The next big thing

Contemporary looks like it'll be huge soon. With books like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and basically everything written by John Green finding intense connections with their readers, I think it's very likely more books in this style will be out soon.

The contemp "trend" has been happening for a year or more now, since TFiOS and Rainbow Rowell. Which is weird because contemp is never really a trend, people always want it, but what I mean is that publishers have been emphasizing a desire for specifically contemp books (as opposed to other speculative stuff) since at least late 2013?

At the same time there's also been a lot of fantasy talk, but I guess right now since there doesn't seem to be a break out franchise or trend starter, people are playing it safe to what they know will sell. Contemp will always have a place in YA. But as for the big epic blockbuster NBT genre books, I don't think anyone quite knows what it'll be.

Ultimately, I hope the lack of trend means that rather than only picking up contemp books they'll just buy up books that are interesting and good regardless of the genre.

I would love to see YA historical. There's lots of potential grist to mill. I think a series about young actors set in the Blackfriars of Shakespeare's time would have lots of room for all kind of characters...sort of like Glee, but without singing and with key bits of Shakespeare. Or a book about being sold into the Janiserries. Or about young people during the Civil war, some fighting, some spying, some surviving the best they know how. Or the Irish slave trade, that captured and sold lots of Irish people, especially boys into long terms of servitude in the English colonies. Doubtless there are lots of other times and places that can be told from a YA experiential POV...like being in a concentration camp "school" for children of disgraced and emprisioned families in North Korea. Hard to get grittier than that.

The Queen of Hearts getting her own backstory book? Interesting, to say the least. I just hope it's not another "poor villain" cliche book where she grew up as a poor abused child living under the tyranny of a cruel father/mother who's wicked ways turned her from a cute, kind-hearted princess into a hard-hearted queen. Or worse, what pushes her over the edge is boyfriend troubles...because we all know boy troubles are the leading cause of sociopathy and psychopathy in teens. God only knows we've seen too many classic villains get woobie-izd with movies like Maleficent(which turned Disney's most intimidating villain into an actual full-on, kind-hearted, loving heroine), or the terrible 3d-animated Lorax( Which made the tragic, pathetic and dark character that was the Onceler into a silly, -kawaii desu- bishi-boy who had a strange bromance/friendship with the Lorax...unlike the 2-d animated masterpeice which portrayed him in a far more accurate way.)

However, if done right, this could fulfill my need for a good YA deathnote, aka a truely chilling, depraved villain MC who none the less mannages to be interesting and fun to read without having a cliche' reason for why they where evil. I mean, granted, villains coming from a terrible home/life situation is common because it -works-, and has grounding in reality due to known cases of such situations messing people up, but it's the -type- of typical home situations for villains that annoys me. Heck, even switching the gender of the abuser would make it a bit more palatable and less trope-y. We see abusive fathers all the time, but abusive mothers? That's not as common and cliche' Likewise, simply changing the type of abuse would be interesting. We always get some combination of intentional physical/emotional pain-infliction and/or neglect/absence. Just tweaking one of both those points keeps the "bad parents" cliche fresh. Maybe instead of just not caring period about their kids or showing them "tough love", they actually do care but just show it a flawed way due to not knowing any better? Such as, say, by being overly controlling and treating them as a child much younger then their age...or spoiling them materially while neglecting their other, deeper needs? I'd love to see a Queen of Hearts in that vein, a snarky, spoiled, selfish brat from a shallow, superficial world of fancy dresses and high class tea parties. A girl with a hole that the privilege of being a princess just can't fill on it's own...and who eventually develops from just being a bit nasty to downright evil as she realizes just how close to that crown she is...and how much power she could have if she only reached out and took it.....by any means possible. The temptation of absolute power, corrupting absolutely, combined with a human vulnerability..a longing to be treated as then as more then just the pretty little princess that looks good at tea parties...a longing to fill an empty, shallow life with more substance.... I'd love to see a YA with those kind of themes...and even if it's with a familiar character like the Queen of Hearts I'd be happy. Alas, we likely will just get a queen of hearts with the typical evil king father and boy troubles, though....but either way I'll definitely check this one out, if for no other reason then to see how an established YA author handles a villain MC.

