Just curious - Is YA really so popular?

ecerberus

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You'll all pardon my ignorance - I don't read books from it, and neither do I intend to write on it. But a visit here shows that the # of posts and views of YA far exceed everything else - I never thought it's that popular. To me YA is, I guess Harry Potter? The other genre seems to be all the dragon/magic stuff.

Are these genres suddenly popular now, or have always been? Is there a market so big that the input to it so much higher than all other categories (like mystery/thriller/historical fiction etc.)

Just curious, 'sall.
 

Sage

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YA isn't a genre. It's an age category, targeting teens (though adults make a big portion of their readership too). Go to a bookstore and see how big the YA/teen section is. Look at deals being made and see how many are YA in today's market. That would tell you whether it really is that popular.

Harry Potter is actually an MG series that (arguably) grows into YA in book 4 or 5.

It is true that YA authors and readers tend to be particularly prolific online, however, the market is definitely pro-YA and has been for over a decade (Twilight came out in 2005).

To me YA is, I guess Harry Potter? The other genre seems to be all the dragon/magic stuff.
I don't even understand this line. Harry Potter is dragon/magic stuff. The genre that includes dragon/magic stuff is known as fantasy. YA includes fantasy, as do adult and MG. YA also includes other genres and contemporary and literary. As do adult and MG.
 
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airandarkness

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The YA market is really big now. One of the reasons I started writing YA a few years ago (as opposed to adult genre fiction, mostly fantasy) was because it was a newly popular, growing market that seemed easier to break into than the adult market. I don't know is that's true anymore, because the YA market seems so flooded now. I can tell you as a bookseller that it's difficult sometimes to find space to shelve in that section at our store, and new titles seem to come and go so fast.

When I was growing up (we're talking around late '90s to 2003, 2004 or so), there wasn't really much of a "YA" market. Pretty much (especially if you were into fantasy, as I was) you went from reading middle grade, to the adult market. I think when I was in high school, our local Barnes & Noble had a small "Teen" section, but there wasn't much to it. Mostly stuff along the lines of things like Pretty Little Liars. Which isn't a bad thing, but what I mean is, it was all pretty much contemporary, and a very specific kind of contemporary at that.

But about ten years ago, the YA market exploded. And yes, partly due to successful genre series like Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Hunger Games. Certainly, those books introduced genre fiction to the YA market in a big way, and now you do see a lot of speculative fiction in YA - epic fantasy, paranormal, dystopian, sci-fi, etc. That said, the contemporary market for YA has grown as well.

As to whether the input is higher than other categories? It's possible. Like I said, YA books in the store I work at seem to have a fast turnover time. Also, I remember reading somewhere that in recent Twitter pitch parties (like PitMad, etc.) that there tend to be more YA pitches than adult. As I said, the market seems pretty flooded right now.
 

Undercover

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And it seems like more and more YA novels are turning into movies, that are that popular. That too definitely gives the YA market a boost.
 

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Are you talking about popularity in the market, or among people who frequent the Absolute Write boards? In the couple of months I've been here I've gotten the impression that among the most active posters, YA authors and SF/F authors (and sometimes authors of both) are very strongly represented. For whatever reason - whether it's because there are more of them generally, or because they are more likely to be active in an online community, or something else - there is a lot of activity from authors in those areas. There are also plenty of people who write neither (like myself), but I share your perception that there is a relatively large number of posts on those subjects.
 

S. Eli

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i would say that YA is fashionable, so it's climbed to a rank of books that have their own "book buyers." You know, the people who buy books consistently. They usually get the same kind of book, so self-help books, romance books, thrillers, will never go out of style because there are just people out there who are consistently buying them, recommending them--it's like their thing. If that makes any sense. So like those other genres, YA has become a thing.
 

Curlz

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Internet and real life are not the same. If you only look at internet writing communities, you'd think 90% of the book market is fantasy, too while if you go to a bookshop, you'll see that's not the case.
 

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Lots of interesting perspectives - thank you!

@Sage - not surprised you didn't understand a line of mine, because I was in the territory of 'I don't know what I don't know', but I understand this genre better now with all your responses.

I'm one of those culprits that stopped going to a book store long ago - I've been a Kindle owner for years and I do all my reading on that. Partly because I travel a lot for my job, and I read a lot - which means lugging many paperbacks wasn't an option. Love my Kindle and all I look at is Amazon. That explains how I don't know how the physical goods move in a bookstore these days (i.e what's popular, what takes most space, gets traffic and so on)

It does feel like the activity is a combination of (surging interest x greater participation)!
 

cornflake

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Young adults read ya
Adult read ya

Therefore a whole extra demographic of people read ya, than read adult.

Wait, young adults read adult books too.
 

LJD

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Young adults read ya
Adult read ya

Therefore a whole extra demographic of people read ya, than read adult.

I don't follow your logic. A lot of teenagers/young adults read adult fiction, too.
 

Harlequin

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But there are less YA than adults, surely?

The number of 20-50 year olds reading Twilight, for exmaple, will be a pretty big crowd, maybe as big or bigger than the number of 14-18 yr olds reading it.

Some teens will read adult books, but I'd argue YA has broader appeal to more ages.
 

cornflake

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But there are less YA than adults, surely?

The number of 20-50 year olds reading Twilight, for exmaple, will be a pretty big crowd, maybe as big or bigger than the number of 14-18 yr olds reading it.

Some teens will read adult books, but I'd argue YA has broader appeal to more ages.

Fewer, and I don't know that, if we're talking about readers, or who reads what.

There's this, and this.
 
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writeonleanne

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My knee jerk reaction was to be like, "Well, I definitely read adult literature when I was a teen!" and then scrambled to find studies that proved that teenagers read just as much adult literature vs. adults reading young adult literature.

I found some interesting articles. There are studies that show that technological advances are cutting into 'reading for fun.' (New Yorker: Do Teens Read Seriously Anymore? and Study: The Number of Teens Reading for Fun Keeps Declining), whereas 55% of YA books are purchased by adults (78% of time for their own reading, according to Publishers Weekly).

Anyway, take what you will out of these studies, but Harlequin has a point.
 

be frank

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But there are less YA than adults, surely?

The number of 20-50 year olds reading Twilight, for exmaple, will be a pretty big crowd, maybe as big or bigger than the number of 14-18 yr olds reading it.

Some teens will read adult books, but I'd argue YA has broader appeal to more ages.

A little off-topic, but can we please stop equating YA with Twilight? I swear every time YA gets discussed around here, someone uses Twilight as an example ... and it always seems to be someone who doesn't read or write YA, and it's generally used as a way to subtly put down the entirety of YA. Not saying that's what you were doing here, Harlequin, and I'm not dissing Twilight or people who like it, but it really bugs me that YA = Twilight for a lot of people. That's not what YA is.

YA covers the full spectrum of quality from glorious to tripe, just like "adult' books. It covers a whole range of genres, just like with adult books. YA's popular because plenty of YA books are brilliantly written and plotted, as with adult books (see: Jellicoe Road, Code Name Verity, The Hate U Give, and countless others).

/rant
 

Cobalt Jade

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I found some interesting articles. There are studies that show that technological advances are cutting into 'reading for fun.' (New Yorker: Do Teens Read Seriously Anymore? and Study: The Number of Teens Reading for Fun Keeps Declining), whereas 55% of YA books are purchased by adults (78% of time for their own reading, according to Publishers Weekly).

Hmm, that could be because teens have less disposable income. Or the income they have, goes toward concert tickets and clothing. As a former teen, I always struggled with having disposable cash to buy paperbacks.
 

foxesfairytales

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A little off-topic, but can we please stop equating YA with Twilight? I swear every time YA gets discussed around here, someone uses Twilight as an example ... and it always seems to be someone who doesn't read or write YA, and it's generally used as a way to subtly put down the entirety of YA. Not saying that's what you were doing here, Harlequin, and I'm not dissing Twilight or people who like it, but it really bugs me that YA = Twilight for a lot of people. That's not what YA is.

YA covers the full spectrum of quality from glorious to tripe, just like "adult' books. It covers a whole range of genres, just like with adult books. YA's popular because plenty of YA books are brilliantly written and plotted, as with adult books (see: Jellicoe Road, Code Name Verity, The Hate U Give, and countless others).

/rant


Totally agree, 100%. There are some amazing books coming out of YA.

Also, I remember some documentary talking about how YA tended to feature a wider range of voices and experiences. Because it was (and in some cases, still is) looked on as 'lesser than' by a lot of the 'traditional' middle-class, white, straight male writers, and so PoC, women, LGBTQIA+ writers etc had more space to thrive. Although, as YA's shown how profitable it can be, this will probably shift again.
Not sure if the stats hold up (obvious PoC and a lot of other identities are still massively underrepresented) but I know I've read a lot of great diverse viewpoints in YA books.
 

writeonleanne

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Hmm, that could be because teens have less disposable income. Or the income they have, goes toward concert tickets and clothing. As a former teen, I always struggled with having disposable cash to buy paperbacks.

