I just finished reading the Dec. 14, 2012 article from Publisher's Weekly called New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?
I've been hearing a lot about this new genre of books called New Adult. It seems like it is meant to capture that college age group. What I can't figure out is for years there have been people in the age range of 18-20 somethings. Not many of us have skipped over that age range. So why now, is there a push for books for this age? Are what has been thought of as "adult books" too old for this crowd? Or is the 18-20 somethings not ready for books that deal with real adult situations? Or perhaps this is another way for book publishers to create a new genre, thus generating new capital, which given the hit they have probably taken with e-books, maybe they need this new genre. I'm still pondering this new genre.
Onward...
I just finished reading YA Comes of Age from Publisher's Weekly, Oct. 3, 2011. It is interesting to read an article that is a year and a half old and see how far YA books have come. Yes, there is a ton of distopian literature out there. Their predictions are true. It also seems like angels are still big as is the end of the world (even thought we got past Dec. 2012). The predictions in the article say that YA novels are big with adults and that certainly is the case. I liked how it also stated that we are loosing some of the teens to Stephen King and Danielle Steele. Danielle Steele - really? I have never had a teen ask me for a Danielle Steele book.
I commented on Mary K'as blog:
Hi Mary Kay
I questioned the adding of "New Adult" on my own blog. Have people not been in the age range of 18-20's for the last millenium? Did people just skip over these couple of years? Why is it all of a sudden there is a need for this new genre? Are people in this age range having trouble becoming adults so they have to read "new adult" books before they can jump into "real adult" themed books? I don't have any answers, but I don't think we need another genre catering to the teen population.
I read one of the articles that you read. The publisher's weekly article made me think and understand some of the debate on the New Adult label. I wonder too if it is a way to bring in revenue. I thought this was a way to cater to Adults who wanted to read Teen books and away to add more adult graphic descriptions to teen books. Like you I don't think we need another genre but I do think it is definitely on the radar to occur.
ReplyDeleteI do think that the 'New Adult' term is just a marketing tool for publishers. I know publishers are always looking for a new sub-group or niche to market to. To me "YA" ="New Adult," or shall we shorten that to "NA." Don't know if booksellers will take to the term...
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ReplyDeleteI also read the "New Adult" article and had some reservations about its' usefulness. Your comment about 18-20 somethings not being ready for adult themes was interesting. Maybe they aren't ready. Certainly we seem to keep pushing back the entry into adulthood. However, the commercial aspect of creating a new market for books may be the most likely reason for "New Adult" books.
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