This article first appeared in Romance Writers of Australia’s 
official journal, HEARTS TALK in 2007


Adolescence. Some of us want to forget it ever happened. There were a lot of firsts –first zit, first failing grade, first kiss. Our bodies underwent freaky changes. Moods were manic one minute, depressive the next. We survived. But are you brave enough to relive all those awkward moments? 


Young Adult (YA) fiction holds its own in a field of flashy competitors like the Internet, iPods and interactive computer games. Don’t believe the rumours that kids don’t read anymore. According to the Association of American Publishers, US sales of hardcover and paperback Children’s/YA books for December 2006 alone reached over $80 million. 


Andrew Karre, former acquisitions editor for teen imprint Flux (now with Carolrhoda Books) , and New York literary agent Michael Bourret from Dystel & Goderich share their expert opinions on the hot-selling Young Adult (YA) fiction market. Our own Allison Rushby, American authors Niki Burnham, Tina Ferraro and Juli Heaton also weigh in with their perspectives on writing for teens.


What makes a book Young Adult? Ask a bookseller and they’ll simply tell you it’s fiction aimed at ages twelve to eighteen. But Niki Burnham, RITA winner and author of Royally Jacked (Simon Pulse), goes further. “YA is not a reading level,” she says. “It's the age of your protagonist.” And Flux maintains YA is a point of view rather than an age group.


If you think writing for a young audience puts you on a choker chain – after all, your characters might not be old enough to drive or quaff Shiraz with their cheeseburgers – think again. Fiction sets out to entertain, not to be a pseudo parent teaching kids right from wrong. Burnham insists, "You can write anything in YA, as long as it works well and speaks to the reader. The key is to write what you truly want, not to try to chase a ‘hole’ in the market.”


Between the covers you’ll find the themes are similar to what you might see on the romance or popular fiction shelves. Like us, kids read to escape. That’s not to say “issue” books dealing with promiscuity, drugs and alcohol, pregnancy, divorce, death, etc, aren’t selling. What you need to do in any story, any genre is create believable, likeable characters and give them a problem to work through. It’s interesting to note kids like to “read up”. That is, they prefer to read about characters who are a couple of years older than themselves. 


The benefit of hindsight and experience makes writing for teens particularly appealing to author Juli Heaton. “It’s the chance to speak to people whose feelings you understand, now that you’re no longer embarrassed to admit you have those feelings. They’re captivated by characters facing regular teen issues as well as special challenges from their unique situation.”


For Tina Ferraro, who made her Delacorte debut last month with Top Ten Uses For an Unworn Prom Dress, it’s almost like hitching a ride in a time machine and fooling around with history. “Like most author-moms, my days are hectic. But when I turn on the computer and ‘become’ sixteen or seventeen again, it’s a wonderful journey back to a freer time, when anything was possible. I could still lose that last bit of baby fat, I could date Heath Ledger, I could be the first female US president.


“Which is not to say that my characters are total dreamers. They accept normal restrictions and set goals that are generally realistic. But it’s their underlying sense of hope that keeps them - and by association, me - powered up. And usually having lots of fun.”   


Editor Andrew Karre reports all types of stories are selling well these days. “The nice thing about YA is that it’s not broken down by subgenera, so there are a lot of books that combine genres very successfully. 


“There is a huge market for teen fantasy, but it is very hard to crack, since it’s so competitive and publishers throw obscene amounts of money at it. Teen books with paranormal aspects of one form or another seem to work quite well, sometimes surprisingly so in a seemingly increasingly conservative culture. ‘Literary’ sells if it’s good. Science fiction can do really well if you define it broadly and include speculative fiction and dystopian fiction.”
 
Michael Bourret, a New York agent with a special interest in teen fiction, has similar views on what’s selling now, but warns against merging with the flock. “It’s really difficult to follow trends. With how long it takes for books to be published, writing something in response to a bestseller is almost impossible, since the book won't be published for at least a year.


“It’s best to know who you're writing for, but at the same time, I think it’s important to write the book as it wants to be written, without worrying too much about the reader. Even the most commercial of fiction needs to have integrity.”


Teens love a character-driven series. Think Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries franchise or JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books. These authors have created characters that seem to live and breathe. No wonder it’s hard to accept The End is nigh when we know there’s so much more to their stories. 


