New Adult- the little genre that can.

It has taken me years to progress from the "Wow, that would be a cool idea for a book but I have no idea how to translate it" mindset to actually giving writing a shot. I went out a bought myself a brand new notebook, dubbing is THE notebook. Everything from beginning ramblings and questions to character descriptions and about five different outlines all in the same place. Feeling accomplished, I started thinking way ahead of myself- how I would publish it, what the "blurb" would say, what genre it was. Then it hit me- my main character was 20 years old, far too old to be in a young adult book (especially since she is the youngest character in the book). At the same time, her experiences and growth aren't quite on par with adult fiction either. I immediately jumped online to do research, hoping my book wasn't doomed before the first sentence was even written.
That's when I stumbled on the idea of "New Adult" fiction, sometimes called Upper-YA. The term was thought up by St. Martin's Press in 2009 for that in-between genre. New adult books generally have a college-aged or post-college aged main character. They are typically coming-of-age stories much like YA, but a bit more mature with more consequences for your actions- just like real life.
I'm surprised that the genre isn't bigger than it is. After all, it might be nice to read about a first kiss or first loves riding into the sunset to college, but those experiences end quickly and have less drastic repercussions on your life than the ones you make in college.
Your early twenties are about defining yourself outside of your friends and family and learning that your actions have permanent consequences. Yes, the content will be more mature than YA because your life in college is far more mature than your life in high school. But I think this genre is a great way to appeal to people of all ages, from the high-school students who haven't gone through it yet to the 30-somethings reminiscing.

If you are interesting in finding NA books, I found a blog called NA Alley that has a ton of reviews and good information. Fingers crossed, maybe one day in the future you'll see my book featured there.



Until next time, keep calm and write on :)
-V