Marissa Meyer's done villain MCs before. Her novel Fairest is the backstory of the villain in the Lunar Chronicles. The story was believable, I thought, and it was interesting seeing some very dark themes in a series that's otherwise fairly light. Sounds like the book might be something that interests you, based on what you've said above

I really liked Fairest. I was able to see why she was like she was, and feel sorry for her a little, but really, she was awful. I could hate her and have sympathy all at the same time. But that book would never have been written if it weren't for the rest of the series. It's kind of like a novella, but a little longer.

Remember how cool it was to have a hyped book being a fantasy standalone for once? Talking about An Ember in the Ashes, of course.
Not a standalone anymore. Source

It's a bit of a shame that the only standalones we seem to be seeing are contemporary novels.
TBH, though, for that amount of money, I'd write a sequel, too.

dancing-drama said:

Remember how cool it was to have a hyped book being a fantasy standalone for once? Talking about An Ember in the Ashes, of course.
Not a standalone anymore. Source

It's a bit of a shame that the only standalones we seem to be seeing are contemporary novels.
TBH, though, for that amount of money, I'd write a sequel, too.

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OMG! I am SO glad it didn't end up being a stand alone because the ending would have been terrible if it was!

SoCalWriter said:

OMG! I am SO glad it didn't end up being a stand alone because the ending would have been terrible if it was!

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Yeah, I just finished the book and the ending didn't resolve much. If I hadn't heard it called a standalone, I would have assumed it was always meant to have a sequel.

Here is a description of Marissa Meyer's Queen of Hearts origin story: http://thelunarchronicles.com/heartless#_=_

I never get tired of genetical manipulations!

But seriously, I hope SF won't disappear. It's been a big part of YA since at least the '70s, with so many possibilities beyond the boilerplate Us Against the Man dystopia. Plus, I still don't understand how R3D QUEEN isn't SF (no genetic manipulation explanation for the superpowers?).

An agent tweeted that she's been seeing lots of unreliable narrators in queries. Uh-oh.

Genetic manipulations are boring now? Say it ain't so! D:

I never get tired of genetical manipulations!

I've written more than one book by following the example of Michael Crichton, using his complex and exciting theories of DNA cloning and genetic manipulation. I had one agent tell me that Crichton-ish books were so over with. That comment just put more steam in my head and made my fingers hit plastic faster. I called bull shite.

I'm still totally baffled at the notion that any category as big and all-encompassing as science fiction can be considered over. Also confused by the idea that fantasy is exempt from the phenomenon, since I've always considered fantasy and sci-fi two sides of the same coin... like you point out, Fuchsia, there are a lot of cases where the line is blurred.

Honestly, how long until people start saying YA in general is too saturated, and unless you debut with a massive genre-bending gamechanger, you have no chance?

lenore_x said:

I'm still totally baffled at the notion that any category as big and all-encompassing as science fiction can be considered over. Also confused by the idea that fantasy is exempt from the phenomenon, since I've always considered fantasy and sci-fi two sides of the same coin... like you point out, Fuchsia, there are a lot of cases where the line is blurred.

Honestly, how long until people start saying YA in general is too saturated, and unless you debut with a massive genre-bending gamechanger, you have no chance?

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That huge established genres are being declared 'over' is a bad sign.

BEA is happening soon. I wonder what the big books will be, if there will be any.

