When oh When Will the YA Trend End?

Waffles · May 6, 2012

I am going to a writer's conference in a couple of weeks. All the attending agents are looking for YA (other things too, but YA is the one common genre among them).

I have no issue with the genre itself, but it's not what I write, nor is it what I want to write.

But then erotica seems to be the Next Big Thing (thanks 50 Shades!) and I don't write that either.

HoneyBadger · May 6, 2012

Hopefully never.

Writers of *all* genres should want young people to read.

Don't want to write it? Don't. It's that easy. Don't write to trends; write what you want to read.

Kerosene · May 6, 2012

It's not a trend, it's more like a defining sub-genre. Or maybe blossoming sub-genre. Maybe sub-genre is the wrong term, maybe... Book section. I still don't know what to call it. :Shrug:

But I have a thought that it's going to boil down soon enough and settle.

And to HoneyBadger's comment, I still can't believe 1/4 of the youth graduating high school is illiterate.

Smish · May 6, 2012

HoneyBadger said:
Hopefully never.

Writers of *all* genres should want young people to read.

QFT.

Teens grow up to be adults, after all.

MVK · May 6, 2012

I've never had a good feel for YA. In middle school I was reading Lord of the Rings. I'll have to take a look at a YA novel to see how it's different.

Libbie · May 6, 2012

I can understand the frustration with it. I've had negative experiences in the past working with industry professionals who were very focused on YA and who didn't seem to have as much enthusiasm for my work because it was not YA. It's pretty discouraging when you're just trying to get your book sold, but nobody will look at it because it's not YA.

Mclesh · May 6, 2012

Hopefully it won't end.

Cyia · May 6, 2012

NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Serious, though. Don't begrudge a generation of eager readers. They'll hopefully grow up to remain eager readers, and their tastes will change as they grow.

Waffles · May 6, 2012

HoneyBadger said:
Hopefully never.

Writers of *all* genres should want young people to read.

Don't want to write it? Don't. It's that easy. Don't write to trends; write what you want to read.

My comment had nothing to do with young people reading. I said YA is what agents are looking for (at least the ones at the conference I am attending).

I did not say I planned to write YA or to trends at all. I have zero desire to read or write about teenagers. I have much desire to sell my book, which is not about teenagers. But ...YA seems to be all that is desired at the moment.

To further explain my specific frustration, I had some interest expressed in my novel, but only if I made it YA. Instead of my adult protagonist looking into the events of her mother's death twenty years ago and falling into an ill-advised relationship with the homicide detective working the case, make the protagonist a teenager trying to solve her mother's recent murder while falling in love with the son of a homicide detective.

That, combined with the writer's conference and all the agents there wanting YA...it's just frustrating. When Twilight was hot, it seemed like any mediocre novel about vampires was a sure sell. Now it's any mediocre novel about teenagers living in a dystopian future.

defcon6000 · May 6, 2012

WillSauger said:
And to HoneyBadger's comment, I still can't believe 1/4 of the youth graduating high school is illiterate.

Welcome to the public education system. Your tax dollars hard at work.

Eh, I'm not much for YA either. I've read YA books, but for the most part, I'm not interested in writing it. But hey--if it gets kids to read, then I'm all for it. I just hope they eventually incorporate adult fiction into their reading as well.

leahzero · May 6, 2012

Not sure why people are equating YA with teen readers, when it's been shown that a huge portion of YA readers are actually adults.

BarbaraSheridan · May 6, 2012

Waffles said:
To further explain my specific frustration, I had some interest expressed in my novel, but only if I made it YA. Instead of my adult protagonist looking into the events of her mother's death twenty years ago and falling into an ill-advised relationship with the homicide detective working the case, make the protagonist a teenager trying to solve her mother's recent murder while falling in love with the son of a homicide detective.

I don't think it's a matter of they only want YA.

Using your example--a woman falling for a detective working on a case she has an interest in has been done many times. Unless you have some way to put a new spin on the premise it may not appeal to agents who've seen it/sold it before.

Changing the characters to teens might very well be that element that makes it stand out in the crowd.

defcon6000 · May 6, 2012

leahzero said:
Not sure why people are equating YA with teen readers, when it's been shown that a huge portion of YA readers are actually adults.

Link?

Sarah Madara · May 6, 2012

I feel your frustration, to a certain extent. I'm not trying to sell a book yet, but when I've described the novel I'm working on to friends several of them have told me it would sell better as YA. I don't think I want to write teenagers. I love YA books, but I often find myself imagining the characters are older because I often find they ACT older, and I'm older, and so I just sort of forget that they're supposed to be teens. But then my sense of genre is off, because I write urban fantasy but don't have that many favorites in adult urban fantasy. I love Cassandra Clare's books, for instance, but would much rather read them about 25-year-olds. Anita Blake, on the other hand, is a grown-up who bores me to tears.

So I don't know if that's a frustration that YA is too big or that other genres are too narrow. Either way, there's nothing to do but write what you love and trust in the rest

TNTales · May 6, 2012

Great books can reach all ages (not that there aren't great books that aren't for all ages, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian comes to mind). I reread True Grit not long ago and that's a great book that could be considered YA.

I'm not sure what I'm saying other than write a good book and sell it as YA.

