Sunday, June 6, 2010

#askYAeditor

@EgmontGal (Elizabeth Law) hosted an impromptu chat last night in the Twitter-verse. She is a self-proclaimed children's and YA book fanatic and publisher at Egmont USA. The hashtag for the chat was #askYAeditor and it was totally fascinating.

So what kinds of advice did she give out? Lots. Here's what she sees as trendy in the YA market right now:
  • sexy, action packed fantasy.
  • funny, humourous works
  • horror - really scary stuff
  • mysteries
  • romance in everything - teens are walking hormones!
  • contemporary stories
  • summer before college stories
  • maximum age of protag is 17 or 18
  • near future stories
  • including parents - maybe spotlighting positive dad/daughter relationship
What's not?
  • trying for 'hip' dialogue
  • mash-ups
  • names: Grace, Caleb & Calllum (too many of them)
  • college aged kids
 What's on the fence?
  • dystopian - so many great ones right now & coming out soon, she worries market is saturated
  • steampunk is interesting, but not yet BIG (maybe I'll be in time for the trend to take off!)
  • centaurs, angels, and... mollusks (trust me - you had to be there!)
If you write YA and didn't catch it, try searching the hashtag. It won't give you the whole chat (at least I don't think it will), but you'll get some awesome information! Ms. Law is one of those amazingly helpful people in the publishing world who enjoy sharing information. She chatted for hours, answered a bazillion questions and eventually broke Twitter -- or at least tweeted so much she went over her limit and Twitter cut her off! I didn't know such a thing was possible. Chats like this are reasons I enjoy the Twitter-verse :)

Thanks to Ms Law - and thanks to the pedicure that prompted the chat in the first place!

83 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this! I came in late to #askYAeditor yesterday, so this is incredibly helpful. :)

Unknown said...

It was a great chat. Thanks for posting some of the wonderful hints/tips/general info she shared so others can benefit too. Good idea! :)

Here's to hoping she makes it a regular hashtag!

Jemi Fraser said...

Sandy - you're so welcome! I didn't catch all of it - but I think I got her main points. What a generous lady :)

Christi Goddard said...

I was in on that chat and asked loads of questions. She tweeted that if she gets 3000 Twitter followers, she'll do it again on Saturday. Spread the word, Miss Jemi!

Jemi Fraser said...

Amanda - it really was great. She's so generous with her time and her expertise.

It would be great if it became a regular tag - lots of people would be thrilled - me included :)

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Jemi Fraser said...

Christi - I missed that! I pretty much lurked through the whole thing, but found it so interesting!

So, sign up to follow her people - you won't regret it for a second!

Katie said...

I didn't participate, but I read a lot of helpful things during the chat. I was a little too early on the dystopian, which sorta sucks, but oh well. I've never read anything steampunk, but I'd love to dip into that genre and find a great read.

Thanks for this summary! Definitely helpful! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

KM - Glad to help. I pretty much only lurked as well. I do that a lot :)

I'm working on a steampunk now - Leviathan by Westerfield is great if you're looking for one to try. Or The Golden Compass by Pullman.

Martina Boone said...

Jemi, love this post! I love that you're breaking down the trends for everyone's benefit. You're just like Martina- twitterific. I'm... well... not. Can we link you for our Friday blog round-up? This is awesome! Oooh... don't miss our contest on Thursday, too! *Squee*

Thanks Jemi!
Marissa

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Thanks, Jemi. I have one YA series out but I'm trying to find a home for a second one. Any advice helps.

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Marissa - what a sweet thing to say!! :)

I'd be honoured to be linked - thank you!

Another contest?! I'm still reeling over the amazing prize from the last one! So awesome :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Susan - you're so welcome. It was fun trying to keep up with all the advice and questions flowing - so quick! :)

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Yep, this is great stuff, Jemi. Thanks for the information.

Teresa

Jemi Fraser said...

Teresa - you're welcome - it was lots of fun lurking and compiling :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I don't write YA, but that is some interesting stuff.

Jemi Fraser said...

Alex - she is such an interesting lady - and she is so willing to share her knowledge. Interesting indeed :)

Elizabeth Mueller said...

Jemi! Thank you for sharing this with us! I'm so glad that my books are smart, sexy and fun! :D

Unknown said...

Great insider info, Jemi! Thanks for passing it along!!

Hope your weekend has been awesome :)

Elizabeth Mueller said...