Want to try writing a series but don’t quite have that multimillion-dollar idea to carry it? One avenue is writing for book packagers. They work with publishers to release a series, often based on TV shows like Star Trek or Alias, using a stable of hired guns. Writers must follow strict plot and character guidelines to maintain the integrity of the series. 


But don’t count on it making you a household name, if that’s your goal. In some cases, writers aren’t able to use their own by-line. Bourret says, for some writers, book packaging is a legitimate path to publication. “It’s a way to get a start, as packagers will often take chances on young writers without any experience, and it can also be good if a writer is looking for a quick job that pays. That said, with the reduced advances and royalties, it’s not the most appealing arrangement for experienced writers with their own book ideas.”   


Heaton, who writes romance and paranormal YA, says you have to work hard at hooking the reader’s attention. So that means researching and fine-tuning to get it right. Read what’s selling now. It isn’t enough to revisit publishing phenomena of the ’80s like Bantam’s book-packaged Sweet Valley High or Sweet Dreams series. Though SVH did break new ground in its day. Who could forget Regina Morrow’s one dalliance with cocaine that ended in tragedy? Of course, the storyline came with the message of Just Say Noooo.


Ferraro agrees with Burnham’s view on subject matter. “These days you can be as out-of-the-box as you want, as long as you make it work. Top Ten Uses For an Unworn Prom Dress would have surely been rejected [twenty years ago] because of its conversational, first-person voice, the scandalous rumours that plague the heroine, and its tongue-in-cheek prom dress uses. 


“Somewhere in a trash dumpster, along with Betamax tapes, Furbys and tube socks, are stacks of YA editorial guidelines - and good riddance! I wrote my first YA during the heyday of Sweet Valley High and I recall receiving guidelines and tip sheets from various publishers, and struggling to fit my plot and my voice inside those strict parameters. The result was a stilted story that would not come alive.”


TV shows depicting realistic violence, sex scenes and occasional coarse language air during primetime with barely a protest from viewers. Often these programs share the same demographic as teen fiction. What does that mean for the YA publishing sector? How far can an author go before eyebrows rise? 


Karre hasn’t hit the boundary yet. “I’m sure there’s a threshold of graphic sexuality and violence, but I haven't really come across a book or a manuscript that pushed to the point where I would say it’s unfit for publication. I’ve come across some that dealt with sex and violence poorly, tastelessly or gratuitously, and that’s cause for rejection or for me not to buy the book.”


Bourret says gritty realism or so-called taboo subjects in today’s YA novels are commonplace and that the market dictates how they’re incorporated into the story. “The success of racy novels will inevitably lead to more of them, and that's what we see at work. For me, as long as the content furthers the story, and the point isn’t to glorify the behaviour, they’re completely appropriate. If they only exist to titillate, I’m not interested.”


Current YAs aren’t all about kids getting high or getting into juvie. Take Allison Rushby’s Living Blonde series. Featuring Nessa Mulholland as the girl whose life is a Marilyn Monroe movie marathon, the books are funny, sweet and unashamedly optimistic. 


“Having written adult chick-lit for years and dealing with heroines with not just baggage, but excess baggage labels and fees slapped all over them, writing a heroine who's going through those lovely, invincible tweenage years is such a delight,” says Rushby. “That’s not to say that Nessa doesn’t have things to deal with. She has plenty. But her take on the world is very different. She doesn’t let things weigh her down and there's always an underlying feeling that her whole life is ahead of her.”


Voice is a huge part of what makes compelling reading for young adults. Readers want to picture the heroine as a peer, someone they’d hang out with. “I don’t think you can beat a strong narrative voice,” comments Ferraro. “When I look at my favourite books, it’s the way the author’s voice enhanced the storyline that stays with me, more than the plot twists and turns themselves.” 


“Writing for younger readers takes a talent that not everyone has, and I’m not sure it can be worked on,” says Bourret on developing a voice. “Capturing the teenage voice requires getting back inside the teenage mindset, which is very difficult for most adults. The one thing that I insist all writers do is read as much as possible within the category. If you want to write for teens, read what they’re reading. It’s both inspirational and informative, and it should help prospective writers to better understand the voice of YA novels.”


Adds Karre, “From my vantage point, there is no such thing as a generic teen voice. There are universal teenage themes and common scenarios and shared experiences, but voices and characters are individuals.” 


