Thread: New Adult - determining target audience

thanks everyone Based on that, sounds like my story is definitely New Adult, once such a thing truly exists. *sighs* I always have to make things difficult.

Quote: Originally Posted by Saskatoonistan So if I write about a 22 year old schizophreniccollege student who swears a lot and is off his meds and thinks he's a superhero to the point of dressing up like one and getting his ass handed to him as he fights crime, that could be New Adult? Could be. Or it could be a sign that you've watched Confessions of a Superhero one too many times. Ugh. Now I want to go watch Confessions of a...

Absolutely. Everything is changing in the world of books, and that includes the world of books for kids/teens etc. This is one of the first positive things I've read with all the changes happening in our industry. We need to spread this like wildfire.

So if I write about a 22 year old schizophreniccollege student who swears a lot and is off his meds and thinks he's a superhero to the point of dressing up like one and getting his ass handed to him as he fights crime, that could be New Adult?

I have one trunked too! Let's hope it can make a revival soon!

Then this might be right up your alley: http://sjaejones.com/blog/2009/st-ma...adult-contest/ It IS a growing market.

There are lots of books about teenagers that aren't targeted to teenagers. One that immediately springs to mind is She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Age of the characters is only one facet of what makes a book YA, and while you seldom (though not never) have YA books about older main characters, it's not at all unheard of to have teen main characters in adult books. I think you should carry on with the story as it is and pitch it...

Interesting contest. Anxiety was beginning to overtake me with my novels because all my characters are in the New Adult range and I didn't know whether to classify it as adult or young adult. Adults might not be interested in the personal situations of the characters and young adults might think my characters too old to identify with. Unfortunately, I remember being 17 and thinking 21 was old, hahah, and I still think many teens feel that...

Quote: Originally Posted by Saskatoonistan I am 42, and back in the day when I had hair and girls at High School wore shoulder pads, we were reading Stephen King and Robert R. McCammon, true crime, VC Andrews, etc. Me too. She of the huge shoulder pads and hair. But then we didn't have YA sections in bookstores yet. Just children or adults. I'm addicted to YA now, though. I just wish it had been as popular when I was young. *sigh*...