You can’t see it, but I’m bouncing up and down right now. That’s how dang excited I was to read about St. Martin’s Press sponsoring a contest for “New Adult” fiction.
Yes, you read that right: New Adult.
Here’s what the editorial assistant running the contest had to say about what it is…
fiction with protagonists who are slightly older than YA and can appeal to an adult audience.
…and why St. Martin’s is looking for it:
But what about “postadolescent” fiction? That’s a bit harder to articulate. We, the “new adults”, have some perspective on our lives, but scope? We’re not old enough, we’re not experienced enough, we’re simply not grown-up enough. Our lives have immediacy, just as a teenager’s does, but we also possess the wisdom to understand that this immediacy cannot last for long. It’s a curious place in life and Dan and I feel that not enough fiction (or nonfiction) explore this nebulous time of life. The “quarter-life crisis”, if you will.
Read the full post here and about the contest here.
Why did this make my day? Because GLOW has a 20-year-old protagonist. I’ve read on agent and publishing blogs that characters in the age range of 20-25 are No Man’s Land. Publishers aren’t buying them, the public isn’t reading them, etc. Basically, I’ve read and heard “hard sell” and “No Man’s land” every time the subject comes up (with the caveat that great writing trumps all – Yay!).
But now there’s at least one publisher actively seeking it out!
I’ve toyed with the idea of making Lily younger or older, but the truth is: I like her at 20 (and later 21). The story works with her at that age. It would lose a little bit of magic if it changed. Though this doesn’t mean I’m opposed to revising the story to make it saleable – quite the opposite, in fact. If Lily has to be younger/older to get on the bookshelf at B&N, then hey, that’s life. I’m a realist, not a Speshul Snowflake. My point is, I’ve made GLOW the very best book I can (Write, revise, cure. Lather, rinse, repeat.) and it happens to have main character in college. Knowing there are people out there in publishing seeking that kind of story out, makes my YEAR. 
Here’s to hoping this trend picks up!
(And wish me luck in the contest!!)
Related posts:
Leave a Reply