New Adult genre?

Sage said:

I would only mention it if you know that agent or publisher is looking for NA. Otherwise, I would avoid the term in query letters.

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Okay. Thanks for the advice!

As a recent college graduate, I would have liked to read some books in the New Adult genre. YA was too young for me, but I didn't really feel like an adult. I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I think the genre could have success if more publishers give it a chance.

jjdebenedictis said:

I think New Adult is supposed to appeal to those who were voraciously ripping through Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games just a few years ago, i.e. New Adult exists as a term because the publishing industry said, "Hey--we need to hang on to those readers. They were lucrative."

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Funny, this was my thought when I started writing a couple years ago. My generation was the Harry Potter generation and I know lots of people my age (23) who are struggling to find something new that grabs them the way HP did. Someone needs to hit that sweet spot in the demographic and grab our attention again.

We need a "Harry Potter Goes to College". Not literally although that would be cool. I think this New Adult is just trying to find a way to keep some of the wonderment and adventure of YA novels while adding more adult elements to keep up with the generation.

There's Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight etc....... then there's LotR, Song of Fire and Ice, etc. But there's really nothing in between out there. Or at least nothing that's grabbed the readers' attention just yet.

I like this new genre. I can think of many milestone moments in my early twenties that have rocked me and shaped me. Those new adult "coming of age" moments make great stories. I recently listed my slightly paranormal novel as "coming of age" on Smashwords because it deals with twentysomethings finding their footing in the world. "Coming of age" sounds accurate to me but it might sound like "Stand by Me" to most readers. New Adult is a perfect category for what I believe my book is and is a description which is much more sexy, marketable and honest for readers.

I'm another 20-something who would really like the "new adult" genre to be a thing. I spent my teenage years devouring YA, and those stories and characters really helped me to get through a lot of things. Nowadays I read a wide range of stuff, but I really want to find books about characters who are my age and going through similar problems to me. The space between graduating from college and finding your feet is full of drama and confusion, and I'm sure lots of authors could create great stories from that.

I really do think my book is NA, so hopefully it does get published so it's another contribution to the genre