I had a great time at the Joliet Author Fair last weekend! It was my first event since my new book, Just Your Average Princess, came out and it was fun getting to sign it. And fun seeing friends and family, and people who've read my other books come back for the third one.
I talked to a lot of teens and parents at the fair and while talking to them today's topic came to me= Edgy Books. I don't get them. I mean, of course I get them as in understand their sometimes very deep topics like rape, incest, drug abuse, bulimia and so on. I get that some teens identify with the characters in the books or they're just interested in learning about people that go through these various issues. What I'm not getting are the books that almost seem to be going for the shock value. The ones that use the F word every other sentence or have the main character have sex three times before the end of chapter one. What is that about? And who is buying these books? I know someone is because the publishers keep buying them and putting them out there. But here's the thing, and I'm not exaggerating, I'd say probably 3 out of every 5 parents/teachers/librarians that I talk to straight up ask me "Is there swearing in your book?" "Is there sex in your book?". They ask these questions in the first minute or two of our conversation. And they always seem relieved when I say no. So obviously this is a concern on most of their minds. If this is the case, why are there still so many overly edgy books? Who's buying them? Is it the teens buying them and their parents just don't know? What's your take on this?
Kristina, Miss Author in Action
No comments:
Post a Comment