Changes Are Afoot.

Now, bear with me because I haven't been to a brick & mortar bookstore in quite some time. Some of this may be old hat.

First thing I noticed when I walked into my local B&N was that the young adult/teen section was no longer located where I last saw it. R'uh? I did a double take at the section..after all, the children's section is right where it's always been, and shouldn't the teen section be right there, skirting around it? Umm, nope. It was gone.

*Moment of panic and feeling lost in this unfamiliar world*

Then I spotted one of those middle of the aisle tables loaded down with YA books. Whew. There they are!

I headed over, and the first thing that caught my attention was that the young adult section is now located dead center of the bookstore. WHOOT! How awesome is that? Clearly bookstores are finally realizing how very powerful young adult books are in today's market. Heck, to get to the adult section, you have to bypass the teen section, so yeah, chances are some people may be dazzled by all of the kickass YA covers and stop to browse. GOOD THINKING Barnes & Noble.

Second thing I noticed? Umm, there are now Young Adult category headings at the top of the display cases. R'uuuuuhhhh? *double double TRIPLE take*

Yep. My bookstore has three categories listed for teens. "Young adult fiction" "Young adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy" and "Young adult Paranormal ROMANCE."

Pardon me, but what the FRENCH?!

I don't know how others feel about this...and maybe I'm seriously in the minority, but one of the things I absolutely loved best about the way young adult novels had previously been shelved was that all novels by a particular author were housed together in the same place. I know it's sort of an antiquated way of doing things, and perhaps the fact they're separating them into categories is a GOOD thing, but I really liked this practice. For one, it allowed young adult authors to really mix things up, not only with the types of books they chose to write, but with the amount of genre-bending they could do.

What do I mean by that? Well, previously, a young adult author could choose to write a thriller one year, a contemporary the next, and maybe a paranormal the year after that. And with the way things were, all of those books would be shelved right next to each other. Now, apparently, they will be split up amongst these three, IMO, limiting subject headings. Is this just the beginning? Will more categories emerge? Dystopian is hotter than hot right now... I could see that one making an appearance. Is this a slipperly slope we're walking? Will this make books that don't nicely fit into one specific category harder to shelve, and therefore, harder sells to bookstores?

Oh the worry this conjured.

I had to stop and think about BY THE PALE MOONLIGHT. Where would it be shelved? Would they shelve it under Paranormal Romance and call it good? Yes, there are paranormal elements, and there's romance... but there's also a fair amount of mystery/suspense...and just some good old-fashioned teen angst that has nothing to do with being a werewolf. Would this limit the number of people who would be willing to look at it if it was shelved right next to TWILIGHT? (Not saying that would be a BAD thing, mind. I'd do a number of things, most them legal, to get a little bit of Meyers' mojo). But do you see what I'm saying? Everyone in adult complains about branding, and won't this create the same issue for young adult authors? All conjecture, of course...but something to definitely think about. Of course, most people say brick & mortars are on their way out, so perhaps it's all moot anyway.

The final thing I noticed is in respect to my purchases today. I went in with these four books in mind--knowing I wanted to read them. There was a fifth book on my list that had to get nixed *sad face* because, holy crap, batman!! All of these books (with the exception of the Ness novel) were offered in hardback versions only. Not only that, but the prices ranged from 16-19 dollars a piece. Ugh. I'm on to you booksellers. You get us all worked up to read these books, then charge us up the wazoo, knowing in advance that we have absolutely no taste for delayed gratification. The worst part is that you open the books, and the type is humungous and you know they could've packaged it up in a book half the size, at half the price. UGH. I'm on to your Tomfoolery, booksellers. You're reminding me of how great my Kindle is right about now. Ugh, but I wanted these books--bad--and you got me. Next time, though... next time, I'll be smarter!

Any thoughts?

Frustrated

Susan Adrian blogged on this subject a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it could bear repeating here. I've noticed a trend lately, and I'm beginning to find it slightly offensive. Why...why do people think writing Young Adult is easy? Almost as though it doesn't take any "real" skill because teenagers are the intended audience. That knocking out a YA is quick and simple and something you can manage by simply snapping your fingers. VOILA...and a novel will spring fully formed from your forehead. (Gah, I gotta figure out how to do that!)

GIVE ME A BREAK.

I have to tell you, YA has a whole set of challenges that are just as complicated as writing an adult novel -- perhaps even more so because you're also limited in word count. Try taking your 120K story and condensing it into the 40-60K norm for YA. Trust me, it ain't easy. (G)

Not only that, but the topics and emotions covered in YA are so much more...raw and immediate. In addition to that, you have to balance the way you choose to tell your story lest you alienate any particular group -- parents, libraries, teens who aren't mature enough to read your work...teens who are too mature.... the list goes on! And don't get me started on KNOWING the market, but more importantly...TEENS.