“A big turn-off is when a teen character sounds like an adult trying to sound like a teenager,” says Ferraro. “This would be red-flagged by too many grammatically correct sentences, lengthy explanations (especially from guys), dated expressions, and references to before-their-time pop culture. Also, teens essentially live in-the-moment, so if a broken-hearted teen consoles herself that her experience will be ‘a good lesson for the future’, YA readers know the author is not speaking their language.”


Contest feedback is great, but the best way to find how your book rates is to test it out on your target market. As well as placing utmost trust in her critique partner, MTV Books author Kelly Parra (Graffiti Girl, May 2007), Ferraro has what she calls her secret weapon: her astute sixteen-year-old daughter. Don’t have an in-house teen to steer you away from using tragic buzzwords that are so yesterday? Try borrowing your friends’ kids, or take a tip from Niki Burnham and approach your local school administration or library to recruit readers. 


Many of the YA books published in recent years are written in first-person narrative. “YA is ultimately a genre that’s concerned more with characterisation and point of view than anything else, and thus first-person is the natural choice,” says Karre. “Of course stories and plots need to be good, but character is so enormously important. Great teen narration comes from the weird union of shyness and cynicism with exhibitionism and earnestness.”


 “It’s hard to find teen books that aren't written in the first person, isn’t it?” muses Bourret. “I’ve actually asked myself that question several times, but I think it comes down to the fundamental nature of being a teenager, which is a particularly self-involved time in life. 


“Adolescence is a time when people figure out who they are fundamentally and that’s a necessarily selfish process. The books reflect that feeling.  It’s important for teens to experience the world through someone else's eyes, which these books allow them to do.  All that said, there are great people writing in other voices, like any other category. In the end, it’s important that authors find the right voice for their novels, and that means experimenting and trying different things.” 


Heaton’s theory on why this POV works? “Honestly, I think the writer is better able to capture her inner teen by using first person.”


Rushby says, “The tweenage/teenage years are very ‘me’ oriented by nature, so I think it's a natural fit. And how convenient, because, in all honesty, I can’t write third person to save myself! For me, first-person present is the only way to write. It’s the only way I can seem to get into my characters’ heads and bring them across to the reader as believable people.”


The term “crossover appeal” is often bandied about when talking about books by mega-sellers such as Ann Brashares (The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants). Their stories resonate with both younger and adult readers. Double your audience, double your income, right? While every author dreams of this kind of following, there’s a danger in trying to please everyone. 


Karre says you’ll end up pleasing no-one. “Someone who starts out trying to write a book with crossover appeal is asking for trouble. A good teen book is potentially universally appealing without doing anything special.”


Bourret agrees. “Right now, the line between adult and YA is particularly blurred. It makes more sense to market the book after it’s written, instead of trying to write a book to a market.”


The North American fiction market is the biggest in the world and the majority of best-sellers are set in that region. But Australian authors of category romance have built up a loyal following with “exotic” down under settings. Can the same be achieved for YA? 


“It's difficult,” says Rushby. “I think an Aussie setting is a very hard sell if you’re looking at selling to the US market, so what I try to do is find creative ways around this while still using my writing strengths. I know a few US cities well as I’ve visited them numerous times – NYC and Honolulu, for example. Because of this, I set books one and two of the Living Blonde trilogy in NYC and the third in Honolulu using an Aussie heroine.  However, I’d feel very out of my depth setting a novel in LA, or in an American high school (my greatest fear!). I like to use Aussie heroines living overseas as I feel most comfortable being able to use an Aussie voice.”


I could give you a magic formula for writing YA, but the patent’s pending. So you’ll have to make do with this advice: Write what you love, be it romance or horror; get your Freaky Friday on and put yourself in your heroine’s shoes; read, read, read; run your manuscripts by a teen to get a reality check; and one final thought from Niki Burnham, “Never talk down to your reader. Always assume they're as smart as you or smarter.”


YA – a snapshot
- Stories are told from an adolescent point of view.
- Word length requirements vary between publishers, but a general guideline is between 45,000 and 60,000.
- YAs should have an authentic teen voice, strong plot and sympathetic characters. 
- Caters for a wide range of interests - romance, fantasy, paranormal, science fiction, etc.
- Advances reported on Publishers Marketplace usually fall in the lowest bracket - $1,000 to $49,000 – but there are opportunities for film options and foreign sales for the right books.