They're not current releases, but :The Magicians and The Running Man come awfully close.
Okay, thanks!
They're not current releases, but :The Magicians and The Running Man come awfully close.
I'm curious to know what the "adult Harry Potter" and "adult Hunger Games" series are.
Or, perhaps, a better example is Marie Lu's newest endeavor, Warcross. The MC is Asian, female and has rainbow hair. But no one is pitching/selling the story as a diverse book. It's about so much more than the MC's nationality, gender etc. It's a plot-driven book with a gripping concept.
There will be another huge YA series soon...
So I'd like your thoughts on this:
Do you think that agents desire for more diverse books is causing the decline? Hear me out, I'm not saying authors shouldn't strive for diversity (not for the sake of diversity but because that's real life). What I'm saying is that, if you look at MSWL, it seems like 80% of agents are looking for OwnVoices or LGBTQ main characters. While I understand their desire, I can't help but believe that the market isn't as interested in these stories as the agents are. Perhaps we aren't seeing 'the next big thing' because people are too busy trying to appeal to agent's MSWL than the market.
So I'd like your thoughts on this:
Do you think that agents desire for more diverse books is causing the decline? Hear me out, I'm not saying authors shouldn't strive for diversity (not for the sake of diversity but because that's real life). What I'm saying is that, if you look at MSWL, it seems like 80% of agents are looking for OwnVoices or LGBTQ main characters. While I understand their desire, I can't help but believe that the market isn't as interested in these stories as the agents are. Perhaps we aren't seeing 'the next big thing' because people are too busy trying to appeal to agent's MSWL than the market.
I'm a little confused by what you mean when you say "decline." Yes, there are fewer "big name" series such as Hunger Games, etc., but they're definitely still out there.
Insofar as manuscript wish lists are concerned, they mirror the market (IMO). The New York Times bestseller list demonstrates that OwnVoices books have a huge, and growing, audience. THE HATE U GIVE has been at the top of the list (or very close to it) since it's release, and there have been a number of similar titles that are doing extremely well.
So, my short answer to your question is that the desire among agents and publishers for diverse and ownvoices titles is not causing any sort of decline in the search for "the next big thing." I think it's the opposite .
I heard you out. That is ALL
So I'd like your thoughts on this:
Do you think that agents desire for more diverse books is causing the decline? Hear me out, I'm not saying authors shouldn't strive for diversity (not for the sake of diversity but because that's real life). What I'm saying is that, if you look at MSWL, it seems like 80% of agents are looking for OwnVoices or LGBTQ main characters. While I understand their desire, I can't help but believe that the market isn't as interested in these stories as the agents are. Perhaps we aren't seeing 'the next big thing' because people are too busy trying to appeal to agent's MSWL than the market.
While YA is obviously still huge, it's not where it was, say five years ago. There has been a decline. I'm offering up the theory that it could be because of a pushed narrative.
If that's what you got from it, I apologize. That's not what I was trying to portray. What I'm trying to say is that, while there's definitely a market for LGBTQ books for instance (since that seems to be at the top of every MSWL), it's not as large as agents predict. So nothing takes off into the mainstream as gigantic as a success as some of the books mentioned previously because they never were going to appeal to a broad audience, especially a broad audience of children who's parents still buy them books. Maybe I'm naive, but I know very few high schoolers who want to be seen reading about a gay couple at school, and I work with them on the daily. And I realize cultures play a big part of that, but at such a strange time in kids' lives, not many want to be labeled something they aren't, if that makes sense.
I'm not saying don't write the books. I'm not saying there isn't a place for the books. One of my favorite books in high school was Shooter by Walter Myers. It has nothing to do with if someone is black or asian or anything of the sort. My theory is that the market isn't as big for certain aspects of stories that agents seem to crave. And one book that has success isn't necessarily disproving that point.
So I'd like your thoughts on this:
Do you think that agents desire for more diverse books is causing the decline?
Maybe I'm naive, but I know very few high schoolers who want to be seen reading about a gay couple at school, and I work with them on the daily. And I realize cultures play a big part of that, but at such a strange time in kids' lives, not many want to be labeled something they aren't, if that makes sense.
If that's what you got from it, I apologize. That's not what I was trying to portray. What I'm trying to say is that, while there's definitely a market for LGBTQ books for instance (since that seems to be at the top of every MSWL), it's not as large as agents predict. So nothing takes off into the mainstream as gigantic as a success as some of the books mentioned previously because they never were going to appeal to a broad audience, especially a broad audience of children who's parents still buy them books. Maybe I'm naive, but I know very few high schoolers who want to be seen reading about a gay couple at school, and I work with them on the daily. And I realize cultures play a big part of that, but at such a strange time in kids' lives, not many want to be labeled something they aren't, if that makes sense.
I'm not saying don't write the books. I'm not saying there isn't a place for the books. One of my favorite books in high school was Shooter by Walter Myers. It has nothing to do with if someone is black or asian or anything of the sort. My theory is that the market isn't as big for certain aspects of stories that agents seem to crave. And one book that has success isn't necessarily disproving that point.
Here's the thing, though--I think your theory is wrong. As Putputt pointed out, there were a number of so-called "big name" series and books that were supposed to be "the next Hunger Games" or the next (insert other big name here) and which, quite frankly, didn't take off the way publishers hoped. The market is driving the push for diverse and ownvoices stories dealing with contemporary issues--it is not a "pushed narrative" which you asserted in one of your earlier posts, any more than the earlier "push" for dystopias or fantasy.
I agree that Hp definitely should not be held as a standard of success
Here's the thing, though--I think your theory is wrong. As Putputt pointed out, there were a number of so-called "big name" series and books that were supposed to be "the next Hunger Games" or the next (insert other big name here) and which, quite frankly, didn't take off the way publishers hoped. The market is driving the push for diverse and ownvoices stories dealing with contemporary issues--it is not a "pushed narrative" which you asserted in one of your earlier posts, any more than the earlier "push" for dystopias or fantasy.
One of points I'm gently trying to make about Ownvoices, besides the fact that it is needed for other reasons, is that the movement seems to be shaking off the model of flooding the market with clones of last-year's tentpole YA blockbuster. I'm not going to cite examples, but we are all aware this is an irksome habit in publishing. Diverse authors/characters/experiences make for diverse genres, and I think there's been a challenge put forward for both published and emerging authors to go outside their comfort zone and look new places for stories, whether they draw from their own lives or simply check their blind spots and realize what is missing.
Humiliating full disclosure here: It took me....time...to process what's been happening in YA lately with Ownvoices and the such. Not because I'm against representation, insofar as I am capable of a clearly-articulated opinion I think it's obvious where I am on this. More, because, well, I don't know why, but there was defensiveness. But all you have to do is look at the new releases and galleys over the last two years to see how vastly the category has improved and the maturation it has undergone, and it seems very hard to think up reasons why this is a bad thing.