PS--darn it! One book has a centaur in it, but he turns into an elf so he can chase an elfin princess to help save her kingdom? LOL--high fantasy, I don't think it would be considered a YA anyway! ;)
Maybe? Hmmm... Happy Sunday, girl! :*

Jemi Fraser said...

Elizabeth - smart, sexy and fun works - even with a centaur. There were (silly) allusions to lesbian centaur sex last night too - but that's when people were starting to get really silly! :)

Thanks - happy Sunday to you too!

Jemi Fraser said...

Nicole - thanks - it was fun!

The weekend's been good - FAST, but good! Hope yours was fun as well :)

Anne Spollen said...

Wait a second. I am just beginning to get an idea of what steampunk is and now there's something about mollusks?

And names, yes! Sometimes I put a book down because I just can't read another book with one more Sam or Grace.

A great list!

Stephanie Thornton said...

Sounds like a great chat! I was just wondering how long it would take before dystopian became the new vampire. I hope you get in on the steampunk wave!

Renae said...

Valuable information, thanks for sharing.

Tahereh said...

this is such a phenomenal roundup, Jemi! thanks for keeping us up-to-date! i missed the chat and it's so nice to stay in the loop :D

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Thanks for sharing, made interesting reading,

Yvonne.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the interesting wrap-up though I am very curious about the mollusks and why they are on the fence.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Great info! Am tweeting.

Aubrie said...

Too bad sci fi in Ya isn't big right now because that's what I'm writing.

Jennifer Shirk said...

Very interesting info! Thanks for sharing!

Talli Roland said...

What a great round-up, Jemi - thanks!

Jemi Fraser said...

Aubrie - Yeah - I was hoping for a bigger reaction for steampunk too :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Jennifer - You're welcome - hope it's helpful :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Talli - you're welcome - it was such a fun chat :)

cleemckenzie said...

She's quite a gal. I saw her speak at SCBWI in LA last year. I can only imagine what she said about mollusks! But there goes my great idea for my next YA novel. I thought the mollusk theme would be unique. Drat!

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry I missed the party! Thanks for the catch up notes though!

WritingNut said...

I had missed it - thanks so much for posting these tips Jemi! :) It's great to know what the newest trends are. Here's to hoping that steampunk catches more attention too!

Jemi Fraser said...

C Lee - sorry - the words out and there will be more mollusk tales than you could read very shortly! :)

She is one terrific lady!

Jemi Fraser said...

Lynn - @EgmontGal is going to do it all again next Saturday at 7 if she gets the required # of followers - she has less than 100 to go :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks WN - I'm hoping I'll be querying on the upswing of the trend - but you never know how these things are going to go!

Unknown said...

Wow you know so much... you share so much... I'm in awe of your true awesomeness!

I'm excited to really research all of this!

Jemi Fraser said...

Jen - lol - you're too cute!

As Ms Law said, it's 'just' her opinion and she's 'only' one editor, but... I think she's amazing and her word is golden :)

Alix said...

Thanks for sharing this. I can't cope with Twitter chats, info overload!

This is interesting to see, I actually have a character called Grace, the MC's Mom LOL, ah well.

Jemi Fraser said...

Alexa - sometimes Twitter can be so overwhelming! I use TweetDeck to help me keep it all straight.

I don't think the name is that big of a deal actually - it was more that she'd just seen a trend :)

Helen Ginger said...

Hmmm, not terribly excited that publishers want sexier YA stories. I think that's called adult stories.

Lord, I'm old. I didn't know I was until I re-read the above paragraph.

Straight From Hel

Jemi Fraser said...

Helen - yeah - there wasn't any mention of graphic sex - more just sexual tension. Which I think is exactly the state in which many teens exist much of the time :)

It's hard to believe how much kids talk about sex now - even in my classroom and they're 10 & 11!

Sigh - I think I'm old too :)

Susan Fields said...

This is some great information - thanks for sharing!

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks Susan - Hope it helps you out a bit. It was a fun chat :)

Lydia Kang said...

Wow, awesome info here! Thanks a bunch!

Jemi Fraser said...

Lydia - you're so welcome. It was fun to gather it all up from the chat :)

erica m. chapman said...

Thanks for sharing! Some great info there ;o) You rock!

Anonymous said...

Sorry I missed the Twitter chat. Been busy. I know, we're all busy. I do need to gt out more often.

Stephen Tremp

Jemi Fraser said...

Awww - thanks Erica :)

It was a lot of fun collecting all the info (I'm good at lurking!)

Jemi Fraser said...

Stephen - lol - yeah I need to get out too :) And this was a Saturday night impromptu chat, so you can tell what my night life is like!

India Drummond said...

It's always interesting to hear what various industry pros think the trends mean. Missed the chat, so thanks for the summary!

Lisa Gail Green said...

I'm so behind on my blog comments!! Sorry! But I loved the couple minutes I caught of the chat. I hope she does it again.

Lisa Gail Green said...

I'm so behind on my blog comments!! Sorry! But I loved the couple minutes I caught of the chat. I hope she does it again.

Belle said...

Sounds like such a fun chat. A huge YES to you starting the Steampunk trend, Jemi!!

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

I don't know what's funnier--the mollusks, or her breaking Twitter! thanks for sharing!

JKB said...

Jemi, what an awesome post for YA writers!

I think we have to set one up for MG-ers, but this was totally brilliant! Way to get this stuff down!

XO

Jemi Fraser said...

India - you're welcome - It's hard to be in the right place at the right time. I was lucky this time :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Lisa Gail - It's hard to keep up, isn't it? :)

No worries - if she gets enough new followers, she's going to do it next Saturday too.

Jemi Fraser said...

Belle - it was fun :)

Crossing my fingers for that Steampunk train to take off!

Jemi Fraser said...

Tamara - it was funny - she had to DM a couple of friends to let everyone know why she wasn't responding any more :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Jen - it was so interesting. I wonder if she'll focus on MG as well next time - she does rep both from what I can tell. :)

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

I'm so sad I missed it :( But thanks for the recap, luv. Such good info here.

Jemi Fraser said...

Carol - You're welcome - it was a great chat - lots of fun stuff :)

Charmaine Clancy said...

Thanks for the heads-up about the twitter hashtag. Sounds like it was a helpful talk. It's so nice of you to summarise it for those of us who missed it! Thanks!

Jemi Fraser said...

Charmaine - you're so welcome. I just spotted @EgmontGal on Twitter and she only needs about 60 more followers now - if she gets them, she'll chat again on Saturday :)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

This is great stuff, Jemi!! I'm so glad you shared it - thanks!! :-)

Jemi Fraser said...

Shannon - you're welcome! It was a fun chat!

Jackee said...

Thanks for the summary, Jemi! I don't have a Twitter (yet) and feel like I miss out so much sometimes. Maybe one of these days I'll figure it out and join the horde.

Have a great Wednesday!

Beth Zimmerman said...

Thanks for the summary, Jemi! I don't know that I will ever write beyond my blog, or what genre I would write in if I did, but this is interesting. Though I admit I'm not entirely sure what a *mash-up* is. :)

Beth Zimmerman said...

Okay ... I just saw my blog listed in your *Great Blogs By AUTHORS* blogroll and it almost made me cry! Thank you, Jemi! You have touched my heart! Maybe I WILL write beyond my blog some day!

Jemi Fraser said...

Jackee - Twitter can be fun - but I don't use it a lot. It can also be very time consuming. I mostly hang out at the chats because I can feel awkward at the regular times :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Beth - I'm glad I could make your day! Anyone who writes a blog like you do is an author in my books! :)

A mash up is combining two very different genres. Like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

Theresa Milstein said...

Jemi, thanks for the post! Since I'm not on Twitter this is useful info.

Luckily, my two manuscripts have MC's who are 16 and 17. There's fantasy, romance, but no mollusks. I'll have an agent in no time!

Jemi Fraser said...

Theresa - glad to help! It was a fun chat (although I mostly lurked).

Whew - no mollusks - you're all set then! :)

Kimberly Franklin said...

Thanks for the info!! :)

Stina said...

Yay, my wip fits in the first list. :D

I've seen too many writers on the absolute write YA forum who think they're writing YA, but their mc is in college.

Jemi Fraser said...

Kimberly - you're welcome! It was fun to compile it :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Stina - that's definitely good news!

I wonder if those people will be in for a little shock when they start querying.

Margo Berendsen said...

Oh, thank you for sharing! I keep seeing evidence that Twitter is really important, but I'm just afraid it will be one more thing to take away my precious writing time. So I LUV bloggers like you who summarize important things for me! Going to make a copy of this list!