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)

Vlog: Genre vs. Category

Today I'm clarifying two frequently used pub/book world terms: genre and category. They're not the same!

RELATED LINKS: 

• YA: It's Not a Genre
• On Writing in Multiple Genres

What other differences between genre vs. category would you add to the list? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Not sure what the difference is between genre and category? Writer @Ava_Jae breaks it down in her vlog. #pubtip (Click to tweet)  

In today's vlog, @Ava_Jae says genre and category are not the same. What do you think? (Click to tweet)

Young Adult vs. New Adult: What's the Difference?

Photo credit: emma@vanillasplash on Flickr

So I’ve been doing this thing where I binge read a bunch of YA novels, then NA novels, and back and forth. And it’s been a blast, and I’m really enjoying it, but the best part about it is I’ve been able to get a better idea as to some of the differences between YA and NA novels.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the similarities and differences between the two categories, but I like to think it’s a start. And hopefully helpful for those who are having trouble differentiating between the two.

Both YA & NA:

• Young characters. YA tends to feature main characters aged 14-17 while NA tends to feature protagonists aged 18-mid twentiesish. These aren’t set in stone of course, but the point is, both feature relatively young characters.


• Voice is king. This is one of the major reasons I love both YA and NA—the voices you find in these categories are fantastic. For real, truly and honestly, voice is so incredibly important in YA and NA, and some of the best voices I’ve ever encountered have come from YA and NA lit.
  
  And because I feel like recommending some wonderful voices, for YA I recommend the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi and for NA I super highly recommend Only the Good Die Young by K.K. Hendin. Both have incredibly awesome voices that I adore.


• Fast-paced. Self-explanatory, and yet another reason I love YA and NA novels.


• Language. Guess what? Some teenagers cuss and some new adults cuss. Cursing is equally acceptable in YA and NA, though I’ve noticed there sometimes tends to be more frequent cursing in NA if that’s the POV character’s voice. Either way, cursing is allowed.


• Sex. Yes, both YA and NA novels are allowed to have sex. The main differentiating factor here is how graphic said sex scenes are allowed to be, which is explained below.

YA:

• Still dependent. Characters in YA novels are minors, and thus almost always still dependent on someone. It could be their parents, a guardian of some sort, the government, etc., but they’re not usually at a stage in their lives where they have full independence.


• Coming of age. YA novels are coming of age novels. They’re about surviving the terrifying, confusing years of being a teenager and starting to learn who they are.


• Thinking about the present. I believe I saw Agent Sarah LaPolla say this on Twitter a while ago, and I have to say I completely agree. YA protagonists are very much focused on the present—how they feel now, how their lives are now, what their relationships are like now, etc. They're not usually thinking about the future—they just want to get through the now.


• Teenage audience. While it’s true that many many many adults read YA, ultimately the target audience for YA is indeed teenagers.


• Emotional focus in intimate scenes. Like I said above, sex is completely allowed in YA—the difference, is rather than focusing on the graphic physical details of intimacy, YA tends to gloss over it and focus on the emotional aspect. How this is handled varies greatly—in Cruel Beauty, for example, the kissing and sex is mentioned very briefly and barely described at all. In Unravel Me and Ignite Me, on the other hand, there’s much more physical description that then shifts to more introspection as the scenes become more heated.

NA:

• Independent. Characters in NA novels are often finally independent. Or trying to be independent, at least. Whether they’re away at college, leaving home for the first time or something else, these characters are trying to embrace independence while juggling all these other new adult-ish experiences.


• Adult responsibilities. New adults are facing adult responsibilities for the first time, whether it’s paying the bills, taking care of kids, stepping into adult-like roles or simply trying to figure out how to handle being treated like an adult when they don’t yet feel like adults, the responsibilities are there and they can’t depend on anyone else to take care of them anymore.


• Physical and emotional focus in intimate scenes. Unlike YA, characters in NA novels are very aware of how certain situations or characters make them feel physically. They know when they’re aroused, for example, and they’re not afraid to say it, but the focus isn’t 100% physical, because there are emotional aspects to consider as well.
  
  When writing NA fiction, you have the option of removing the glossing over so-to-speak that you often see in YA—it’s perfectly acceptable for sex scenes in NA to be explicit. This ties back to that awareness—for example, when make out scenes are no longer fully focused on the emotional aspect, but how they feel physically as well, the scenes naturally become more graphic.
  
