Vlog: Young Adult vs. New Adult

Categories can be confusing, so today I'm talking about the difference between two I see confused the most: Young Adult and New Adult.

RELATED LINKS: 

• Genre vs. Category (vlog)
• What Genre is Your WIP? (vlog)
• Young Adult vs. New Adult: What's the Difference? (blog post version)
• YA: It's Not a Genre 
• How to Determine Your WIP's Genre
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• Finding It by Cora Carmack

What other differences have you noticed between YA and NA? Any exceptions to the rule?

Twitter-sized bites:

Confused about the difference between YA & NA? Writer @Ava_Jae vlogs about why they're not the same. (Click to tweet)  

What's the difference between YA & NA books? @Ava_Jae breaks it down in today's vlog. #booktube (Click to tweet)

So You Want to Write NA Contemporary Romance?

Photo credit: idea ablaze on Flickr

Note: The inevitable has happened, my friends. After 600+ posts, I've accidentally re-written a post. The original is here, and this one is slightly different (since, you know, I wrote it thinking I hadn't written it yet). Think of it as having 1.5x the resources if you want to write NA Contemporary Romance. :) 

What is it? 

College (or college-age, at least), swoony book boyfriends (and girlfriends), awesome voices, awkward moments, stepping into adulthood, there are so many components of NA Contemporary Romances.

What do they have in common? They all feature college-age protagonists, are in a modern day setting, and the plot largely revolves around a romance.

Pros/Cons of Writing NA Contemporary Romance: 

Pros: 

• Wonderful voices. Like YA, one of my favorite things about NA are the incredibly diverse and powerful voices. There’s a very distinct sound to NA and some really wonderful voices that set them apart and absolutely fit the age range of their protagonists. 


• Adorable (or heart-wrenching) romances. The tone in NA novels varies greatly, but in the end, the romances are really great. From the light, fluffy and adorable to the darker, emotionally-ridden conflicts, the romances stick with you long after the book has ended. 


• Very popular (right now). Which means there’s so much to choose from! And it’s pretty good from a marketing standpoint, because books in popular categories and genres generally have a better chance of selling well. 

Cons: 

• Stigma/common misconceptions. There are a lot of people out there who still believe (and say) that New Adult is Young Adult with sex. Or that New Adult is the same as erotica. Neither of which are true, but it is an assumption a lot of people make about the category, particularly NA Contemporary Romance. 


• Mostly digital. I mean, this is really only a con if your dream is to be traditionally published in print. NA is actually doing really well in the digital marketplace, and some NA authors have gone on to be traditionally published after their digitally published books took off (see Tammara Webber, Cora Carmack and Jennifer Armentrout, for example). But at the moment at least, NA is mostly a digital phenomena, and while it’s (painfully) slowly breaking in the traditional print sphere, it’s not quite there yet. 


• Very popular (right now). Which means it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. Being part of a popular movement definitely has it’s pros and cons. 

Recommended Reading: 


As I’ve said in every other So You Want To Write post, reading in the genre (and category) you’re writing in is mandatory. Lucky for you, there are loads of awesome books out there to enjoy and learn from.

Note: I’ve read (and enjoyed) all of these except for Unteachable, which is on my TBR list because I’ve heard great things about it.

• Easy (Contours of the Heart duology) by Tammara Webber 
• Faking It (Losing It series) by Cora Carmack 
• Make it Count (Bowler University series) by Megan Erickson
• Only the Good Die Young by K.K. Hendin
• The Sound of Us (Radio Hearts series) by Ashley Poston
• Unteachable by Leah Raeder

For more, check out Goodreads’s New Adult page (which includes more than just Contemporary Romance) and their Popular New Adult books books shelf (which are mostly, but possibly not all Contemporary Romance).

Helpful Links:

• What is ‘New Adult’? Romance Editors and Authors Tell All by Natalie Zutter for bookish.com (partially) reposted on xoxoafterdark.com.
• RT14 Panel Recap: NA: Capturing the New Adult Voice by me on Writability.
• RT14 Panel Recap: NA: What’s Next in New Adult? by me on Writability.
• New Adult: No Sex Required by me on Writability.
• Young Adult vs. New Adult: What’s the Difference? by me on Writability. 

Do you enjoy reading or writing NA Contemporary Romance? Share your experience! 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Thinking about writing NA Contemporary Romance? Writer @Ava_Jae shares some tips, recommendations and more. (Click to tweet)  

Do you write NA Contemporary Romance? Share your experience at @Ava_Jae’s So You Want to Write series. (Click to tweet) 

My Favorite Books of 2013

So the end of the year is nigh, which means it’s time for the 2013 countdowns to begin. I had the pleasure of reading so many good books this year, and of the ones published this year, these were (in no particular order) my favorite five:

Photo credit: Goodreads

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

I posted a review here for the second book of the Shatter Me trilogy, but to take a quote from that review, “Unravel Me will take your emotions, rip them up, stomp on them, set them on fire, then hand them back to you with a wink and a smile.”

Yeah. That basically sums it up.

Unravel Me is an incredible sequel that’ll have you racing through the pages. I loved it and I can’t wait for Ignite Me to be released early next year.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Again, I’ve already raved about how awesome this book is, but Siege and Storm is the second book to what is turning out to be one of my favorite YA fantasy series ever. Between the awesome Russian-inspired setting, some truly incredible characters including my favorite antagonist ever, a great magic system and an interesting plot, I can’t recommend this series more.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Ink by Amanda Sun

Unsurprisingly, this is another one I’ve already reviewed (I tend to do that to my favorites), but this an an unexpected favorite for me. I hadn’t heard all that much about Ink, and I think it deserves a lot more buzz because it’s a fantastic book with a beautiful setting and a truly unique magic system. Ink was a wonderful read and I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment.

Photo credit: Goodreads

The 5th Wave of Rick Yancey

So this one did get quite a bit of buzz, and it was well-deserved. I’d heard people raving about how exciting and unputdownable it was long before I finally picked up my copy, and they were right. Cassie is an interesting protagonist with a great voice, the pacing is breakneck awesomeness and the next book really needs to be published already.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Faking It by Cora Carmack

Now for something totally different—or at least, different for me.

I don’t read a lot of contemporary romance—in fact, before Losing It, which I read before Faking It, the last contemporary novel I’d read was The Fault in Our Stars back in 2012. But you guys, I loved this book. Max has to be one of my favorite female leads and Cade is easily one of my favorite book boyfriends. Their story was hilarious and awkward and heartwarming and I couldn’t have loved it more.

What are some of your favorite books of the year?

Twitter-sized bites: 

Writer @Ava_Jae shares her favorite five books of 2013. Are any on your list? (Click to tweet)