juvenile vs. young adult

There is a difference, yes. Mostly it's a matter of voice. I would suggest going to the library and checking out multiple MG novels and multiple YA novels, to get a feel for the difference in voice. For general guidelines, there's this thread. Also check out some of the stickied threads in the YA room for discussions of what makes YA YA.

Mostly, go with your gut. If you think your book is better for teens than pre-teens, it probably is.

scifi_boy2002 said:

I am presenting my novels as young adult, but maybe juvenile would be better. Is there really much of a difference?

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Yes there is a big difference. Juvenile encompasses board boooks, picture books, early reader books, early chapter books, middle grade (up to about age 13). Young adult is usually about 14 and up.

But it's also not only about age. First of all, many kids like reading above their age. Say if a character is 14, it might really be targeted toward the middle grade reader.

It's also about subject matter.

And it can be about length of story.

The above are not absolutes, but guides.

As smish said, there are threads about all this here on AW and she linked to a good general one.

It is all about the maturity level of the characters. MG doesn't really have romance because ten year olds don't really care about that. Whereas YA almost HAS to have it, because a lot of teenagers are hormonal and put a lot of thought into relationships. It's mainly things like that which separate the two.

14/15 is sort of like the black hole at the center of the universe where manuscripts go to die. It's such an ambiguous age where kids are really starting to turn into young adults and things get complicated as far as what they are ready for. A lot of agents and publishers will reject manuscripts with a 14/15 y.o. MC for this reason. So basically MG is 10-13 with 10-13 y.o. problems and reactions, and YA is 16-18ish with teenager problems.

If you're having trouble distinguishing your story I would just reflect on how your main character handles things and what decisions he/she makes and then reflect on how old you were when you acted the same way.

scifi_boy2002 said:

It's really hard to determine an age group for my novels. I consider my novels space opera, but I can't really find anything like it. Not that they are that distinct from other space opera books other than me thinking they are for younger people. What I've seen in space opera books tends to be more for upper teens or even adults. My book would be a mix between Star Wars and Star Trek. I do not know how many young adults/kids have bought my book. So far, at book signings, it has only been adults. I don't recall how many were buying them for their kids, but I don't ever remember a kid being present when the books have been bought. Of course, I have no idea who has bought my books online or in the stores. I'm not really worried about it, but I think my books are for 12, 13, 14 year olds. No one has ever commented on it in reviews or no publisher has ever said anything one way or another. I don't know if it would make a difference or not.

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If that is the age of your target reader you should definitely be marketing toward Middle Grade.