Okay, you’ve finished writing and polishing your young adult manuscript. Now what? Let’s say you’ve decided to go the “traditional” publishing route–then your next step is to query agents. Sure, it is possible to sell a YA manuscript without an agent, but it’ll be much harder (and usually happens when an author makes a connection … [Read more…]
I recently read this article in the Atlantic Wire about race in YA literature, and I’ve decided to address the topic here since I think it’s an important–if sometimes touchy–issue. Why is it that young adult fiction does not represent the diversity that we see in the “real” world? When I look at my middle-school-age … [Read more…]
It’s been more than a year (wow!) since I did my last post on trends in young adult fiction, so I think it’s time for update. As with other types of fiction, there is definitely a bubble-and-burst pattern happening in YA these days. As in, one trend finds massive success with a few key titles, … [Read more…]
Okay, you’ve done it! You’ve written your YA novel, and either sold it to a publisher or decided to self-publish it. Either way, it’s about to “go out into the world”! Congrats! Now you just want to make sure that readers can actually find your gem out in the crowded marketplace. You must promote! But … [Read more…]
The truth about YA authors is that most of us are *not* actually young adults–at least, not in the teenager sense. Most of us are actually adults writing about teens, and therefore we need to be careful to avoid some pitfalls when creating your young adult protagonist. I thought I’d compile a brief list of … [Read more…]