I don't know a lot of teens. BUT, I do read a TON of YA these days. I watch teenage oriented television programs...I listen, I learn, and I try to apply that knowledge to my books. When I see someone who doesn't even attempt to observe these things before/during the process of writing a YA, I have to shake my head in confusion. That's like trying to write about the Middle Ages without ever reading a history book. Why would you do that? And why would you expect to be successful in conveying the period accurately?

Now, I have to fully admit that I thought writing YA might be easier than writing an adult novel. Boy did I have it wrong--and I VERY quickly realized that--especially when my anticipated 65K book turned into a story that would need at least twice, if not triple that amount of space to tell. (g) Yes, in some ways it's easier, but in others, so much more difficult.

In the same way, I find myself somewhat frustrated with people who refuse to read YA because it just doesn't interest them. NO offense to anyone who's told me this. LOL. It's just that to me it's like saying you're not interested in good stories. Let me tell you -- I've read about 40 books in the last 6 months or so and the YA's are kicking the adult novels' asses. Of the 17 top rated books I have on Facebook, 13-14 are YA's, and I _alternate_ one adult, one YA in my tbr pile (mostly). And of my poorly rated books, not one of 'em is a YA. No, I'm not saying there aren't any bad YA's out there. LOL. But perhaps this says something about where the bar is set if you want to make it in that genre.

Just something to think about. :)

That said, I discovered a new slang word (well, not sure it's all that new) while watching the Gauntlet on MTV. See, I really do watch these shows. Oh, I also heard it used on Making The Band. (VBG)

New word: Salty. Meaning, bitchy or grumpy...sarcastic perhaps. I've made use of it already in BTPM.

--BY THE PALE MOONLIGHT (c) 2008

I rounded in my seat and flipped him off. “He’s my friend, a$$hole.”

Vince narrowed his dark eyes. “Who you talking to, b&tch?”

“I’m talking to—“

“Hey, don’t get salty, babe.” David draped his arm over my shoulders and turned me back around. “Chill.”

--

Heh, what a funny word. (g)

Amen And Hallelujah!

That's all I have to say about Kristin Nelson's post, found HERE.

Well, not all, I guess. (g)

I'm not sure how I feel about the no vampires bit. I mean, it's one of those general themes that people never really get tired of. But from Kristin's talk with the editor at Little Brown the other day, obviously people are trying to cash in on the success of the TWILIGHT series by Stephenie Meyers. I think vampire stories will always be in demand, but you'll have to try hard to come up with a new angle that hasn't been done a million times.

What I want to celebrate is the second part of her post. Let's hear it for vulnerable heroines who get freaked out from time to time...and yanno, aren't killing machines in lycra. (g)

Market Research

I recently vowed to myself that I would become more attuned to the YA market. I mean, if I want to write for young adults, I need to know what they want. Right? Granted, I'm not starting completely clueless. I was an _avid_ reader when I was a kid -- I loved (heck, LOVE -- because I still do) Christopher Pike books. Man, there's nothing better than CHAIN LETTER, FINAL FRIENDS, WEEKEND...I mean, come on. That's some good stuff! Heck, I even got into R.L. Stine's Fear Street series.

Anyway, with this vow in mind, I headed on over to my friendly B&N today. (Quick sidenote -- The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson was finally taking up some space on the shelves. Did you hear it made the USA Today Bestseller list, debuting at #82?? Go Vicki! I'm about halfway through it, and will post a review when I finish.) I (much to my surprise) couldn't find any YA about werewolves.. I found that interesting. Maybe I missed them? LOL. Or maybe they're waiting for MY book. Okay, so I probably missed 'em.

I perused, I hemmed and hawed... yeah, there are _a lot_ of YA's on the market. Unfortunately, some of the books I was interested in getting weren't in stock. They'd have book 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. but they wouldn't have the first. I simply can't start in the middle of something that way. I'll have to see if I can order them online.

I ended up with two books I'm excited to read. Neither deal with werewolves, but they're definitely on the darker side of things, seem to have older MC's, and are geared toward older teens.

TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer -- which is about vampires and involves the words "deeply seductive" and "a love story with bite" as described on the back cover. Yowsa. Sounds good.

WICKED by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie -- About witches (if the title didn't give it away). Oh...too cool. I just realized it's a double book. Heh. It's the first two books in a 4 part series -- WITCH and CURSE. How's that for a double whammy? Love that. Looks to be about three friends who find themselves thrown into a circle of witchcrafty intrigue. (g) I made that word up -- witchcrafty.

For good measure, I picked up an adult mystery:

CANDY APPLE RED by Nancy Bush -- About a private investigator. Looks fun and light -- and since it was finally in paperback, I figured, why not?

OKAY...she STOLE my cover blurb. It reads -- "Move over Stephanie Plum, Jane Kelly has arrived!" (per Lisa Jackson)

HELLO...MY book is supposed to read, "Move over Stephanie Plum, Madison Krauss has arrived!" Hrm. (And if you haven't suspected yet, YES... I'm currently sipping on a venti (large) caramel frappaccino with extra whipped cream. I'm a tad bit caffeinated right now.)