Why You Should Try YA

Tuesday night, I had my first big opportunity to give out the fancy new business cards we discussed a few weeks ago - my first meeting of the Austin chapter of RWA. Armed with a shiny card case and the knowledge that this month's topic was the YA market, the hours before were filled with my strange, giddy excitement. So, it was a bit of shock when the first woman asking to exchange cards didn't comment on the beauty of the design (which I spent days deciding on), but instead on that small line beneath my name - Young Adult Fiction. "You know, I don't even know what all this Young Adult stuff is," was her comment.

My mind reeled. Wasn't YA our topic for the meeting? Have all those analysts and authors been wrong in saying YA is the most exciting area of book-selling today? Have I blindly found myself in genre that people don't even know exists? It was full panic mode. Luckily the woman across from us responded for me: "Well, I read the back of the speaker's books and the plots seem just like romance...but in high school." And you know what? She was exactly right.

It was actually one of the points the meeting's speaker, Suzanne Harper - former editor of Disney Adventures magazine and author of The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney and, just released and super-cute, The Juliet Club - touched on. One of just many reasons why YA is such a thrilling genre to be writing in right now. And why, after the meeting was over, my initially skeptical neighbor leaned over to me and said, "I think I'll try my hand at this teenage stuff now - it sounds fun!" So, if you've been thinking about writing YA, or even if you weren't aware of its existence until recently, here are 10 great reasons you should think about trying YA right now:

1. "The plots seem just like romance...but in high school." Okay, here's the big secret of YA -the plots are just like romance. In at least 95% of YA fiction, there's some sort of romance. After all, at what point in our lives are we more focused on love and the opposite sex than during adolescence? Even the books mostly loved by teenage guys have some romantic elements to them - there's always a girl the hero likes, because there's always a girl every teenage boy likes. It's a fact of life...and makes it infinitely easier for romance writers to cross over.
   
2. Lack of Sub-Genres. On the shelf, there's no delineation between Young Adult romance and Young Adult mystery, because all of it is just considered YA. This is great for writers because it means you're reaching as wide a range of readers as possible - the same girl who picks up an edgy, futuristic sci-fi, can also grab the cute, pink, character development laden romance next to it with no problem.
   
3. Hardback v. Paperback. If you're writing straight YA, not for a specific line that only publishes paperbacks, chances are you'll end up in hardcover for your first book. Suzanne Harper even mentioned that the HarperTeen division of Harper Collins only publishes in hardback for the first printing, except for their small, specialty imprints. If you go look at the YA shelves, there are more hardcover spines than any other area of the bookstore. Which is very, very good news for those starving writers of us out there.
   
4. Generation Y. Did you know that the current generation of teenagers is larger than even the infamous Baby Boomer generation? That makes it the largest sub-audience out there in publishing - especially if you add in all the adults and twenty-somethings who still read YA.
   
5. Ease of Marketing. Teenagers are the most tech savvy, internet friendly generation out there. Which is fantastic news for the YA writer. It means infinite ways to connect with your target audience. You can get a MySpace page, a website, a blog, buy adspace on Facebook (and get an account!), send out e-newsletters, conquer You Tube and the vlogging world, etc. The list of new, successful ways to market to teens is infinite. The only downside? You may have so much fun self-promoting, that you forget to write!
6. The J.K. Rowling Effect. Every single person who publishes a Young Adult or Children's book for the next decade or two should send J.K. Rowling a box of chocolates. Harry Potter proved that this generation of teenagers, tweens, and children are more excited about reading than we've seen in quite a long time. Some people predicted this mega-book phenomenon would hold true only with the Potter series, but they've been proved wrong a hundred times over. Twilight? Eragon? Lemony Snicket? The Spiderwick Chronicles? All book sensations for this specific market. So many YA & Children's Lit books are being sold that the New York Times finally had to give us our own best-sellers lists - with a special one for bestselling series - before the only books on the Hardback list were for those 18 and under!
7. Libraries & Schools. Books for children & teenagers have one of the handiest auto-markets out there - the library and school systems. Not only will they want your book in hardback, but they would love for you to come do a library tour or school visit!
   
8. The New YA Edge. So, I know, I know - you're intrigued by this whole YA thing, but you really don't want to give up your sexual tension and heroes who can throw back their Scottish whiskey. Welcome to the world of edgy YA. Young Adult books nowadays have as few content constraints as adult books. Which makes sense, considering that if teenagers are dealing with sex, alcohol, and other issues, they should be able to read about them too. As an author, you can deal with real world teenage problems -and while it will limit you from the younger spectrum of the YA audience, there will be plenty of readers lining up to read your book. Even if they're straight-A students who didn't even sneak a glass of champagne at their sister's wedding, it's always interesting to read about the darker, edgier side of life.
   
9. Wanted: Plotting Mavericks. One of the best things about teenagers is their willingness to suspend disbelief. If your strength is plotting, or putting a great twist on an existing concept, then YA may be the best market for you. An interesting hook (with a will-written book to back it up, naturally) is a very hot ticket in the YA section. Add to that the flexibility of style and structure (a novel all in IM speak? or blog posts? go for it!) and this is the perfect genre for anyone who wants to write something a little out of the ordinary.
   
10. The Great Company: Libba Bray. John Green. Maureen Johnson. All of these are hilarious, brilliant, and painfully talented people who have chosen to write for Young Adults. Not to mention all of those great romance authors who have already made the cross-genre leap - Stephanie Rowe (Stephie Davis in YA), Marianne Mancusi, Julie Kenner, and, of course, Meg Cabot.
    

I know there are more fantastic reasons I've left off this list, but the end result is the same - Young Adult is an exciting, on the brink publishing market. So, if you've ever even thought about writing a YA, this is definitely the time to do it. Plus, you know, then we could gossip about YA together! So, Originals, have you thought about writing YA? Or crossing genres and writing something else out of your normal work? And, okay, if you became the next J.K. Rowling (every Children's Lit & YA author's secret dream), what would you do with your author billions?