Article on YA

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stormie

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I just read this on the Verla Kay boards (link is here), as posted by Stephen Barbara of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

"Hello everyone. News:
Next Monday (1/15), I have a piece on Young Adult fiction running in Publishers Weekly. It will be the Soapbox article for that issue,
and will deal with high concept YA, its pros and cons.
If you have a chance, take a look." --Stephen Barbara
 
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Susie

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Congrats on your article, Stormie. That is super and Publisher's Weekly is big time! Way2go! and get many more acceptances.
 
stormie

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Oops.... There I go again, not making myself clear. (I should just go to bed early tonight!) It's Stephen Barbara's article about the YA market. I'm just repeating what he posted on the Verla Kay board, and I think the Yahoo teenlit board. I'm not that proficient yet! But thanks, Susie. You always have such kind words to say.
 

andracill

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Interesting...not sure how I feel about what he's saying, however. It's nothing that new -- in order to snag an editor's/readers' interest, we need to be original, creative, fresh -- unique. My problem is that I'm unique all right, but I write what I'd like to read and I seem to be in the minority ;)
 

vanreade

I, too, don't know how I feel about what Stephen Barbara's saying. While he asks for YA novels with "imagination and flair", I'm sure he probably sends rejection letters to authors who do just that because he doesn't think he'll be able to sell it. It kind of reminds me of the judges on American Idol. One week, they will criticize the singer for not stepping out of his/her comfort zone. The next week, they criticize the same singer for trying to be too different and not sticking to what they do best. Stephen Barbara is probably like this too, wanting imagination and flair in YA novels while sticking within the confines of what the editors are currently buying.
 
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