Ha it's sad because I actually have no idea what to write anymore. And right now I can't even say I find it enjoyable Definitely in a slump. Just feels like every time you write something, you tell yourself 'what's the point? editor's won't like this' and you freeze up. Every time I tell myself to write what I love I end up in a situation months later where I've got a book I can't sell because it's not trendy enough. Every time I sit down to write something to a trend, the trend's already over. What's the use lol T_T

Roly, you've highlighted the impossibility of writing to trends. By the time talk of trends make it to the wider market they've just about run their course because they're usually years in the making. They're not much use to writers aspiring to be published unless they already have a spit shined and ready novel to submit that fits (or subverts) that vaunted trope in the perfect way. I think this is one way in which social media and the like gives writers too much information to chew on. If we didn't know what was selling and what wasn't we wouldn't have to agonize so much over whether we should try to be more similar to that stuff in order to snag an agent/get a publishing deal or veer away from it in the hopes of not appearing too derivative. You can't win for losing by the trend philosophy so I say you've gotta leave it at the door and write the best story you can. Write several of them, in fact. The more you write, the more you're eventually bound to hit on something that's the right trope/trend/genre/style at the right time.

I'm currently hoping stand-alone fantasy/sci-fi/spec fic novels come back in style. I don't mind a doorstop novel if I can get the entire story well told in a single volume. I think Harry Potter and Twilight zapped my patience for protracted book series.

I think this push for contemporary is an interesting tactic. Contemporary is a steady, consistent thing in an ever-moody young adult industry. However, I personally think picking contemporary is too safe of choice. I don't want fantasy and sci-fi to be classified as dying breeds, when they hold so much potential in the right hands. I am slowly growing tired of the young adult genre because all they want is quick cash and are willing to toss aside any genre that doesn't give them what they want.

I think this irritates me a bit too. I don't mind contemporary, and it is a safe bet and sells well. It always has. Yet, I'd hate to think that spec fiction is being pushed aside in favor of it. I do love stand-alone books, but I've consistently seen two and three-book deals announced on Publishers Market Place, and I think that contemporary and historical seems to rule the roost a lot. Of course, I've only had the free version of PM, so I could be way off base in not seeing the entire roster of sold books. My PM announcements are also loaded with existing best-selling authors who are creating new series off of another trope in the same genre.

Overall though, I think we have to write what pleases us, or what we think the reader might enjoy along with us. I did some ambulance chasing in my earlier years, but by the time my book was on query the trend had vaporized or taken the back shelf. I think there's a timing factor that's very hard to hit. That's unless you can read crystal balls or publisher's minds.

Missus Akasha said:

I think this push for contemporary is an interesting tactic. Contemporary is a steady, consistent thing in an ever-moody young adult industry. However, I personally think picking contemporary is too safe of choice. I don't want fantasy and sci-fi to be classified as dying breeds, when they hold so much potential in the right hands. I am slowly growing tired of the young adult genre because all they want is quick cash and are willing to toss aside any genre that doesn't give them what they want.

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This is really tough to talk about, but I do think that this is an issue. It'll be interesting to see where YA goes in the next few years.

I'm kinda sad that YA scifi is "out" without there being a YA version of Susan Calvin or R. Daneel Olivaw. Unless there was, and I missed it? (I really hope there was and I just missed it.)

Quitting twitter and following agents, editors, and the market too closely (seriously, this thread is the only thing I pay much attention too) has been the best thing I've ever done for my writing. I've said it before and I'll probably keep saying it forever: there's a certain freedom in just not worrying about it and writing what you love.

Not to say it isn't depressing to see YA spec circling the drain. Everyone said they wanted something different, but keep putting out reskinned versions of the same old stuff. Scifi flunked because the majority of what was bought still felt post apocalyptic and/or dystopia with a tweaked setting. There's so much more to the genre than the cynicism du jour. Or that handful of tropes and characters and plots (you all know the ones) that are everywhere. (Aside: I really hope the new Star Wars makes the readers hungry for actual space opera. Although some agents and editors said that last year after GotG, and your guess is as good as mine about where those books are.)

What we need is a new crop willing to take a risk and break the spec fic mold that's been in place a little too long.