Makes sense. I was thinking about this yesterday—I devoured books in my early teens, but as soon as I got my license, I was too busy trying to get out of my house as often as possible, spending more time chasing down adventures with my friends and pushing my boundaries. Most of the stuff I read was quick and easy (e.g. non-complex graphic novels
). To be honest, I didn't really turn back to novels until I discovered I could listen to audiobooks during my long commutes.

A little off-topic, but can we please stop equating YA with Twilight? I swear every time YA gets discussed around here, someone uses Twilight as an example ... and it always seems to be someone who doesn't read or write YA, and it's generally used as a way to subtly put down the entirety of YA. Not saying that's what you were doing here, Harlequin, and I'm not dissing Twilight or people who like it, but it really bugs me that YA = Twilight for a lot of people. That's not what YA is.

YA covers the full spectrum of quality from glorious to tripe, just like "adult' books. It covers a whole range of genres, just like with adult books. YA's popular because plenty of YA books are brilliantly written and plotted, as with adult books (see: Jellicoe Road, Code Name Verity, The Hate U Give, and countless others).

/rant

Yes, this. There's nothing more irritating than people saying, "You write YA?" with that little sneer. Yes, yes I do. And it is wonderful.
 
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Sage

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Twilight is 12 years old. It no longer defines the YA market, although there was a time when it did. However, I'd say that the popularity of today's YA market did get launched by Twilight. Harry Potter made it acceptable for adults to read kids books, and was a step towards it, but Twilight really opened the floodgates to YA. Agents were clamoring for more YA at that point, especially if it was the next paranormal (zombies, werewolves, angels, mermaids, etc.), probably romance. Friends who were writing novels intended for adults were asked by their agents to YA-ify them if they had the ability. Adult authors were running into the YA forum (or subforum, because we were part of Writing for Kids until the late 2000s), saying they were going to write YA without ever having read YA because it was the only thing they'd be guaranteed to sell. Hunger Games furthered YA's popularity and shifted its focus. "The Next Big Thing" moved away from the paranormal creature of the month and into dystopia, until it drove it dead. But YA moved on from that, usually with a focus on what the current "big thing" was. It's leveled out now. Yes, there are definite trends in the wishlists of agents and editors, but I don't feel like it's as much of a scramble to find the Next Big Thing (and the thread for that has mercifully disappeared, because I think it just drove everyone batty). And YA may not be the category that everyone feels is the only one selling, the way it did several years ago, but it's still a well-selling market. And knock Twilight all you want (not a book I particularly like), but understand that if you write YA, you owe a lot to that book for this market.
 
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writeonleanne

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Twilight is 12 years old. It no longer defines the YA market, although there was a time when it did. However, I'd say that the popularity of today's YA market did get launched by Twilight. Harry Potter made it acceptable for adults to read kids books, and was a step towards it, but Twilight really opened the floodgates to YA. Agents were clamoring for more YA at that point, especially if it was the next paranormal (zombies, werewolves, angels, mermaids, etc.), probably romance. Friends who were writing novels intended for adults were asked by their agents to YA-ify them if they had the ability. Adult authors were running into the YA forum (or subforum, because we were part of Writing for Kids until the late 2000s), saying they were going to write YA without ever having read YA because it was the only thing they'd be guaranteed to sell. Hunger Games furthered YA's popularity and shifted its focus. "The Next Big Thing" moved away from the paranormal creature of the month and into dystopia, until it drove it dead. But YA moved on from that, usually with a focus on what the current "big thing" was. It's leveled out now. Yes, there are definite trends in the wishlists of agents and editors, but I don't feel like it's as much of a scramble to find the Next Big Thing (and the thread for that has mercifully disappeared, because I think it just drove everyone batty). And YA may not be the category that everyone feels is the only one selling, the way it did several years ago, but it's still a well-selling market. And knock Twilight all you want (not a book I particularly like), but understand that if you write YA, you owe a lot to that book for this market.

My experience has been that people unfamiliar with YA will knock it via Twilight. My friends who have never read Twilight but have jumped on the hate-train for it view the entirety of YA with sneering disdain. Personally, I'm cool with the series—I love supernatural books / TV shows and appreciate the opportunities Twilight gave to authors and screenwriters. Besides—to each their own. Twilight was huge for a reason.
 

ecerberus

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Hmm- editors asking authors to YAfy their novels for adults gave me pause. Damn, My current MC is a middle aged, battle hardened soldier, how do I turn him into a teen? :) Just kidding. Though my offshoot book (in my mind) might very well be a YA genre because it tracks the rise of a woman (from teens to about 20).
 

