What do I write!!! Tell me PLEASE!

Del · Dec 1, 2006

I thought Young Adult was 15 - 17 but have recently read that YA is 12 - 14 and it specifically mentioned 6th grade. Gads, I wouldn't hand my book to a sixth grade class so I guess I was mistaken thinking I would have any of the YA market.

I have said I write Horror, but it the genre is so vast and I hate being lumped with living marsh goo and high school lockers filled with young girl body parts.

My completed work skirts the fringes of New Age philosophies and deals with simple paranormal related abilities (seeing auras, and astral projection). It is about an 18 year old girl trying to stop her boyfriend from killing people. The thing is, he was vastly dismembered in a motorcycle crash with a tree. He isn't a ghost traditionally. He simply leaped from his body just before it was destroyed. He wreaks his havoc from within the wood of the tree he collided with.

What is the YA age range?

Where does Thriller/Suspense stop and Horror begin? I've seen a lot of guidelines where they accept thriller and not horror. What's the difference?

Willowmound · Dec 1, 2006

I'd venture, 'it doesn't matter', but I'm sure I'll be shouted down shortly.

Little Red Barn · Dec 1, 2006

What is it called for high school? I too thought YA is teen. Your's sounds more like 7th grade on...Can you change your chrac age to 17? just a thought
Someone will probably be along shortly, kimmi

Little Red Barn · Dec 1, 2006

Ok Del, I went to Wikipedia..it states young adult books are 12-18! I just punched in define YA books...
Go and take a peek..I don't know how to copy paste etc..
Ok went back again, and the American Library Assoc defines this, but go there Del its interesting and has a section for YA genre. Just punch in Young Adult Literature @ wikipedia
hugs kimmi

Del · Dec 1, 2006

Willowmound said:
I'd venture, 'it doesn't matter', but I'm sure I'll be shouted down shortly.

If you want to submit properly without wasting anyone's time then it does matter.

I think it important to know how agent/publishers define market and genre though it seems to vary among establishments.

Del · Dec 1, 2006

kimmi 57 said:
Ok Del, I went to Wikipedia..it states young adult books are 12-18!

That is way too broad. I can't see where a 12 year old would be interested in the same book as an 18 year old. Wow, talk about different interests.

Willowmound · Dec 1, 2006

But if your story could be considered either thriller, horror or YA, then submit to publishers that take either of those genres.

Genre is, after all, very much about what label the publisher ends up slapping on it.

That's what I mean when I say, 'it doesn't matter'.

icerose · Dec 1, 2006

Delarege said:
That is way too broad. I can't see where a 12 year old would be interested in the same book as an 18 year old. Wow, talk about different interests.

Even so it's the same market lump to the bean counters.

Young adult range last I heard was the 12-18.

loquax · Dec 1, 2006

The way i see it, "young adult" is a genre as opposed to a target age-range. Most kids read adult books as well as books targeted at them. A thirteen year old kid would jump at the chance to read a steven king novel (I know I did).

Del · Dec 1, 2006

Willowmound said:
But if your story could be considered either thriller, horror or YA, then submit to publishers that take either of those genres.

Genre is, after all, very much about what label the publisher ends up slapping on it.

That's what I mean when I say, 'it doesn't matter'.

Ok. I'll grant you that. As I said, it varies. Still, isn't there some industry standard? Or is it all up to personal preference and assuming if it says no horror that it doesn't include me.

Little Red Barn · Dec 1, 2006

one more thought Del, call your book store manager and see how they group the books for Young Adult..I know I take my daugh to the childrens section, she's 16 but within that is an area for YA.
Sorry Wickipedia didn't help, kimmi

Del · Dec 1, 2006

loquax said:
The way i see it, "young adult" is a genre as opposed to a target age-range. Most kids read adult books as well as books targeted at them. A thirteen year old kid would jump at the chance to read a steven king novel (I know I did).

Yeah, me too. But is it appropriate to assume that market when the book probably wouldn't pass parental permission?

I'd let my 16 year old daughter read it but not my 14 year old. (BTW, I have no daughters. Just an example...if I had)

Del · Dec 1, 2006

kimmi 57 said:
one more thought Del, call your book store manager and see how they group the books for Young Adult..I know I take my daugh to the childrens section, she's 16 but within that is an area for YA.
Sorry Wickipedia didn't help, kimmi

Thanks Kimmi. The effort is always appreciated.

icerose · Dec 1, 2006

Childrens is 0-12, then it is broken down into several sub catagories, picture book, early reader, chapter book and so forth, but it is still all children fiction.

