah.
 

L_Swann

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My book is very clearly YA (16 year-old protagonist, etc) but this is the first YA book I've written that felt younger. I'm not sure if my protagonist is simply more childish, or if it's the first time I wrote a 16 year-old character when I wasn't 16 myself (I'm eighteen now). Perhaps I'm finally feeling the distance between sixteen and eighteen. (I'd love to hear if adult YA authors notice this all the time, or if it's simply a case of a slightly immature MC.)

Either way, I definitely think it'd be an easy change to age my book down into a MG with a 12-year-old protag, probably.
 

Jack_Roberts

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I don’t know. Maybe I’ll never know. My main characters are 11 and 13. Their parents die in front of them, they’re attacked by wolves, are dying from the attack and are turned to vampires. It’s got a Harry Potter/Percy Jackson adventure voice. I’ve called it MG. Still, I can’t help but wonder if the parents death puts it at YA. It’s 42,000 words/ 80 pages at single spaced (I’m publishing it through the Kindle so no double spaced for me.)
I guess I’m MG.
 

Alexandra Little

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I'm reading The Pain Merchants (The Shifter in the US). It has a word count at 65-70K. It's labeled middle grade, but I found it at Borders under young adult, and also under young adult in Waterstones. Reading it, I wouldn't consider it middle grade.

I'm very confused at this point.
 

voltair111b

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As a middle school reading teacher we often assess literature for reading level. While content is important writers often forget that word use is very important in determining the readability of a story for your market. A handy tool we use in the classroom all the time is the FRY readability chart. To use the chart you choose three representative 100 word blocks and then count the number of sentences and syllables in the selections and use the chart to get the average reading level of the work. you can find a good pdf with instructions and the chart here
 

Lady MacBeth

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My characters are 10 and 17. I assumed that was YA, but now I'm a little worried. There is no sex or swearing, but there are darker elements.
 

voltair111b

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Don't be afraid to have dark elements in your YA fiction. Too often people underestimate the complexity of young adults. In even at the MG level dark themes are common. For example for a reading module I gave was dystopian novels (7th grade) here was the selections they had to choose from:

Fahrenheit 451
The Giver
City of Ember
Gathering Blue
Brave New World

Divorce, anorexia, sexuality, Date rape, are as much a reality for YA's as they are for adults. I have seen literature on these subjects touch and change the lives of many students, sometimes by doing nothing else but telling them they are not alone in their tragedies.
 

jmlee

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A librarian once said to me over a beer, "What's YA? Whatever will sell as YA."

And so it goes...
 

annetpfeffer

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My book Loving Emily is YA all the way --- it has a 16 year old main character dealing with death, love, lust, and growing up. The challenge was partly writing a 16 year old, but also writing a male protagonist. I had to interview a lot of guys for it!
 

Sandino

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I've been told by an agent my first YA paranormal sounds like it should be a MG. But to do that, I'd need major revisions, including removing a pretty heavy make-out scene and graphic violence. Not sure I want to go down that road.

Here's a blurb:
There comes a time in teenage life when being Daddy’s girl just isn’t cool anymore. After years of traveling with her family, the seventeen year-old daughter of a creature-chasing cryptozoologist craves a normal life and home more than anything. Kate McCready finds fitting in at her new school in Florida is difficult, but she faces her biggest obstacle ever when her hot new boyfriend, Isaac, turns out to be a shapeshifting black panther—one of the creatures her father is hunting. Now she has to hide her guy’s identity along with that of her new friend, a teen mermaid who’s “preggers.” But someone or something is attacking people on the lagoon, and Kate fears signs point to Isaac’s involvement. Along with her dad, Kate whirls into monster-hunting action to stop a psychopath before he can kill again.


Should I stay YA and query elsewhere--or embrace the monsters, make it PG, and go MG?
 

goddessofthehunt

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Some bookstores have teen categories instead of YA. I think YA sounds better to readers of the genre, especially the older teenagers (like myself).