HOW TO WRITE AND SELLNEW ADULT

By Foreword Literary:Gordon Warnock

Pam van Hylckama VliegLaurie McLean

What is New Adult?

The transition between adolescence and real, honest adulthood

You’re legally an adult, but you don’t really have your act together yet

Why New Adult?

• The success of YA in non-YA demographics• An underserved audience

• Recent generations’ prolonged adolescence • Society’s acceptance of both

• The stories and themes have been around• The term came from a 2009 blog contest by St. Martin’s

Press• Not much came from that other than controversy

• The requisite blockbuster novels• Reader support led to publisher and agent interest• Now we have new, NA-specific imprints

Where Did NA Come From?

• An age category• Post high school

• Coming of age - legal adulthood for the first time

• The world is still new• Opportunities and responsibilities • High stakes and high drama

• Often immediate, first person POV• Sh*t just got real

Basic Guidelines

The Characters

• Protagonist• Age 18-25• Often female• In flux• Seeking a “new normal”

• Strong character dynamics• A disruptive figure (good, bad, or unknown)

• Often represents a new possibility

The Setting

• Often a new location• Could be college, but not necessarily

• Could even be on Mars• Workplace

• Career environment for the first time • A very classic device

The Tension

• Establishment and definition • The future is on the line (hopes and dreams)• A real, lasting career

• A real, lasting relationship• A real, lasting self-image and lifestyle

• Between past familiarity and future normalcy• Fish out of water• “Adult” themes at an early age

More NA Issues/Firsts• Pregnancy• Divorce• Death• Housing• Money issues• Addiction• Mental health• Loss of innocence• “Crises”

The Plot

• A resolution of that tension• A personal, if not physical journey• Reaching out, often toward a

person/place/thing that represents the desired solution • Whether or not that is the solution is a

different matter

• Up for debate• Barnes & Noble has not dedicated shelf space• Now an Amazon sub-category• Publisher’s Marketplace deal listings

• Public demand has led to huge sales• Self-pub• Traditional

Is NA for real?

• NA is a genre• Contemporary Romance• Chick-lit• Erotica

• There must be sex • It must be explicit

• NA is porn• NA is “sexed-up YA”

Misconceptions about NA

• Listen to your story• Make sure it translates well to the

current generation• Use trends correctly

• Know where they are• Know where they’ve been• Anticipate where they’re going

• Write to that

NA Tips

What’s hot, what’s up and coming, who are the authors, and what we

hope comes next.

Current Climate of NA

• Sexy contemporary stories with high heat levels.• Billionaire tropes.• Issue books. • Strong women with interesting jobs.• The alpha male.• Good schools, but not Ivy League. • All the hopes and dreams that come with

entering/leaving higher education.

What’s Hot in NA?

The Hottest Authors

• Wait For You – Girl running from her past. Boy is dangerous but intriguing.

• Unteachable – Girl living in small town USA in poverty. Wants to go to film school. Has an affair with a young teacher.

• A Little Too Far – Lexie has sex with her stepbrother. She runs from the problem straight into a celibate deacon’s (who may not stay celibate for long) arms.

• Suddenly Royal – Super fun romp about becoming a princess and falling in love.

Plot behind the covers

New Adult gained popularity by authors self publishing the stories that New York didn’t want to publish. Authors like Colleen Hoover, Jamie McGuire, and Jennifer Armentrout put their books online and they sold well. Those authors went on to become the first of the hybrid authors.

St. Martin’s coined the term. But authors made the category a reality.

Hybrid and Traditional

We would love to see some authors who have already built a fan base in the category write in other genres. We want to see new adult as a vibrant and full section that encompasses every genre.

The easiest way to make this a reality is to buy books that are new adult and put your buck behind your vote. These books are out there in e-publishing now. Foreword Literary has two such titles. The Iron Belles by Jeannette Battista (fantasy) and Because the Night by Kristen Strassel (paranormal).

We’d love to see books covering a cornucopia of issues such as pregnancy in college. We’d love to see a Dead Poet’s Society in NA form.

Making NA a Thing

Gordon Warnock (QueryGordon@ForewordLiterary.com)@GordonWarnock

Pam van Hylckama Vlieg (QueryPam@ForewordLiterary.com)@BookaliciousPam

Laurie McLean (QueryLaurie@ForewordLiterary.com)@AgentSavant

Thank You!