A Popularity Contest (or Give 'Em What They Want)

Tip of the day: See what your library is doing for Teen Read Week (October 14-20)!

Summer is over and the YA books at my library that were checked out by teen readers all season are making their way back onto my shelves.

Based on the displays I did over the past three months, what were the types of books checked out the most?

Here they are, from the most popular to the less popular, though the books know I love them all.

1. Dystopian. I put up a display of "If you like The Hunger Games, try these" books in preparation for my showing the The Hunger Games on DVD -- and the shelves were cleaned out daily. A mix of light sci-fi made its way onto this display too and was very popular. While I am close to done with reading new books in this genre, I think the teens still love it because they haven't been reading them as they were released all year; they were catching up this summer. Is there room for more on the shelves? It will take a unique premise for me to buy them as they come out in 2012/2013.

2. Paranormal Romance. Zombies and angels and mermaid oh my! Like with dystopian, I have no shortage of titles to put on this shelf featuring these creatures, but the teens seem hungry for more. And I have to say, the mermaids went super fast, even though in my opinion, those are the stories that feel the most similar to each other. With Amanda Hocking's new mermaid series, I'm sure these books will continue to go out even if new titles wane as publishers are filled up.

3. Even More Paranormal Romance. The vampires didn't fly out the door the way the faerie books did (I had them paired together), but they still hold appeal to the teens.

4. There Be Ghosts. To promote my ghost hunting program, I pulled books I loved that have ghost hunters and just creepy ghost stories. Unfortunately the program had to be cancelled for lack of registrants, but the books were still popular.

5. GLBT Fiction. I love that these stories, mosty contemporary YAs, find an audience. There are some awesome titles in this category.

6. No More Bullies. Novels about bullies, the bullied, and the affects of bullying again primarily feature contemporary YA plots, and again I like seeing these titles checked out amongst the otherworldly books.

7. Realistic Historical Fiction. To promote our Civil War 150-Year Commemoration Week at the library, and then to promote a Veterans Memorial Essay Contest for my town, I did a display of books that take place during pivotal points in American history. I think maybe one book was checked out. Historical fiction that depicts reality without any paranormal or fantastical elements are a very hard sale right now.

What books have the teens you know been clamoring for?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Teens Write (or Teens Are Right?)

Tip of the Day: I entered The Writer's Voice, a cool contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista van Dolzer of Mother. Write. Repeat. I'm #81 on this list if you want to read a blurb and opening 250 words for my YA novel. Whether or not I make the final 40 cut, it's been a great contest to enter and check out the other writers' works!

Two weeks ago, I hosted my library's Teen Lit Contest Award Ceremony and Reception. There were so many great poems and prose (fiction and non) entered.

This year's trends in teen submissions? Amongst the winners we had:

--Mermaids/Water creatures
--Fantasy/Sci-fi epic tales
--School settings
--Sports
--Survival/Adventures
--Angst/Reflection
--Satire

This year there were no vampires or zombies. Does that mean teens are tiring of them? That with all the school, sports, surivial, and angst pieces perhaps it is the time for contemporary realistic to come back?

The best part of the ceremony is hearing the winners read from their works. They put so much of themselves into the words that it makes their pieces even stronger. I do love this part of my job!

Anyone out there with teens, what are they clamoring for? If they are writers, what are they writing?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Dystopian Fiction Overload? (or Reality Bites but That's What Life Is*)

*with apologies to Limp Bizkit

Tip of the Day: My library won the area's Library of the Year award! Click here for details! Thanks to everyone who nominated Brighton Memorial Library. You rock!

I just read a YA book where:
--the main character is under house arrest on and off over her life
--phone lines are government controlled, only available intermittently, and rarely available for international calls
--the internet is highly monitored and all modems must be registered with the government
--outsiders are often forbidden from entering the country, and citizens are often not allowed out
--those who sneak information about the country/government outside the borders and are caught are subjected to imprisonment, physical torture, and death
--those participating in peaceful protests against the government are subjected to imprisonment, physical torture, and death
--disease runs rampant
--citizens are poor and powerless to overcome their situations
--the government spends millions on its lavish capital while the citizens starve in the other cities
--elections are rigged

Is this the latest dystopian novel on the shelves at B&N?

Nope. It's not even fiction. It's the story of Burma in the 1980s-present as presented in CHAMPIONS OF FREEDOM: AUNG SAN SUU KYI by Sherry O'Keefe (Morgan Reynolds, 2012).

I read this book to review it for VOYA, knowing nothing about Suu Kyi or Burma when I picked it up. I reached the end where the author compared Suu Kyi's world to that of George Orwell's 1984, I thought, holy crap. This horrific reality IS real for so many people across the globe.

So the next time you want to write about a government-controlled world but you keep hearing that dystopian fiction is overdone (I'm definitely reaching "full" on my library shelves), pick a country where this issue is a reality. Write about the real world -- even if we wish it was not so. I would totally read and buy those books.

Will I write them? I was very inspired by Suu Kyi's story, but would need to do a ton more research about a country that I just touched upon. Perhaps some day. Until then, I want to read more. Get writing! :)

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Reviewing Trends II (or Death By Car)

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: The public library is not a day care center. You must stay with/watch/assist your child at all times for their own safety.

