Who Loves You (or And Who Do You Love?*)

*with apologies to Messiah

Tip of the Day: I still want to answer the question about what YA genres are going out most in my library, but I want do do some more research on it first. Stay turned for next week's post with answers!

Now that I have attended seven Rochester Teen Book Festivals, I have seen a few patterns in the types of teen fans who come to swoon over their favorite authors. Keep in mind that it doesn't mean that fans of different authors/types of books do not exist; just that fans of certain types of books seem to inherantly be more "fangirl/fanboy crazy" than those of others.

So here are the authors/types of books that have long lines at the autographing sessions:

1. Manga writers/artists. These fans often dress up like the characters. The teens like to draw and identify with the artists.

2. Heather Brewer and her vampire series. These fans wore the iconic vampire smiley on their clothes and loved having a symbol of their fandom.

3. Edgy contemporary. Ellen Hopkins and Laurie Halse Anderson are ever popular because of their brutal honesty that teens can relate to.

4. Paranormal/Magic bestselling series romance authors. Alyson Noel and Libba Bray, for example, are well known names with series that teens can geek on more and more with each book's release.

This list is not exhaustive, but just an illustration of the types of teens who often come to these fests. There may be 100 more who love YA lit and the attending authors, but who just don't have that same fandom passion as those of certain genres/authors.

So authors, take heart! If your line is not long during the autographing sessions at book festivals, it may just mean your fans at in their bedrooms reading your books instead of joining a crowd where they are no comfortable.

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing