^^ we also have hand held devices that do just about everything... sci fi needs a shake up imo. As for writing YA because its hot right now... as someone else said, by the time its written chances are there will be a bit of a glut and suddenly agents will be screaming for... sci fi or horror ;-)
I think that really only applies to certain subgenres and not entire categories of fiction. I could see their being a glut of YA novels about Vampires (hell, I was just at Barnes and Nobles the other day and saw that exact thing!) or a Glut of urban fantasy novels about wizards in big cities, but I don't think their could ever be a glut of YA novels in general.
I don't care about book fads. As my English teacher said-"Publishers are just waiting for the next author to come along and set a new fad." So don't write about vampires, find something else preppy girls will love. Like anime-obsessed emo boys for instance.
I definitely disagree. Before Twilight maybe your comments were true, but since Twilight so many more young people have taken an interest in both reading and writing. Most teenagers don't talk about their reading habits with people except their close friends - it's not an interesting conversation topic outside of the "nerd/geek crowd". I don't know a single person offline who doesn't read (my offline friends are mostly aged 17-22) but trying to hold a conversation about books with someone is almost impossible. I can't even talk about books with my close friends although we're all avid readers: my best friend laps up as many vampire and angel (it's the latest craze, YA writers!) novels as she can; my partner, who you're most likely to find at the pub or on his xbox, reads most popular fiction books - especially if they contain sci-fi; I prefer psychological thrillers and erotica. Conversation instantly turns sour if we try discussing books. Teenage boys read just as much as girls, they just read different genres and aren't as talkative about it. George Orwell and Chuck Palahniuk are popular authors with the lads (age 18-21) I lived with until recently - and they're the type of people who turn up hungover to their classes mid-week. What I've found is that boys tend to have more mature tastes in literature than girls from a younger age. They tend to skip (popular) YA books completely as most of these novels are targeted at girls. I will agree with you about "growing up from YA" and not writing a book aimed at teenagers. You'll find many teenagers are actually reading more adult fiction rather than books aimed specifically at their age group.
I originally thought about making my book a YA story but the elements in it would not allow it. The basic theme is that vampires are not these cool creatures that should be looked up to. The life of a vampire is dark and ugly, thus it has a lot of gory and gruesome parts which is unsuitable for young adults.
Ok, as a 19 yr old male who reads/has read both YA and just strait up fiction, here are my two cents. I used to hate reading, because I had only read what I was told to for school. Then the twilight thing started to catch on, and I had friends (girls) who where like "You have to read this!!" so I finally did, and to my surprise I enjoyed it. Then I started to hunger for more. I read other vampire YA books, then I started searching other, fantasy elements I liked, and found books about them. Now I'm a reader and a writer. I have to say if the story is good, I don't think the lable you stick on it matters much. I also agree that it's hard to talk to people about books. If they don't have a passion about it like you (mainly a writing passion) it just tends to kill conversations....you just end up getting blank stares before they start talking about something else. Also about the whole vampire thing, I liked vampires long before twilight turned it into a "Fad". I also think twilight has ruined any serious attempts at writing a vampire novel. One of my book projects is about vampires and werewolfs in an historical fiction/alternate reality type thing, nothing like twilight, but sure enough when I have friends ask me about it that is the first reference they go to. When I try to explain to them it's nothing like that, it's an "oh..." and convo dies. anyway there's my expierence/ thoughts on the matter.
I'm currently working on something you can call a "Young-Adult" novel but I don't think the genre itself should be limited by such a definitive term. While working on my bachelors, I had friends in the mid-to-late twenties and thirties who were astounded with Harry Potter and some other young-adult books. One of the things I've told my friends and family is that my book is intended for "young-adults and up". If the story is good, it's usually the older readers that make it a trend. It reminds me of the film industry. When Robocop debuted in the 80s it was violent, gory, and intense. Definitely something kids shouldn't watch. And yet, they adapted the show into a cartoon and live action television series to cater to those markets. Why would they do that? Because the younger generation wants to do what everyone older than them are doing. They perceive it as the cool thing to do. I think anyone hoping to target that market should also try to cater adult readers as well. That way it's possible to create a trickle-down effect and insight new and young readers to jump on board.
