The Fountain of Youth
Lit Fiction Writers Find Eternal
Youth in the YA Genre
Story By Jon FullmeR / Cartoon by Kevin Necessary
For a growing number of novelists, publication doesn’t always guarantee instant success in the mainstream literary market. At least not the market they initially had in mind. Since the success of young adult novel series such as Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and more recently, Twilight, an increasing number of adults are reading books for younger audiences. Accordingly, authors are discovering that the line between adult and young adult fiction has become blurred. As Columbia alumni Stephanie Kuehnert and J. Adams Oaks have experienced, acceptance into the YA market can be equally rewarding.
Neither Kuehnert nor Oaks set out to write a YA novel. After unsuccessfully shopping Kuehnert’s first book, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, to adult publishers for a year, her agent suggested trying the YA market. “I was shocked,” Kuehnert says. “My main concern was censorship. But my agent was like, ‘No, no! YA has changed.’” The book was finally picked up by teen-oriented MTV Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), and is currently being marketed to both teens and adults.
Oaks, whose novel Why I Fight was published by Simon & Schuster in April, shares a similar story. “At first I was insulted,” he says of his agent’s insistence that the book would appeal to a younger audience. After trying to convince his friends that he didn’t write a “kiddy” book, he eventually changed his opinion. “What I didn’t realize at the time was how much YA had changed since I was a kid.”
But has the YA market changed? Joanna MacKenzie of Chicago-based Browne & Miller Literary Associates, believes so. “I don’t think YA is that marginalized anymore,” she says. “As an agent, I’m drawn to YA literature because YA readers are so voracious and curious. Almost no topic or approach is off limits.”
And if you think money is an issue, think again. According to MacKenzie, many authors look down on the YA market because they think it means a smaller paycheck. “It’s not true,” she says. “I can tell you that advances are comparable to adult fiction, as are sales and marketing efforts.”
So how do you define YA lit when, as Kuehnert points out, Catcher in the Rye would likely be classified as such if published today? Or does it even matter? “What matters to me is that it reaches people,” Kuehnert says, “and that it means something to those who read it. Some of those people are teenagers, and some are adults.”
According to Oaks, his editor didn’t even require any changes. Well, except for one: shorter chapters. “It’s kind of funny,” says Oaks, “because many people have read my book without even knowing it was YA.”
“Ultimately, good writing is good writing, and I look for that in both YA and adult books,” says MacKenzie. “Besides,” she adds, “if publishers feel that your book has crossover potential, they will work to capitalize on that.” Certain characteristics are required, however, if a book is to be considered YA, she says. As an example, she cites the recent novel Rooftops of Tehran by one of her clients, Mahbod Seraji. MacKenzie considered pursuing YA houses because the novel’s protagonist is seventeen. “We didn’t want the book to be limited by any readership,” she says. “There is some heavy subject matter in the book,” which was ultimately why she pursued the adult market in the end.
Kuehnert, Oaks, and MacKenzie all agree on one point: They are all drawn to coming-of-age stories.
What Kuehnert has come to like about the YA genre is the honesty in many authors’ voices. “I mostly read YA at this point because there’s a lot less pretension.” She is particularly drawn to the coming-of-age story because she’s “fascinated with the whole experience, and I guess I’m just a teenager at heart.”
Oaks gained confidence in his decision to go YA when a boy in a Connecticut middle school e-mailed him requesting biographical information so he could finish his book report on Why I Fight. “I like to think that the book is affecting that specific group of readers who are struggling through adolescence,” Oaks says.
And Kuehnert believes young adult fiction is here to stay. “I’m glad to see it get some of the spotlight it deserves,” she says. “I just hope it continues to be taken more seriously.”
Youth in the YA Genre
Story By Jon FullmeR / Cartoon by Kevin Necessary
For a growing number of novelists, publication doesn’t always guarantee instant success in the mainstream literary market. At least not the market they initially had in mind. Since the success of young adult novel series such as Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and more recently, Twilight, an increasing number of adults are reading books for younger audiences. Accordingly, authors are discovering that the line between adult and young adult fiction has become blurred. As Columbia alumni Stephanie Kuehnert and J. Adams Oaks have experienced, acceptance into the YA market can be equally rewarding.
Neither Kuehnert nor Oaks set out to write a YA novel. After unsuccessfully shopping Kuehnert’s first book, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, to adult publishers for a year, her agent suggested trying the YA market. “I was shocked,” Kuehnert says. “My main concern was censorship. But my agent was like, ‘No, no! YA has changed.’” The book was finally picked up by teen-oriented MTV Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), and is currently being marketed to both teens and adults.
Oaks, whose novel Why I Fight was published by Simon & Schuster in April, shares a similar story. “At first I was insulted,” he says of his agent’s insistence that the book would appeal to a younger audience. After trying to convince his friends that he didn’t write a “kiddy” book, he eventually changed his opinion. “What I didn’t realize at the time was how much YA had changed since I was a kid.”
But has the YA market changed? Joanna MacKenzie of Chicago-based Browne & Miller Literary Associates, believes so. “I don’t think YA is that marginalized anymore,” she says. “As an agent, I’m drawn to YA literature because YA readers are so voracious and curious. Almost no topic or approach is off limits.”
And if you think money is an issue, think again. According to MacKenzie, many authors look down on the YA market because they think it means a smaller paycheck. “It’s not true,” she says. “I can tell you that advances are comparable to adult fiction, as are sales and marketing efforts.”
So how do you define YA lit when, as Kuehnert points out, Catcher in the Rye would likely be classified as such if published today? Or does it even matter? “What matters to me is that it reaches people,” Kuehnert says, “and that it means something to those who read it. Some of those people are teenagers, and some are adults.”
According to Oaks, his editor didn’t even require any changes. Well, except for one: shorter chapters. “It’s kind of funny,” says Oaks, “because many people have read my book without even knowing it was YA.”
“Ultimately, good writing is good writing, and I look for that in both YA and adult books,” says MacKenzie. “Besides,” she adds, “if publishers feel that your book has crossover potential, they will work to capitalize on that.” Certain characteristics are required, however, if a book is to be considered YA, she says. As an example, she cites the recent novel Rooftops of Tehran by one of her clients, Mahbod Seraji. MacKenzie considered pursuing YA houses because the novel’s protagonist is seventeen. “We didn’t want the book to be limited by any readership,” she says. “There is some heavy subject matter in the book,” which was ultimately why she pursued the adult market in the end.
Kuehnert, Oaks, and MacKenzie all agree on one point: They are all drawn to coming-of-age stories.
What Kuehnert has come to like about the YA genre is the honesty in many authors’ voices. “I mostly read YA at this point because there’s a lot less pretension.” She is particularly drawn to the coming-of-age story because she’s “fascinated with the whole experience, and I guess I’m just a teenager at heart.”
Oaks gained confidence in his decision to go YA when a boy in a Connecticut middle school e-mailed him requesting biographical information so he could finish his book report on Why I Fight. “I like to think that the book is affecting that specific group of readers who are struggling through adolescence,” Oaks says.
And Kuehnert believes young adult fiction is here to stay. “I’m glad to see it get some of the spotlight it deserves,” she says. “I just hope it continues to be taken more seriously.”