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I came back to find this thread (having lost it) because I had a suspicion that this might be where the idea that I don't like YA comes from.

Twilight I've never read because I don't like vampires in any format, but it was big and popular, and read by many adults. I'm not sure it should be knocked as much as it is.


If you prefer, I can relate my own experience. I still read MG fiction on occasion, and quite a lot of YA, as well as adult. Writing quality trumps category, and I'd rather have a good MG book than a crap adult one.

I did read some adult as a child, and a teen, but not nearly to the extent that I do now... because I'm older, naturally.

On the flip side, it is easier for me to read MG/YA now than it was for me to try and read some adult books as a younger person. Therefore those markets remain accessible to me, as I get older. Perhaps someone who read "up" at an earlier age would not find this to be the case, I don't know.

Plenty of adults read YA, and surely adults outnumber younger people. Therefore YA will be popular. I genuinely don't see how this could be a slur against the category/genre.
 
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emstar94

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One of my lecturers thinks YA is the most popular genre there is. It's the only kind of writing I'll ever love :)
 

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It's certainly popular, from what I've seen. Through my job I have the opportunity to occasionally help with some events at my local library and we have a very healthy teen section, and a healthy population of teen readers who frequent the place....often for more than just books. (Our library has a lot of "teen only" events, such as gaming nights and an anime night, among other things.) To put it in perspective, our teen section is large enough to have not only it's one section of shelves that sits among the adult books, but also an additional separate room/wing thats nothing but YA books. In fact, I'd argue the teen section is the second largest section of the library, with the first being the section aimed at little kids/elementary schoolers. ( and even then, thats mostly due to the fact it includes not only books, but computers, educational toys/activities and a lot of other things while the YA section is basically all books, sans like two shelves of manga that get lumped in with it because we don't have an actual comic/graphic novel/manga section.)

That being said, is it as "trendy" and "big" as it was before? Not by a long shot...as others have stated, there used to be this sort of mentality that YA was the big ticket, hot selling catigory, and there was a sort of constant push for best sellers. Now, YA is not really the "big ticket" it was before, but is certainly not unpopular....far from it. I'd actually say thats whats happened with YA is that it's transitioned from a fad to an actual, legitimate genre with it's own devoted followers and community. The whole emphsis on fads and "big ticket" books has been pushed to the wayside in favor of just putting out good stories, reguardless of whether they follow any kind of market fad....

In fact, one could say that the de-fad-i-fying of YA has made it more popular rather than less so, since there is actually a lot of innovation going on in the genre that a lot of writers are not aware is a thing because it's happening in places they aren't looking. In particular, the much sought-after "boy book" that so many have said does not exist because "teen boys don't like reading" is actually growing in popularity rapidly on sites like Amazon, but such books don't actively market themselves as YA. You'd be surprised, but there are a few communities of largely teen boys and boys in their early 20s who obsessively devour web-novels and self-published novels that are actual novels...not comic books...not graphic novels...actual, prose books with no pictures beyond the cover.

Places like Royal Road Legends exist and are innovating the genre by making the "boy books" the publishers refuse to touch and it's great because it shows that the genre can grow and innovate itself even if publishers may not be willing to change with the time. While a lot of these books advertise themselves as genres other than YA, they have all the elements of a YA story in most cases; protagonists are often teens, the coming of age elements and other trappings of YA are all present....except those YA elements are often intermixed with very over the top, anime and/or videogame-inspired action and powers, a distinctly male voice/male protagonist and in some cases actual, videogame style stats and number crunching being important elements of the narrative. (These stories also tend to be written in 3rd person, while most mainstream YA goes for first person.)

Granted, there is a huge issue regarding sexism and the portrayal of females in a lot of these stories (Many of the boys who read in these genres will flat out refuse to read stories written in the same style/genre that have a female protagonist (In fact, there are quite a few female writers in these genres...its just most of them end up writing male protagonists as a result of this.). Also, the tired anime trope of the male protagonist with a "harem" of girls who have little character beyond being prizes for the protagonist to win/damsels for them to save comes up a ton in these genres.). However, thats a whole different can of worms that I think will largely be worked out as things evolve; already there is a sort of "anti-harem" sentiment starting to spring up among some in these communities and as stated, it seems like more girls are starting to both read and write in these subgenres... so only time will tell what comes of that...


With all that out there, I think we can safely say YA is a thing, and it seems like now rather than being "the" thing it has evolved into being a thing that will be here for years to come... a thing that grows and evolves instead of one that simply exists to push out trendy books. In all, I'd say this is the best era to be a YA writer we've had so far...so embrace that.
 
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