Two weeks ago, I talked about the revived trend in YA novels of
characters in mental institutions. Today I'd like to talk about all the poor parents who are killed off in car accidents.

Recent YA novels I've read that include this plot point are:

(Dad is dead)

(Both parents bit the dust)

(Another orphan)

(Mom is actually in a persistant vegetative state after a car accident)

(More bad luck for Mom)

I understand that in order for the main characters to act a certain way, or to live a certain way, or to grow in a certain way, dear old mom and/or dad have to get their head through the windshield. And I understand that about 30,000 people die in motor vehicle accidents per year, so the number of parent deaths in YA novels may actually be statistically correct!

And keep in mind that I actually really enjoyed these books!

But the death-by-car element makes me as a writer think that if I need a dead parent, I should brainstorm a number of ways to off them, something more original that may also challenge my own writing/plotting skills.

Is there a "death by" plot element that you have seen enough of to make you resist using it in your own work?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Reviewing Trends (or Coping with Mental Problems)

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Please silence your cell phone and remain disconnected from it when inside the library. Nobody wants to hear what you're planning for dinner, what time your son needs to get picked up from hockey practice, or how much you hate your ex.

While reading the February 2012 VOYA, I noticed something in the reviews of realistic fiction: Five of them featured teens in mental hospitals.

I read one prior to seeing this month's VOYA:
TRY NOT TO BREATHE is a lovely YA of friends, family, health, truth, and healing. The main character is already released from the mental hospital when the novel begins, but he has a connection to two friends he made there and flashbacks to his institutionalization.

The other four VOYA reviewed novels contain characters visiting their friends in mental hospitals, girls recovering from OCD, etc. Different approaches with a similar theme.

As a teen, I loved GO ASK ALICE and other books that explored mental health issues, especially since I liked to diagnose myself with hypochondria, OCD, and whatever else was in the news. I'm sure teens today think about the same things.
But do we need five new titles with this theme? Maybe we do. Or is the mental hospital setting just another avenue for the dark, realistic contemporary YA novel that sells today? Is it a "trend," or is the market just ready for these novels to simultaneously hit the shelves? Is this simply the progression from all of the books with MCs seeing shrinks a couple years ago?

Some other patterns I noticed in VOYA were:
--teens getting ready to graduate from HS who have plans for their studies/futures (often involving the arts), but a death/break-up/parental decision throws them off course and they don't know what to do with their lives.
--not much realistic historical fiction at all (there is more in the fantasy/sci-fi/horror section)

What patterns are you noticing on the shelves? And do you find the themes "worthy?"

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Let There Be Light! (or Trends, They Are A-Changin')

Tip of the Day: Have YOU read a novel in verse yet? Embrace the different!

Remember my post from two weeks ago about the lack of dark/paranormal/grittiness in my YA novel on sub and how that was making it a "hard sell" in today's market? And how some of my teen volunteers said they wanted more realistic books and a lighter variety?

Looks like they are no longer the only ones!

OK, so we aren't out of the dark YA cave yet, but I read two things this past week:

1) On a YA listserv, a YA author with about 10 novels published said that her publisher told her they couldn't pub her new paranormal romance manuscript because there is a glut in the market.

2) On Twitter (I think! Gah! I wish I'd saved the link!), a YA publishing pro said that B&N stated that they don't have room for any more paranormal romance on their shelves.

So maybe the trend is starting to rock the other way!

Again, don't get me wrong: I love the wide variety of novels available to kids and teens. And I appreciate that many of the paranormal/sci-fi/dystopian/fantasy authors of today had been trying for years to break into the biz back when chick lit and realistic dramas were the It Girls. Yay HARRY POTTER and Edward Cullen for them! But I'm just ready for a new balance, for it not to be a "hard sell" for a realistic tale.

Let's see what happens in the next few months.

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Genre Mash-Ups (or A + B = Sales)

Tip of the Day: Check out my fiance's performance at the Rochester International Jazz Festival last Friday night! The band is Filthy Funk and John is the hot guitar player. :)

At the YALSA Symposium last November, a librarian talked about "mash-ups," or books that combined two genres into one story. She mentioned BLOOD NINJA, a combination of Japan, the ninja culture, and vampires. A perfect example.


I also put HOLD ME CLOSER, NECROMANCER in that category. It combines humor with paranormal.


Mash-ups can be fun to read -- and smart to write. With the YA fiction market the way it is right now (favoring dark, edgy, moody, paranormal books, to generalize), adding a "mash-up" to your chick-lit, light, realistic novel could be the way to go.

I'm not saying that you have to -- or should -- write for the market. But I do think that if you want to get published, you have to write with the market in mind. Still write the story you are passionate about, but if mashing it up some way with a selling genre fits into the book, go for it! At least write one version that way and see what happens.

My current WIP is a darker speculative story, something new for me, but the plot has been percolating in my head for years and the market seemed right now to get it out. My next idea is a humor-ghost mash-up that I am so excited to write. Back to evoking some laughs but with a touch of ghostiness to give it a possible market. Why not?

Chasing trends is not the way to go, but it doesn't mean you should try to sell VHS players to people who want to watch movies now and in the future. Sometimes you have to go with the flow and see where it takes you.

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing