Comments on: Riding high (Updated)

By: Carrie R.

Carrie R. — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:53:00 +0000

I always figured the recent boom was because my generation (X-Y) watched TV and were lazy readers but the current generation spends time on the computer and are better readers (reading blogs, articles, text messaging, etc).

By: capt. cockatiel

capt. cockatiel — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:54:19 +0000

Poor kids with not as many picture books… Maybe their parents should just read them Shakespeare? To, I don’t know, ensure a love of reading at a very young age?

Hahaha.

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:56:19 +0000

Suzanne: I think November’s argument is more one about demographics. There was a mini baby boom and when those kids were little their parents bought them pictures books and as they grew a little older middle grade books and now they’re teenagers and gobbling up YA.

It’s not that the littlies now aren’t into picture books; it’s that there aren’t as many of them as there were.

This still could spell bad news for us YA writers as these teens become adults. The good news is anecdotally the current YA boom has brought in many adult readers and quite a few of the teen readers seem to keep reading YA even as they hit their 20s.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:52:10 +0000

The worrying part is whether the fact that picture books and middle grades are down means that we’ll see the reverse of Lori’s snake-digesting-a-rat phenomenon (…eww) — if younger kids now aren’t buying books (or having books bought for them), does that make it likely they won’t be book-buyers when they’re teens?

The other possibility, as Caitlin pointed out, is that the growth isn’t teen-driven at all, but adult. Which is a good thing. Break down those ghetto walls!

By: caitlin

caitlin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:36:55 +0000

whoops! I meant writing — sorry brain a bit wonky since I moved this weekend.

By: Lori Devoti

Lori Devoti — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:48:35 +0000

I saw Sharyn November on a panel at WisCon last weekend. She said the growth in YA was no surprise, that 15 years ago it was picture books, then early readers, etc. That it was like watching the lump in a snake’s throat after it swallowed a rat–that you could just see it moving along down the line, natural progression and all that.
Lori

By: David Gill

David Gill — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:04:47 +0000

I don’t know about sales, but the explosion of galleys littering my office floor tells me that there are almost twice as many YAs on the market than two years ago.

By: Hillary!

Hillary! — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:08:12 +0000

I MET KELLY LINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!
She told me to read Gwenda Bond’s blog.
I met her at BEA. Twas very fexcellent!

By: caitlin

caitlin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:56:18 +0000

I work as a kids/YA bookseller and so many adults (including my Dad) are reading mostly YA. The genre is brillaint and I wish so many great YA books existed when I was a teen. Thanks to you and the other members of the YA Mansion for reading such great books.

By: Nichole

Nichole — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:48:23 +0000

Actual research is SO overrated. Sometimes it’s just easier to make up random statistics that sound truel And frankly, I NEED you to keep writing the new book! Now that I’ve finished How To Ditch Your Fairy, I need to have the warm fuzzy feeling that there’s more wonderfulness to come.

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:33:50 +0000

Thank you, Gwenda! I knew my laziness would be rewarded.

By: Gwenda

Gwenda — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:31:08 +0000

In that recent Newsweek piece, the state was 25% growth for YA over the last few years.