I want to talk about something that has been on my mind quite a bit ever since I went to the writers conference. Something that was talked about was the shift in the YA market in the last 10-15 years. Justin Chanda, VP of Simon & Schuster, talked about how not too long ago there was almost no market for YA. Very few YA books were out there. And then things started shifting. And in the last 6 or 7 years we have seen the market BOOM in one sub-genre of YA. Paranormal/contemporary/urban fantasy. (whatever you want to call it)
I sense another shift in the market and I wonder if people feel the same way.
It is blaringly obvious that dystopians are big right now. So many new ones are coming out. But how do they work themselves into the market? I've heard talk already how people are getting a little tired of them because of hype they get. But what I think is happening is that dystopian is becoming a sub-genre that people aren't recognizing. Just like there is paranormal YA, just like there is contemporary YA, now there is dystopian YA.
There are three places in time to write about. Past. Present. Future. There's the market of historically set YA stuff (Gemma Doyle series, Octavian Nothing, Soulless). The majority of YA contemporary and paranormal is written to set place in our current day. But the market for writing about the future has been VERY small, until the last 2-3 years, in my opinion. That hole is now being filled in.
Why now?
Look at our world today. Look at what we see in the news every day. Look at what our young adults are going to have to face in their futures. The future for our young adults is so big, scary, and fascinating. And that is now coming out in fiction.
So my question for you: Do you think the market will support the new sub-genre of dystopians like it has paranormal? Do you see the genre expanding or shrinking in the next 5 years or so? Can it hold up as its own genre?
I sense another shift in the market and I wonder if people feel the same way.
It is blaringly obvious that dystopians are big right now. So many new ones are coming out. But how do they work themselves into the market? I've heard talk already how people are getting a little tired of them because of hype they get. But what I think is happening is that dystopian is becoming a sub-genre that people aren't recognizing. Just like there is paranormal YA, just like there is contemporary YA, now there is dystopian YA.
There are three places in time to write about. Past. Present. Future. There's the market of historically set YA stuff (Gemma Doyle series, Octavian Nothing, Soulless). The majority of YA contemporary and paranormal is written to set place in our current day. But the market for writing about the future has been VERY small, until the last 2-3 years, in my opinion. That hole is now being filled in.Why now?
Look at our world today. Look at what we see in the news every day. Look at what our young adults are going to have to face in their futures. The future for our young adults is so big, scary, and fascinating. And that is now coming out in fiction.
So my question for you: Do you think the market will support the new sub-genre of dystopians like it has paranormal? Do you see the genre expanding or shrinking in the next 5 years or so? Can it hold up as its own genre?
