#AtoZchallenge Young Adult

The first thing to remember when talking about Young Adult in relation to books is that YA is not a genre, but an age-group. YA books are available across genres – fantasy, literary, mystery, sci-fi, contemporary – just the same as adult books.

What makes a book YA is the age of its protagonists and its appeal to readers of the same or similar age. While there are some arguments about exactly what age this is, personally I would say anywhere from around 14 –19 would sit comfortably within YA. Which is not to say that any book with a protagonist of this age is a YA book....

Confusing, huh?

YA books tend to have a coming-of-age theme, regardless of genre. Protagonists often experience first love, first sexual experience or come to terms with something about themselves they discover in the course of the book.

Historically, the YA category only really came into existence in the 1960s. At that time, YA tended to focus on contemporary stories dealing with the kind of social issues and problems young people were facing. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye is widely considered the first YA book despite Salinger not intending it to be for young adults. Its popularity among the 12 –18 age-group urged other writers to explore writing for this age-group and a new category was born.

Over the years the category has grown and changed, and continues to do so. Which is important because the world we live in is constantly changing and the problems and concerns young people are facing today are complex and different to the ones they were facing in years gone by. Perhaps this finger on the pulse of modern society is the reason why so many adults are reading books aimed at teens.

But what really makes a book YA is its ‘voice’. YA books are often written in the first person to allow the reader to really get into the head of the protagonist, see the world through their eyes and feel what they are feeling. And those feelings are teen feelings, the perspective on the world one that a teenager would recognize.

I am a YA writer myself, and I always find myself falling back into that teen perspective, even when what I start out working on is supposed to be for adults. I believe strongly that the teen years are the most important, the time you become the person you will be for the rest of your life. It’s the period in which you try on personalities, develop tastes and discover the beliefs that will guide you through your adult years. It’s the time you develop significant relationships outside your own family.

It’s a confusing and messy time and any little event can invoke a massive emotional response.

As an author, this is dynamic material to work with. Teens are such a contradictory mixture of child and adult and there can be a huge range of maturity levels, even within a single group of friends, and those are compelling voices for an author to play with. And these days, with YA publishers willing to publish books on increasingly difficult subjects, it’s an opportunity to really make a difference, to share stories that teenagers can relate to and see themselves in.

Book Marketing Experiment #782: Wattpad

For me, book marketing has been one experiment after another. I hear of or think of a new idea, then give it a try. Some things have worked. Some haven't, but I'm always willing to try something new.

For the past year, I've been thinking about and researching Wattpad. I've heard of people having success there, but I've been in this business long enough to know that for every wildly successful author out there, there are about 10,000 others who haven't achieved the same results.

I had a few of misgivings about Wattpad.

1. There are thousands and thousands of stories available which means it's yet another platform where competition is fierce.
2. It's free. I work very hard on writing and editing my novels, and I feel my time has value. No one would give away a house they built themselves, and we're talking about a similar number of hours invested.
3. If the novel didn't do well, I ran the risk of never getting it traditionally published because it would be available online for free, which technically means it was previously published.

However, I have this manuscript that I wrote during the 72-Hour Novel Contest (yes, you have 72 hours to write an entire novel). The Typhon Project is a YA Sci-fi apocalyptic read that is complete at 35,000 words, qualifying it as a novella, not a novel. I loved the story, so I'd considered weaving in some subplots to beef it up but, after a lot of thought, came to the conclusion that the story was best served at its present length. 

As I considered trying out Wattpad, I thought of The Typhon Project, a manuscript that I would probably never pursue traditional publication for because of its length. I wanted to share that story and since it was just going to languish on my computer anyway, I decided that Wattpad might be an excellent way for me to get it in front of readers, especially since the platform is hugely popular with teen audiences. 

So, I designed a cover and posted the first couple chapters. I've committed to posting a chapter per week until it is complete. This experiment is well underway, and I'm excited to see how it turns out. If you're curious, you can find it here: The Typhon Project

Since I'm still learning this new platform, I'd love tips from the OA community. If you have any tips or best practices to share with a Wattpad newbie, please post them in the comments below. Thanks!

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Melinda Friesen specializes in writing teen fiction. Her first novel, Enslavement, has been nominated for a Sunburst Award as well as a Saskatchewan Young Readers Choice Snow Willow Award.

Collaborative Project: Rough Draft is Complete, So Now What?

Over the past few months, I've been working on a collaborative project with fellow author, Christine Steendam. We come from very different backgrounds in terms of our writing and styles--she writes western romances and historical novels, while I write speculative teen fiction.

We've now completed a rough draft of our top-secret project, a novella different from anything either of us has ever written. We did a little happy dance last week when the final chapter was completed on our rough draft.

But, now what? Do we go in and start editing each other's work? Both of us edit for others professionally, so we're on equal footing in that regards. But, as I stated, this is a rough draft. I really hate anyone seeing my rough drafts, which was probably the hardest part of this whole endeavor--knowing that she'll be reading that primordial ooze that passes for my rough draft.

After some discussion, we decided on our process:

1. We will go through the document and work on a second draft of our own passages. 
2. Once both of our passages are brought up to second draft status, we'll edit each other's work. 
3. After revisions, we'll send it off to an outside editor.
4. Once the editor's changes are employed, we will each take a turn doing a copy edit.
5. When we feel it's ready, it'll go into format and from there each of us will do a proofread.

Because of the novella's genre and target audience, we plan to independently publish it, which will be a new venture for me as well.

So far, working collaboratively with another author has been a ton of fun and a great experience. Once the project is complete, I'll share what I've learned.

Have you ever co-written a novel? What sorts of challenges did you face? Do you have any great advice for me? I'd love to hear it.

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Melinda Friesen writes novels for teens and is the marketing director at Rebelight Publishing Inc. Her YA dystopian novel, Enslavement has been shortlisted for a Willow Award. Enslavement's sequel, Subversion, is slated for a September launch.