Friday, September 7, 2012

Is There Anybody Out There?



Back during the Sad Songs Bloghop, I listed this as one of the saddest songs going. You may have to turn it up to really hear.


I thought of this song this week, not because I'm especially sad, but because sometimes it feels like the only person in the world who doesn't write YA.


I know it's not true, of course; a number of you regulars here don't write YA, but still. It seems nearly every blog I find is penned by a YA or MG writer, and every query that turns up in AWs Query Letter Hell or on Matt's QQQE is YA. When I got my first 250 in the Mother. Write. (Repeat.) Agent's Inbox contest last spring, 14 of the 20 entrants were YA (and 1 MG). In looking back at one of the Drop The Needle Contests at MSFV in May, 14 of 25 entrants were YA/MG (and the percentage was even higher in her second round). The ultimate occurred this week. I managed to get a revamped first 250-words of Parallel Lives into Miss Snark's First Victim's September Secret Agent Contest (entrant #6, if you're interested; why I chose to do a revise is another story). 48 of the 50 entrants were YA or MG. Wow, it can be lonely out there. I wonder if I'm just looking in the wrong places, or if YA/MG writers are that much more sociable than the rest of us (with authors of literary fiction the most hermit-like).

In other news...


The cover for Carrie Butler's debut, Strength, goes live on Monday, and we'll have a sneak preview right HERE!

The Catbird returned to school yesterday; oh, how strange to see her alone at the bus stop.

The Magpie seems to have recovered from her case of the Second Week Blues.

Barton's Women sits and cools; meanwhile, I re-read (am re-reading, that is) Parallel Lives, and all I can say is, I thought I did a better job editing. /facepalm

That's about it for me for today. Thanks for stopping by, hope you all have a nice weekend. Be sure to stop by Monday and see Carrie's cover!


9 comments:

  1. Yeah. YA is huge right now. I'm working on a YA fantasy series but only because it's for my granddaughter who's the main character. I don't really care if it sells. She likes it (she read it this summer while visiting and because of her input my Camp NaNo project was a sequel), and since she's the target audience, I'm fine with that.

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    1. That's a great thing to do, Donna. And nice to know you're pleasing your target audience!

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  2. You're not imagining it. I have always had the same problem and especially when I was looking for an agent and for CPs. I finally posted something on Nathan Bransford's forums looking for CPs who wrote adult stuff and that's how I met Nancy! It's really very strange. I mean there really ARE adult books out there. Where are all the writers? Is there some secret club we're not aware of? Some secret non-blogging code or something? It's very weird. And it can be frustrating!

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    1. Maybe I'm just not hanging around in the right places. Though I like the places I hang around....

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  3. I've written one YA book, but all the other projects I've finished have been Adult. It's true, YA writers do seem to dominate the online community.

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    1. I think maybe YA/MG writers are just more community-minded. Or something.

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  4. Found your blog through The Twisted Piece Blog. Cool place you have here.

    Yeah I agree that everyone is writing YA these days. But I don't think everyone is writing it well. I would be one of those not-writing-well YA writers. I wonder if YA writers are more in touch with youth and as such more in touch with technology and social networking.

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    1. Thanks for coming by and commenting, HK. I'm sure your writing is better than you're giving yourself credit for. I don't read a lot of YA myself; my kids largely moved out of reading 'ageist' literature a while ago and are more interested in adult fiction, and a lot of the books they're assigned in school is also more 'adult'. There's definitely a ton of it on the market, which is great: it means we have a lot of readers out there.

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  5. I think YA writers - like myself - are just more active on social media. Write what you know and love, Jeff. You will find your audience.

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