The same goes for young adult. If your catagory is horror, then it is horror whether it is young adult or adult and plan accordingly. If they say young adult but no horror, that probably says, you, yes you, we're not interested.

Del · Dec 1, 2006

icerose said:
Childrens is 0-12, then it is broken down into several sub catagories, picture book, early reader, chapter book and so forth, but it is still all children fiction.

The same goes for young adult. If your catagory is horror, then it is horror whether it is young adult or adult and plan accordingly. If they say young adult but no horror, that probably says, you, yes you, we're not interested.

I guess I am confusing the issue having asked two questions at once. And I don't know if I write horror or could pass as thriller.

Everyone is always saying how overwhelmed submissions are and how often "dumb" writers send to the wrong market and waste their time. I'd like to understand it and do my part in easing the effort. And I don't want to come across as dumb...although that might be unavoidable.

icerose · Dec 1, 2006

Sometimes nailing down the genre is one of the harder tasks, especially if your story is running along the boarder. What would be fantasy/sci fi to me (Michael Critchon (sp)) is Mainstream fiction to the publisher because it all comes down to audience. I would leave it has mainstream young adult and let the agent/publisher figure it out. However if they are stating that they do not accept scary/dark/horror type stories than I would submit elsewhere first.

maddythemad · Dec 1, 2006

Delarege, it sounds like you're writing YA. The good news is, YA is one of the hottest genres right now. Now, if you want to call it "YA horror" or "YA mystery" or whatever, go right ahead.

And best of luck to you!

Bartholomew · Dec 1, 2006

Write what your heart tells you; figure out who to sell it to when you're done.

blacbird · Dec 1, 2006

maddythemad said:
The good news is, YA is one of the hottest genres right now.

Which means it might not be next month. Write the story you need to write. If you're trying to fit a "market", you're probably doomed. Which doesn't necessarily mean you might not be doomed anyway, but it won't help to be trying to write something you don't like to write.

caw

ChaosTitan · Dec 2, 2006

YA has a pretty healthy horror section. I was reading RL Stine and Christopher Pike at 12 and 13, until I discovered Stephen King.

While I would not use wikipedia as a final source of anything (since anyone can create or add to a definition), I imagine YA covers a wide array of ages. Not every teen reads comfortably at the same level. Just because I was reading adult novels at 14 doesn't mean that a child of 17 isn't still reading from the YA section.

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 2, 2006

kimmi 57 said:
..I don't know how to copy paste etc..

Just because it's early morning, I haven't had enough coffee, I think I'll be a smart alec.

To copy, you highlight the text, (if it's the url, highlight that in the address bar,) go to Edit and Select Copy (or in the case of the address bar, right click and select Copy from the dropdown menu).

Then when you Reply and are typing your message, go up to Edit and Select Paste and there is your link.

No need to thank me.

sfecphory · Dec 2, 2006

I'm curious about why you want to be able to label your writing so badly as YA or anything else. If you are going to query agents you can say, "I wrote this targeting reader between the ages of X and Y. This is a paranormal story with A, B and C elements that should appeal to readers ages X and older." If an agent is a good agent they will read your work and recognize who the best target audience is. Don't worry about labels, worry about your work.

Julie Worth · Dec 2, 2006

I had the idea my latest book was leaning toward literary. But when I ran the Word grammar checker, it said the grade level was 4. And then a kid in the second grade--not exactly a top student, BTW--picked it up and read the first five pages aloud, without a single mistake.

Dang it.

So I changed the genre to commercial/adult.

Cathy C · Dec 2, 2006

Personally, I'd shoot for the adult horror market for it. 18 years old is right on the border, and you'll find a wider market in the adult range (Remember that "It", the horror novel by Stephen King, was an adult book, even though the main characters are only 12-14.)

Good luck with it!

Jamesaritchie · Dec 2, 2006

YA

Don't know whether this helps, but the largest market, by far, for YA is the teenage girl market, and this really impacts what young adult really is. By and large, most readers want protagonists who are their age, or a year or two older, and of the same gender.

In the children's writing I do, my protagonists are usually twelve or thirteen, and the books are considered middle grade, not YA.

Theme also plays a part in teh classification, so if the theme revolves around the more serious issues young adults face, sex, drugs, pregnancy, etc., then your book is will be classified as YA, rather than middle grade. How the theme is handled, of course, also plays a part.

At any rate, no one I've written for classifies sixth grade, or the ages 12-14, as YA. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, which is where I do 90% of my children's writing, has always been classified as middle grade, not YA.

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