Have I found the Dead Zone of YA?

Patrick.S · Aug 27, 2014

So my novel is YA contemporary fantasy with a boy's POV. He is 15 years old because I think that age is the right fit for the voice and subject matter, too old for Upper MG, too young for most YA with it's more common 17-18 yo MC. Since I finished and have been working on my query, participating in PitchWars and WriteOnCon, and editing nonstop, I have had comments that that age group, lets say 14-15yo boys, can be a really tough sell. Is this the case?

I would love to get an agent's perspective on this. Should I try to edit it down to Upper MG? I think it's possible, I just don't think it's quite as natural of a fit.

thisprovinciallife · Sep 1, 2014

Hi Patrick! I saw your query letter in QLH, and your story does seem like the really fun sort of fantasy that would be a good fit for upper MG. In addition, your word count is on the low end for YA fantasy and pretty perfect for upper MG. I do also feel like I've seen more agents looking for good MG than for boy YA of this age.

But, this is your story! If the voice and subject matter fit a 15-year-old, I would stick to that, at least for the time being. My advice would be to submit to some agents as it is now, and if you seem to be getting rejections based on this YA dead zone, you can go back and do revisions before your next round of querying. Good luck, I liked your premise!

Fuchsia Groan · Sep 2, 2014

An agent who sells a lot of YA once told me that male protagonists are a hard sell (in YA as opposed to MG). But that was three years ago, and YA changes fast, so I dunno. John Green-type protagonists certainly seem to be working right now.

Patrick.S · Sep 3, 2014

Thanks for commenting you guys! It's a tough call to make from my end. I think I'll send out some queries and see if I get any traction. Then I can think about doing the revisions if nothing sticks.

Have I found the Dead Zone of YA?

Patrick.S

thisprovinciallife

hi! i'm reese.

Fuchsia Groan

Becoming a laptop-human hybrid

Patrick.S