For the Day 17 prompt of the 28-Day Blog Challenge for Authors, the question is:
Describe the market for your book – to the tiniest detail (e.g., childless divorced women past age 50 who want to remarry). Why that demographic? How do you connect with them to market to them?
This is an interesting question because as I have mentioned in previous posts, I consider my book part of the emerging "new adult" genre. This term caught on back in 2009 when St. Martin's Press announced a contest looking for submissions from authors who have protagonists slightly older than teens. These books are intended to appeal to adults who read young adult novels and older teens.
The audience for the new adult genre is mostly females who are in that in-between stage of their lives. They may live in a college dorm or still live at home with their parents. New adults are typically at an uncertain phase of their lives. They may be looking for their first job, leaving home for the first time or beginning their first serious romantic relationship.
The reason I chose this audience and made my protagonist Kate 21 years old is because I find this stage in a girl's life fascinating. She has to find her footing for the first time without her parents and must make a decision on the type of career path she wishes to pursue. College is also such a fun time in a person's life and leads to experiences (bad and good) that stay with you forever.
Since agents and publishers are reluctant to take on older protagonists for YA books, it's a tough market to break into. Most of my marketing has been done via social networking, connecting to other NA writers, blog guest stops and online giveaways.
If you are a writer of new adult fiction or want to learn more about the genre, here are a few excellent resources:
NA Alley: This is a must for NA authors! The fabulous group of bloggers that run this site are both NA authors and fans of NA books. They review NA books, discuss the genre and host giveaways.
Writer's Digest: An article from 2010 breaks down the genre and talks about typical protagonists and the intended audience for the books.
It's so difficult to fit a book into a genre. While mine is HF, I find it resonating with YA readers galore. Stress. :) WRITE ON!
ReplyDeleteWrite on!!!! Thanks for this post. Us NA writers must stick together!!! :) I'm so thankful my publisher took a chance on this genre!! I'm excited to be their first pubbed in NA! :) Two out, four more coming! Woot!
ReplyDeleteThat certain gives hope to many NA writers out there! I added Wasteland to my TBR pile after I read your interview last week on NA Alley.
ReplyDelete[...] HEATHER TOPHAM WOOD. This is an interesting question because, as I have mentioned in previous posts, I consider my book part of the emerging “new adult” genre. This term caught on back in 2009 when St. Martin’s Press announced a contest looking for submissions from authors who have protagonists slightly older than teens. These books are intended to appeal to adults who read young adult novels and older teens. The audience for the new adult genre is mostly females who are in that in-between stage of their lives. They may live in a college dorm or still live at home with their parents. New adults are typically at an uncertain phase of their lives. They may be looking for their first job, leaving home for the first time or beginning their first serious romantic relationship. [...]
ReplyDeleteI love the term "new adult." This is the first time I have read about it, and it fits with a few of the YA books I am writing as my protagonists are early-20s. Younger characters just didn't quite fit with the characters that were emerging within the stories.
ReplyDeleteYes I can relate! I didn't particularly set out to write a new adult book, but just discovered that was where my book fit along the way. An agent suggested I make the main character in her teens and I just felt that the entire plot would then have to be changed. Good luck with your books!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the NA Alley shout out Heather! And yet another great article to add to the roster of our site!!! Thanks so much for you insight :D
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