Libbie · May 7, 2012

Write a good book and sell it as whatever the best deal you can get may be. "Best deal" not only in terms of money, but in terms of how you'll be positioned to sell the things you may want to write in the future. That is to say, if you don't foresee yourself getting really into YA and becoming passionate about it, don't sell your book as YA just because it might be easier to sell it that way. You'll be building an audience with that book.

The easiest route is not always going to be the smartest.

fireluxlou · May 7, 2012

I hope it never ends. It's what I'm writing for.

Once! · May 7, 2012

IMHO, anything that gets people buying books is a good thing. It's a bit frustrating if there are agents won't look at anything else. But there's always another agent.

Mud · May 7, 2012

Waffles said:
I am going to a writer's conference in a couple of weeks. All the attending agents are looking for YA (other things too, but YA is the one common genre among them).

Just curious, but how do you know?

Buffysquirrel · May 7, 2012

So agents are looking for YA. That means they're actively acquiring clients. This is a good thing. It means the market isn't stagnant. That's good for all writers all genres and all books.

Cathy C · May 7, 2012

Agents are business people. YA is what's selling right now, so of course they'll look at it. After all, they only make money on books that sell. But that doesn't mean they don't want great books in other genres too. Write the next bestseller and they'll want it.

Captcha · May 7, 2012

Waffles said:
My comment had nothing to do with young people reading. I said YA is what agents are looking for (at least the ones at the conference I am attending).

You think the agents are looking for YA for no reason? They're looking for YA because YA sells. Largely (or at least to some extent) to young people. How does that have "nothing to do with young people reading"?

To further explain my specific frustration, I had some interest expressed in my novel, but only if I made it YA. Instead of my adult protagonist looking into the events of her mother's death twenty years ago and falling into an ill-advised relationship with the homicide detective working the case, make the protagonist a teenager trying to solve her mother's recent murder while falling in love with the son of a homicide detective.

That, combined with the writer's conference and all the agents there wanting YA...it's just frustrating. When Twilight was hot, it seemed like any mediocre novel about vampires was a sure sell. Now it's any mediocre novel about teenagers living in a dystopian future.

I sympathize with your frustration, but be careful that you don't express it in a way that hurts or insults someone else. The joy of a recent sale in YA shouldn't be dampened by your assessment that the novel was probably 'mediocre', and the frustrations of YA authors who are having trouble selling their books shouldn't be accentuated by your assessment that their books must be sub-mediocre or else they would sell.

Be aware that YA is about more than just the ages of the protagonist. If people are telling you that your 'adult' novel might do better as YA, they may be saying that your writing style and thematic choices may be a better fit to a different market. If you want to keep the book 'adult' and you can't sell it as is, maybe you should be looking at it more closely to see why people think it feels YA.

fireluxlou · May 7, 2012

Waffles said:
That, combined with the writer's conference and all the agents there wanting YA...it's just frustrating. When Twilight was hot, it seemed like any mediocre novel about vampires was a sure sell. Now it's any mediocre novel about teenagers living in a dystopian future.

I missed this earlier but RYFW is very much needed here.

aikigypsy · May 7, 2012

I have read a few YA books -- the Harry Potter series, Hunger Games, and a handful of less famous ones. Many other adults I know also read YA books, all the way up to my mother, who is almost 70. I'd also like to see some data on what portion of YA books are actually read by adults, but I'm sure that publishers are aware of the adults-reading-YA trend.

I think that YA appeals to adult readers in part because YA books tend to be shorter and more strongly plotted than the average adult mainstream or literary novel. I think that easier-to-read, shorter, and more plot-driven adult novels could draw a lot of grown-up readers away from YA, if they became more common.

lorna_w · May 7, 2012

I feel for ya. But this, too, will pass. All trends do.

I'd also say that the YA trend is a subgenre trend. Still vampires, werewolves, wizards, blahblahblah, dystopic futures, about or for kids glued to their iPhones and computers. I bet you a brilliant YA book about teens during WWI or the Galveston hurricane also would not sell any easier than a good mainstream novel about adults.

Unless we're total hacks, we do what writers have always done: write anyway, write what moves us, the best we can, and hope it sells. Back in the day (my day, in fact) the only choice when it didn't sell was to put it aside and hope in 10 years genre popularity would have shifted, or that one's career would be solid enough to support publication of the trunk novels. These days, thankfully, we can self-publish on line and still be read by strangers and make a few dollars. 15 years ago, a novel in an unpopular genre would sit in paper form in some box on a shelf and just moulder there.

When oh When Will the YA Trend End?

Waffles

HoneyBadger

terribly loud, emotionally distant

Kerosene

Your Pixie Queen

Smish

Reads more than she writes.

MVK

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Mclesh

It's too hot

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Waffles

defcon6000

leahzero

The colors! THE COLORS!

BarbaraSheridan

insert catchy phrase here

defcon6000

Sarah Madara

Freeway stomper extraordinaire

TNTales

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

fireluxlou

Once!

Still confused by shoelaces

Mud

Erm...what was the question?

Buffysquirrel

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

Captcha

fireluxlou

aikigypsy

lorna_w

Hybrid Grump

When oh When Will the YA Trend End?

terribly loud, emotionally distant

Your Pixie Queen

Reads more than she writes.

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

It's too hot

Rewriting My Destiny

The colors! THE COLORS!

*insert catchy phrase here*

Freeway stomper extraordinaire

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

Still confused by shoelaces

Erm...what was the question?

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

Hybrid Grump

insert catchy phrase here