The Atlantic Wire recently had an interesting article about Young Adult fiction. What age group is Y.A.? General assessment is 12 to 18 years old. But in today's world, that age range gets expanded. Harry Potter and Twilight are considered Y.A. But kids younger than 12 read the Potter books. And adults read both the Potter books and the Twilight books.
Jim McCarthy, Vice President at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, said, "Essentially, it’s just literature for and about teens, there to bridge the gap between children’s and adult’s books."
The term "Y.A." has nothing to do with genre, since Young Adult books can be romance, horror, literary, thriller or any genre.
Even accepting that readers of Young Adult books range from 9 to 99, the accepting definition of YA is that it is aimed at readers between 12 and 18. That all ages sometimes love a particular Y.A. book doesn't change the book itself or the topics it covers. Twilight remains Twilight. (It does, however, change its success and earnings.)
The article noted that if The Catcher in the Rye were published today, it would be classified as a Y.A. Times have changed. Another thing that's changed is that the Y.A. market is big. Some authors would rather be classified as Y.A. than as an adult author. If the book is a hit like Twilight or Harry Potter, they have a chance of mega sales, more than if it were categorized as an Adult book. With a Y.A. book, they can possibly cross-over to both groups.
McCarthy did note: "With these huge successes, so many people are trying to cash in and publish into the Y.A. market, and there’s a very real risk of over-saturation. Too many people are on the bandwagon, so there has to be at least some degree of self-correction coming."
What do you think? Will the Y.A. market reach saturation?
1 year ago
I've also read that To Kill a Mockingbird would be promoted as YA if it were published today.
ReplyDeleteMany authors love to get YA designations on their books...they're packaged in an exciting way and the marketing is more honed to the audience, I think.
ReplyDeleteYA is the buzz catagory but look at Game of Thrones. It's Adult and yet has the buzz too, with many teens reading it. It will be interesting to watch where YA goes in the future. I heard one reviewer call the current trend of YA as "an elegant way to die." It does seem to be true.
ReplyDeleteCategories are limiting. Good YA is read by adults. And as a teen, I read plenty of "adult" books, as approved by my parents. I'm just happy if anyone is reading at all
ReplyDeleteWhat is called YA today is quite different from what was called YA when I was a teen. 'Course that was back in the days of dinosaurs, mind you. YA is more adult today, as are the kids.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the writers I know write young adult, so I guess it could become saturated.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen .. I wonder if more readers are reading YA - because it's easier to read ..
ReplyDeleteCheers Hilary
I teach 10 and 11 year olds and many of them read YA. The more mature readers are devouring every YA book in my classroom and then some! I wish they'd had YA when I was a kid :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know, Hilary. I've read some YA that would have been adult books in my time as a young teen.
ReplyDeleteI read The Catcher in the Rye in 10th grade ... and, as a teen, full of angst, it hit me in my wheel house. It wouldn't have that effect on the older, wiser me, so, yeah, it was a Y.A. book ... that's why I can't seem to write one ... just can't relate ... BUT if I could ... and it was successful ... you could call me a YA author ... heck, you could smack my rearski and call me Sally for all I'd care.
ReplyDeleteWell, now, Christopher. I put skis on my feet. If you had a rearski, I would be laughing so hard, I couldn't smack anything.
ReplyDeleteHelen, I was going to say 'heinie' ... but I couldn't figure out how to spell that either. Sigh ... it's tough trying to be PG rated ... especially when dyslexic.
ReplyDeleteChristopher, I've probably said this before, but you crack me up.
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