Why We Need "New Adult"

I won't pretend to be an expert on what sells in the publishing world. If I were an expert, I'd be published and everyone would know my name. Alas, I'm still working on that.

A current argument in the writing/agenting/publishing world is the need for New Adult. What is New Adult you ask? It's that coming of age time, between high school and full blown adulthood, where you might be of legal age but usually don't feel like a full fledged adult like our parents. For me, it's the 18-25 years. Some are in college. Some are still living at home. In my journey, I went the marriage and kids route. For everyone it's different, but one common  thread is we were all trying to figure out how this adulthood thing worked.

I've heard the argument in kids literature that kids like to "read up".The upper Elementary student is reading about Middle School. The Middle School student is reading about High School. The early High School student is reading about the upper High School years. With this I agree.

But what about the upper High School student? You know, the ones about to graduate and move in to that next stage.  When I was finishing high school, I was thinking about college (I had not met my now husband yet) and deciding what I wanted to do. I would have loved to read about those years. See what others were doing. Was that available? Not that I could find.

So I take it publishers think that those about to graduate don't care about that next stage. Or maybe they don't believe that age group has time to read. I completely disagree and I know others do as well. I just finished reading a post from J. Lea Lopez  from the blog From The Write Angle talking about this exact topic. You can read it here In Support Of New Adult Fiction. We seem to think a like on this topic.

It is my hope that one day this category will be recognized. I feel it is needed. The "New Adult" years can be just as exciting and scary as the teen years, maybe more so, and should be represented. It's one of the biggest transitions in a person's life and deserve some shelf space!

When's the BEST time to buy that book?

I learn new things about the publishing world every day. One thing I learned just now and thought I would share.

Did you know that WHEN you buy a book to support your favorite author is really important? I had no idea until I read this post over at "From the Write Angle". Here is a link:

http://www.fromthewriteangle.com/2012/01/not-all-sales-are-created-equalwhat.html

So, I know that there have been books that I have been waiting for to be released. Generally, it is a sequel to a series I have started, or the new book of a favorite author. I will go on Amazon to find the release date, skipping over the Pre-Order button. Never again!

Those Pre-Order sales are critical to authors, especially new authors, trying to be successful in the publishing world. When a book is sold to a publisher, the publisher must decide how many to print in their first run. Those Pre-Orders help determine that number. The more Pre-Orders the more books a publisher is likely to print. The more books printed, the more books available to sell and the better to get the word out to the public. Makes sense!

So read the link I posted (Sophie says this far more eloquently and in more detail than I do) and going forward, rethink skipping over that Pre-Order button. You could be helping your favorite author have a fair shot at this whole publishing thing.

Cheers!

So What Is This Blog Thing Anyway?

As like most aspiring authors, I have found I don't know nearly as much as I thought about this business. I have a manuscript in revisions, a manuscript I am working on and I am working through my head an idea for the next. When will I have time to finish either with all the research I need to do about the business, I have no idea. Alas, I am just another aspiring author trying to figure out how this world of publishing works.

So I have friends who I like to bounce ideas off and share interesting things I learn along my path of discovery. One even suggested I blog about it. Blog? I have no idea what I would say in a blog. Who would read it? Would anyone read it?

Everything I read says a writer needs to have a presence on the Internet. They should build a fan base so that one day, if I am lucky, an agent will sign me and sell one of my books. My fan base would then become the first to want to read my book. Interesting.

So here you have it, my blog. I don't know exactly what direction this thing is going to go in, there are so many great bloggers in the industry I could learn from. For now, I will write about my journey as a southern girl trying to make a name for herself in the big bad world of publishing. We shall see how this goes.

Oh, and the name "WritesToEscapeReality" is so fitting. My writing is where I wish I could be when life gets tough and where I don't want to leave when I am in the middle of it.

Cheers!