4 Comments

  1. When I wrote my novel ‘Heaven Knows This Time’ I had trouble placing it in any specific genre. The lead character is a 16 year old girl who finds love, faces tragedy and grows into an independent 18 year old woman.

    The story is about love but it wasn’t your typical romance, it was about teenagers but there was too much sex, swearing and drug use for it to be appropriate for YA audience. Then I stumbled across the NA Alley blog and suddenly I knew where my story fitted. New Adult!

    I’ve read some controversial views about the genre but I personally see New Adult more as a description of who the book is about rather than this genre is only suitable for 18-25 year olds. I’m 38 years old and I love reading and writing New Adult novels.

  2. fredrica parlett

    I’m excited about this new NA category. I’m just finishing a first novel and that’s exactly what it is — protagonist goes from 16 to about 24. Thanks for this tip.

  3. Even though I work for one of the busiest library systems in the country, I haven’t heard of this new sub-genre. My romances always feature women in their 20’s, usually 22 – 24 years old, since they are historical books and women older than that were likely to be considered “spinsters”. They all involve a woman discovering her identity, becoming aware of who she is. In the witch books, it’s all about discovering how to use their new powers. But, they are very sexually explicit. This is very interesting for those of us who probably write this, we just don’t know it. Now to figure out how to market the books.

  4. I agree with your assessment of NA, and I think it’s a long-overdue genre. I actually wrote one years ago, then discovered there wasn’t really a slot for it. I’m glad I can now label it NA & people will understand.

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