And look at it now, geeze. YA seems to be all anyone wants to write and all agents want to buy. It's crazy how fast this industry changes. Stay on your toes, people! Haha.
The next big thing
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And look at it now, geeze. YA seems to be all anyone wants to write and all agents want to buy. It's crazy how fast this industry changes. Stay on your toes, people! Haha.
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I hope paranormal isn't quite dead yet. Just like sci-fi, the possibilities are endless-- there's so much more to it than vampires/werewolves/angels/fairies. I'd love to see a good one with teen magic users-- like Harry Dresden but YA.
But yeah, sci-fi comprises so many different genres besides space opera. I hope it does take off. (Okay... and my WIP might possibly be classified as sci-fi-ish. But that has nothing to do with it, no sir
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Nicole, longtime lurker, newly registered
But yeah, sci-fi comprises so many different genres besides space opera. I hope it does take off. (Okay... and my WIP might possibly be classified as sci-fi-ish. But that has nothing to do with it, no sir
) Nicole, longtime lurker, newly registered
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Don't know if anyone already said this but...I was just thinking that I want to read more mystery/thrillers a la Joan Lowry Nixon. I used to love her books when I was in middle school. So I think the next big thing should be mysteries, dark, scary ones.
But yeah, sci-fi comprises so many different genres besides space opera. I hope it does take off. (Okay... and my WIP might possibly be classified as sci-fi-ish. But that has nothing to do with it, no sir
Nicole, longtime lurker, newly registered
, NicoleI would love to see the sci-fi equivalent of contemporary fantasy. We see the occasional book fall into that category, but not many.
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Sage-- sci-fi equivalent of contemporary fantasy, that's exactly what I mean! Mine kinda falls under that category I suppose. By the way, do you have any recs?
I'm hoping for SF, too. There's just so much you can do with speculative science. Everyday, I read a news article about discoveries in space that make me think, "now THAT could be an awesome story."
Okay, so on the panel today with Lucienne Diver, Tamora Pierce, and a couple of other people, there was some talk about things publishers are looking for. Of course, there's no way to know the next big thing, but this is what they said about what pubs (and they) want.
They're seeing publishers take more sci-fi, but they're being very selective
Lucienne Diver says mainstream, mystery, and suspense are getting big.
As I mentioned in the dystopia thread, it's not dead, but it's on it's way out. Paranormal romance is also not dead.
There was talk about more cultural themes or a greater worldview.
The panelists all wanted to see more strong heroines, particularly ones who are actually heroic. It probably comes as no surprise that Tamora Pierce is a big fan of female heroes, and she made a distinction between female MCs, of which we have so many in YA, and female heroes, which she feels we are lacking.
Oh, and two things that publishers don't like very much... Anti-heroes and unreliable narrators. Which makes me sad.
They're seeing publishers take more sci-fi, but they're being very selective
Lucienne Diver says mainstream, mystery, and suspense are getting big.
As I mentioned in the dystopia thread, it's not dead, but it's on it's way out. Paranormal romance is also not dead.
There was talk about more cultural themes or a greater worldview.
The panelists all wanted to see more strong heroines, particularly ones who are actually heroic. It probably comes as no surprise that Tamora Pierce is a big fan of female heroes, and she made a distinction between female MCs, of which we have so many in YA, and female heroes, which she feels we are lacking.
Oh, and two things that publishers don't like very much... Anti-heroes and unreliable narrators. Which makes me sad.
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Whaaa? No anti-heroes??? *cries*
The thing with sci-fi is, the possibility of techno-babble scares readers away if the story is more about people than gadgets then it can work. My favorite recent sci-fi dystopia is Moxyland by Lauren Beukes. there's technobabble but it doesn't take over, and the characters are too damn compelling to quit.
The thing with sci-fi is, the possibility of techno-babble scares readers away
if the story is more about people than gadgets then it can work. My favorite recent sci-fi dystopia is Moxyland by Lauren Beukes. there's technobabble but it doesn't take over, and the characters are too damn compelling to quit.
I have to point out that I was looking at Publishers Marketplace this morning, and nearly all the new fantasy deals are paranormal, all ghost related.
I would love to see the sci-fi equivalent of contemporary fantasy. We see the occasional book fall into that category, but not many.
When I get someone to pick up my work, you'll see it ^_^
An SF melding of Hindu mythology, computer science and parallel universes. Does that sound like what you had in mind?
TomW
Sounds great
re: technobabble, there are different levels of sci-fi, ranging from hard sci-fi to soft sci-fi (or social sci-fi, I think Lucienne Diver called it). I have cyborgs and androids and strange weapons in an otherwise modern world, and it's definitely soft because I never describe any technical process that makes them work. Sometimes technobabble is still involved, even in softer sci-fi. "Reverse the flow in the neutrino power coupler," or something like that. Words or technology might be made up. I can see that being a harder sell, even if you're not mapping out exactly how to build a time machine, as you would see in serious hard sci-fi.
re: technobabble, there are different levels of sci-fi, ranging from hard sci-fi to soft sci-fi (or social sci-fi, I think Lucienne Diver called it). I have cyborgs and androids and strange weapons in an otherwise modern world, and it's definitely soft because I never describe any technical process that makes them work. Sometimes technobabble is still involved, even in softer sci-fi. "Reverse the flow in the neutrino power coupler," or something like that. Words or technology might be made up. I can see that being a harder sell, even if you're not mapping out exactly how to build a time machine, as you would see in serious hard sci-fi.
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TomW, that sounds pretty damn interesting!
Sage: Yes... social sci-fi. That's an exact word to describe it. I love it too And it can be social but still have spaceships, why not?
Sage: Yes... social sci-fi. That's an exact word to describe it. I love it too
And it can be social but still have spaceships, why not?
I don't knooooow. It does explain some things about some of my rejections though, lol (and it's not going to stop me from subbing my half-villain-POV/unreliable-narrators novel to Strange Chemistry next week )
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My (cynical) theory would be, for the anti-heroes it's some "bad role models" BS. Hey, it's not as bad as it used to be. Maybe one day it *will* be acceptable to have an anti-hero as the protag of a YA, just like teens in YA are allowed to have sex and swear nowBut...but...Why?
And the unreliable narrators: when I hear that phrase I immediately think of those Goosebumps novels where it's revealed on the last page that all along, the first-person narrator was dead/a monster/someone's dog/someone's father's brother's cousin's ex-roommate. Annoying.
But when done well, we get Fight Club. So one day someone will do it really well in YA and then it will be the next big thing. Just my 2c....
FWIW, the dislike of the anti-hero is likely editor specific, considering the second book in my sig-line down there.
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Cyia, I can say without exaggerating that I am absolutely dying to read Premeditated after 7 lines of description.
Stand in line! LOL. I'm almost always a genre guy, I read like 10 SF/F/paranormal books for every contemporary I read, but I've been dying to read that one since I first saw it queried on Query Shark.
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I was sort of thinking that too. I write morally gray characters and get a lot of good feedback. I think, though, that maybe unreliable narrators are just really hard to do well.
Sometimes I think editors tell people not to do certain things so that people who are really and fully committed to it will be the only ones who bother.
How much you wanna bet the next big thing is now going to be an anti-hero
Works for me
How much you wanna bet the next big thing is now going to be an anti-hero
YES! YES! YES! I love anti-heroes!
(Hey I was just about to pm you to give me the link to your book on GoodReads, the one with the three girls on the cover, I want to add that one to my list too! Just reply on here though b/c I can't figure out how this pm stuff works!)