As an author who has YA books that are in that 2017 weird upper YA space, I wish, looking back, that I had understood positioning instead of positioning being synonymous with marketing. NOW, I understand positioning is not about chasing trends or marketing to a certain demographic but making sure my art is FOR someone and that it speaks to that audience and that it makes sense on the shelf space—even if I choose to play with expectations, I do it inside that framework. And if a novel is just for me (which they probably were) that’s enough for Art, but not enough to really connect a product successfully with an audience. I literally just told JJ the other day that looking back Valley Girls would have made a great school and library book if I had understood positioning as a reason to take out certain scenes and craft the story toward that intended audience. It wouldn’t have taken much. But hindsight is always clearer!
I frequently have thoughts I want to write about with this but I haven’t figured out how to write any without accidentally entering a cottage industry of book marketing substack🤣
Great points and essay, as always! A side note, with the caveat that I totally agree with your larger points here. Fantasy has always been the place where these divisions were slipperiest -- Megan Whalen Turner, for example, or Kristin Cashore both predated Leigh's books, and could easily have been pubbed as adult. The reason they weren't then, imo, is because adult fantasy tended to sideline female authors more frequently during that era. So they actually found MORE readers in YA, partly because it was a period when a lot of adults were coming into the section for things they couldn't find in adult. The popularity of those books in YA opened up more space for them in adult. Fantasy is also weird, because characters are often functioning as adults even when they are teens. (And, as you say, a lot of popular adult books now have embraced the idea of some stylistic hallmarks of YA, faster pacing and the idea that adulthood isn't a static state -- one of my soapboxes is that YA can attract adults because it acknowledges a sense of constant self-definition and big personal choices that a lot of adult lit has tended to pretend don't still exist over the age of 20.)
YA deciding to mimic adult, even in how books are shelved in bookstores, only hurt it, as far as I'm concerned. The thing that was so cool during the beginning of the YA boom -- for authors and readers -- is that it was one big mass of all the genres; you could do anything and readers could still find your work. Anyway, yes, bring back vibrant, weird, wide-ranging books for actual teens! It's what made YA great to begin with.
there is so much to meditate on about the history of women in genre fiction, particularly sff, overlapping with notoriously disrespected teen lit. this has also tickled something in my brain about the publisher disrespect towards teen lit (not valuing its intended audience, not investing in career authors, putting authors on intense time crunches at the expense of their health, etc.) and the publisher disrespect toward romantasy (not valuing its intended audience, acquiring self-pub authors only to not edit what is acquired as self-pub, putting authors on intense time crunches at the expense of their health, etc.). much to think on!!!
I think about this a lot. My Guardians of Dawn series is "younger YA" and I wrote it to appeal to the 14-year-old I was, which drove its artistic and tonal choices. I've had adult readers tell me it felt middle grade or childish, but most actual teens I've spoken to didn't feel that way. I feel that the apparatus of reaching teenagers has diminished because publishers don't invest in them or make the effort to try. I see teenagers (13+) very regularly at taekwondo, and I've asked the readers what they read and where they are finding books. It's still word of mouth over marketing tropes or social media; it's why they are still reading YA books from over a decade ago: Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. Or a lot of manga. The kids trust recommendations from trusted peers and educators. School visits. Library events. I don't see a lot of publishers investing in that for their YA authors. I'm fortunate that my local bookstore does a lot of community outreach in these spaces, but it's not publisher initiated.
LOVE this take! have always told people “age six of crows up in your head!” I didn’t realize it was getting the adult designation.
As an author who has YA books that are in that 2017 weird upper YA space, I wish, looking back, that I had understood positioning instead of positioning being synonymous with marketing. NOW, I understand positioning is not about chasing trends or marketing to a certain demographic but making sure my art is FOR someone and that it speaks to that audience and that it makes sense on the shelf space—even if I choose to play with expectations, I do it inside that framework. And if a novel is just for me (which they probably were) that’s enough for Art, but not enough to really connect a product successfully with an audience. I literally just told JJ the other day that looking back Valley Girls would have made a great school and library book if I had understood positioning as a reason to take out certain scenes and craft the story toward that intended audience. It wouldn’t have taken much. But hindsight is always clearer!
lemon, if you're ever inclined to write about personal / professional positioning vs. publisher marketing, you know i'd love to read it.
I frequently have thoughts I want to write about with this but I haven’t figured out how to write any without accidentally entering a cottage industry of book marketing substack🤣
Great points and essay, as always! A side note, with the caveat that I totally agree with your larger points here. Fantasy has always been the place where these divisions were slipperiest -- Megan Whalen Turner, for example, or Kristin Cashore both predated Leigh's books, and could easily have been pubbed as adult. The reason they weren't then, imo, is because adult fantasy tended to sideline female authors more frequently during that era. So they actually found MORE readers in YA, partly because it was a period when a lot of adults were coming into the section for things they couldn't find in adult. The popularity of those books in YA opened up more space for them in adult. Fantasy is also weird, because characters are often functioning as adults even when they are teens. (And, as you say, a lot of popular adult books now have embraced the idea of some stylistic hallmarks of YA, faster pacing and the idea that adulthood isn't a static state -- one of my soapboxes is that YA can attract adults because it acknowledges a sense of constant self-definition and big personal choices that a lot of adult lit has tended to pretend don't still exist over the age of 20.)
YA deciding to mimic adult, even in how books are shelved in bookstores, only hurt it, as far as I'm concerned. The thing that was so cool during the beginning of the YA boom -- for authors and readers -- is that it was one big mass of all the genres; you could do anything and readers could still find your work. Anyway, yes, bring back vibrant, weird, wide-ranging books for actual teens! It's what made YA great to begin with.
there is so much to meditate on about the history of women in genre fiction, particularly sff, overlapping with notoriously disrespected teen lit. this has also tickled something in my brain about the publisher disrespect towards teen lit (not valuing its intended audience, not investing in career authors, putting authors on intense time crunches at the expense of their health, etc.) and the publisher disrespect toward romantasy (not valuing its intended audience, acquiring self-pub authors only to not edit what is acquired as self-pub, putting authors on intense time crunches at the expense of their health, etc.). much to think on!!!
I came here to say exactly what you said about YA allowing more genre freedom than adult typically has, so I’m glad you said it better than I could.
Such a good analysis.
I think about this a lot. My Guardians of Dawn series is "younger YA" and I wrote it to appeal to the 14-year-old I was, which drove its artistic and tonal choices. I've had adult readers tell me it felt middle grade or childish, but most actual teens I've spoken to didn't feel that way. I feel that the apparatus of reaching teenagers has diminished because publishers don't invest in them or make the effort to try. I see teenagers (13+) very regularly at taekwondo, and I've asked the readers what they read and where they are finding books. It's still word of mouth over marketing tropes or social media; it's why they are still reading YA books from over a decade ago: Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. Or a lot of manga. The kids trust recommendations from trusted peers and educators. School visits. Library events. I don't see a lot of publishers investing in that for their YA authors. I'm fortunate that my local bookstore does a lot of community outreach in these spaces, but it's not publisher initiated.
Yup all of this -- and the pandemic only made it worse.