  That being said, this doesn’t mean that there has to be sex. Sex is not and will never be a requirement for NA novels, and fade to black, if that’s what you’re comfortable with, is just as acceptable in NA as it is in YA and Adult. You just have the option of writing explicit sex if that’s what you want, unlike YA. :)


• Thinking about the future. NA protagonists have their eyes on the future—whether it’s trying to find a lasting relationship, thinking about settling down, trying to figure out career direction or something else, new adults are realizing that the present is important, but they need to figure out how to survive the future, too.


• Adult audience. While I’m sure there are teenagers who will inevitably pick up NA novels, the primary target audience for NA are adults.


• What does it mean to be an adult? This is the big question in NA. NA-aged protagonists are now officially adults, the world views them as adults and everyone says they’re an adult, but they don’t really feel like it. They’re trying to handle everything the world is throwing at them while at the same time trying to figure out what being an adult means and more specifically, what role they fit into in the adult world.

What similarities and differences can you think of between NA and YA novels? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Confused about the difference between YA and NA novels? Writer @Ava_Jae breaks it down here. (Click to tweet)  

Unsure how NA & YA novels differ? Writer @Ava_Jae shares some similarities & differences (hint: it's NOT just sex). (Click to tweet)

How to Determine Your WIP's Genre

Photo credit: Send me adrift. on Flickr

Oftentimes, I’ve seen agents talk about receiving queries for manuscripts pitched with three or more genres, which is a problem because it shows that the writer isn’t really sure what the genre is.  

Determining your genre can, at times, be tricky, especially if your WIP has crossover elements (that is, elements that would appeal to other genres or categories). But long before you begin querying, it’s very important that you have a solid grasp on what your WIP’s genre and category are.

That being said, here are some steps to take when determining your manuscript’s genre and category.

1. Understand the difference between genre and category. Genre and category are not words that can be used interchangeably—they refer to two very different categorical labels.
   
   A book’s genre refers to the type of subject matter, that is, Fantasy, Contemporary, Adventure, Thriller, Horror, Sci-Fi, etc. Within a genre there are sub genres—Paranormal Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Space Opera, Dystopia, Steampunk, etc.
   
   The category, on the other hand, refers to the age group, such as Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult and Adult. Within each category is a wide range of genre possibilities—Middle Grade Adventure, Young Adult Sci-Fi, New Adult Paranormal, Adult Thriller, etc. For your WIP’s purposes, you’ll want to know the category and genre (or subgenre, if applicable). One of each. There’s no such thing as a Middle Grade Young Adult Adventure Contemporary Romance Fantasy. Got it? Ok.
   
   For a slightly more detailed look at category vs. genre, take a look at this post.


2. Narrow down to whatever genres you think your WIP might be. If you’re going through this process, it’s because you’re not entirely sure what genre or category fits your book best. That’s ok, like I said, it can be tricky sometimes. Write down whatever genres and/or categories you think may fit your book, then move on to the next step. 


3. Get to know those genres/research. This is the step that will take the longest. The only way to really determine what genre best fits your manuscript is to get to know those genres. Read books in the genres you’re considering, get to know the tropes that exist within the genres and do some research online. Read, research, repeat until you’re comfortable with the genres. 


4. Ask yourself, “Which genre is closest to my manuscript?” Now this, to me, is the trickiest step. The thing is, there’s a lot of variety within every genre. For example, the Twilight series is extraordinarily different from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, even though both are YA Paranormal dealing with vampires—and both are markedly different from Ink, which is still Paranormal but doesn’t have any vampires at all. Matched is not the same as The Hunger Games even though both are YA Dystopias and Across the Universe is very different from The 5th Wave even though both are YA Sci-Fi.
   
   The key is not to look at every element your WIP has. Just because there’s romance doesn’t mean you’ve written a Romance novel, and just because you’ve written a futuristic Sci-Fi novel doesn’t mean you’ve written a Dystopia.
   
   What you want to focus on is what the main elements of your WIP are and decide what genre best embodies those elements. The Shatter Me series, for example, has many paranormal elements, but the prevailing main element is fighting the oppressive Reestablishment, which is a dystopian-type government in a very dystopian setting, and thus is mainly categorized as a Dystopian novel. The Mortal Instruments series has vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc. but is categorized as Urban Fantasy because of it’s very urban NYC-setting. Across the Universe has a heavy mystery element, but is categorized as Sci-Fi because the main elements involve a spaceship and technological advances like long-term space travel and cryogenics. 

If your WIP has crossover appeal, that’s definitely not a bad thing, but it’s not an excuse to slap three or four genres on your manuscript, either. Choose the category and genre that fits your manuscript best and let your book (and the summary of your book) reveal the rest.

Have you had difficulty determining a category or genre for your manuscript or a book you’ve read? How did you figure it out? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

“If your WIP has crossover appeal…it’s not an excuse to slap three or four genres on your MS…” (Click to tweet)  

Struggling to determine your WIP’s category or genre? Writer @Ava_Jae shares four steps to figuring out your genre. (Click to tweet) 

New Adult: Here to Stay?

Photo credit: midnightglory on Flickr

If you keep an eye on the publishing pulse, or otherwise are a writer on Twitter, chances are you’ve heard of the emerging categorization of New Adult. 

While there have been many definitions and speculations on what exactly the category entails floating around the internet, I’ve found the one off NA Alley to be the most helpful: 

“Typically, a novel is considered NA if it encompasses the transition between adolescence—a life stage often depicted in Young Adult (YA) fiction—and true adulthood. 

Protagonists generally fall between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, though exceptions may apply. NA characters are often portrayed experiencing: college, living away from home for the first time, military deployment, apprenticeships, a first steady job, a first serious relationship, etc.”

For more information on what NA is all about, check out their full “What is New Adult?” page, which has a great explanation. 

Far more interesting than the actual definition of the category, to me, has been people’s opinions on NA (which range from we don’t need it to where have you been all my life?) and people’s expectations of where NA will go from here. 

Right now, NA has been pretty focused on contemporary romances such as Cora Carmack’s Losing It and Faking It, Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster and Tammara Webber’s Easy, which is fine, but I’d love to see it expand to other genres—and I truly believe that it has the potential to do so. 

But as agent extraordinaire Suzie Townsend said in her post on New Adult and different genres, where the category goes from here will depend entirely on the readers. And to me, that’s an exciting prospect. 

The eighteen to early twenties segment has always been difficult to break into—a large part of the reason most of the characters I’ve written about until recently are about seventeen. Many publishers were convinced that readers didn’t want to read about characters within that age bracket, and so it went largely ignored for a long time. 

But now self-publishing has changed that. The massive success of self-published NA novels has brought attention to the previously unmarketable age range, and now people are starting to pay attention. 

In essence, readers have created New Adult, and whether or not it evolves and grows will depend largely on readers’ reception of this new category. 

And to me, that is something very special. 

What do you think? Is New Adult a fad, or will it continue to grow and change? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Do you think New Adult is a fad, or is it here to stay? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog! (Click to tweet)

Why one writer thinks readers are making New Adult something special. (Click to tweet)

YA: It’s Not a Genre

Photo credit: ginnerobot on Flickr

I imagine the title of this post may have some lovers of Young Adult novels arriving with pitchforks and calling down fire and brimstone from the heavens, but hold your horses, because it’s not what you think.

Anyone who so much as peeks at my Goodreads shelf can see that I love YA. Out of the fourteen books I’ve read thus far this year, eight of them were YA novels, and out of the twenty-one I read last year, fourteen were YA. I also love writing YA, and the first thing I do upon walking into Barnes & Noble is beeline it over to the Teen section, so I think it goes without saying that I’m a YA junkie. (It’s not a problem. I can stop whenever I want to—I just don’t want to).

So when I say that YA isn’t a genre, I’m not trying to insult anyone, or somehow degrade the wonderful world that is YAtopia. I’m actually talking technicalities.

YA, like MG, Adult, and I suspect NA as well (although that’s another post all on its own), are all categories. They describe a target audience and expectations of general themes threaded throughout the books. For YA, that means a protagonist between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, and a sort of coming-of-age theme, to start. That’s a super simplified version, and there’s more to YA, but for the sake of not drowning you in information, let’s leave it at that.

Within each of those categories, there are then genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance, Contemporary, Horror, Historic, Thriller, Mystery, etc. And within those genres, there are sub-genres: dystopia, epic fantasy, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, contemporary romance, regency, post-apocalyptic, psychological thriller, the list goes on.

All of the books within those genres share close similarities; all paranormal romance involve some sort of creature or supernaturally-enabled love interest; dystopias involve some sort of future society, usually with an extremely controlling (and often evil) governmental system; epic fantasy involves swords and horses, and occasionally magic and otherwise magical creatures.

But within the category of YA, the books are markedly different. The Fault in Our Stars is nothing like The Hunger Games, and Graceling is nowhere near similar to City of Bones. What brings them together is the general age group of the protagonists and the coming-of-age theme woven throughout their respective stories. But they’re certainly not the same genre.

So those are my thoughts on the categorization of the wonderful realm that is YA, but now I want to hear from you: do you consider MG, YA or Adult a genre? Why or why not? 

Twitter-sized bites: 

Is YA a category or a genre? One writer shares her thoughts on the matter. (Click to tweet) 

Are MG, YA and Adult genres? Join the discussion at @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)