Any AWers currently submitting YA vampire MSs?

Not quite submitting yet, but hope to be by the end of the year. Mine is a paranormal, with a strong presence of vampires

Also worried about it being "dead", but also thinking there probably is still a market out there for it. I know I still like to read vampire stuff (always have) and yet there is bugger all out there at the moment.

The trick is crafting something that a bajllion others haven't already produced and chucked into the agent/publishing mill. It's harder to stand out than "Yeah, Twilight's vampires sparkled, but mine are smoky."
I'm revising a YA MS that has vampires (alongside other spooks) and I plan to query it at some point. Sure, there are agents that will immediately send a form R if they see the word "vampire," but I was going to write it anyway and I haven't heard of anything else like it, so I'm giving it a go. The worst that can happen is I rack up some R's while working on my next project. If no one bites and I'm sure my query isn't the problem, I'll tuck it on the shelf and try again in a few years.

MaryLennox said:

I've been a fan since before the big vampire/paranormal boom, so it's disappointing that something you enjoy and have always enjoyed suddenly becomes "dead". Good luck to you when you start submitting!

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Thanks! I'm hoping people out there might still be interested, it might be a bit tough though.

lottarobyn said:

The trick is crafting something that a bajllion others haven't already produced and chucked into the agent/publishing mill. It's harder to stand out than "Yeah, Twilight's vampires sparkled, but mine are smoky."
I'm revising a YA MS that has vampires (alongside other spooks) and I plan to query it at some point. Sure, there are agents that will immediately send a form R if they see the word "vampire," but I was going to write it anyway and I haven't heard of anything else like it, so I'm giving it a go. The worst that can happen is I rack up some R's while working on my next project. If no one bites and I'm sure my query isn't the problem, I'll tuck it on the shelf and try again in a few years.

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It was what I was interested in and wanted to write... so I did Selling it wasn't the primary reason for writing it (although that would be nice). It'll all come around again, and it's not like it's going to get unwritten

I'd be interested to hear how you go with your query.

Mine focuses on necromancy and death magic, with a curse the vampires are trying to break etc so I'm hoping that'll be a bit different from the "Twilight" style of vampire novels.

I couldn't agree more with the sentiment, velvet! Everything comes back into fashion--high-wasted shorts are the saddest, most recent proof. I think it may be a little harder for us to sell our vampire stories, since they're not in peak demand right now, but I think that there will always be a group of people that's looking forward to them. I am hoping to submit mine by the end of the year, too, and even thinking about that is nerve wracking. But I think as long as the writing is good, the characters are unique, and the plot isn't roll-your-eyes predictable, us vampire-novel-writers stand as good a chance as any!

If you've GOT to write it, do so. Trends come and go, and come again. If no agent or publisher bites now (yes, I know, screw you!) they may a few years down the line. Especially if you've honed your craft since and gotten a few books published.

The market is cyclical and eventually vampires will be in demand again. A vampire MS could still sell now but it might be tough.

I read slush for an agent and I don't think I've seen any vampire queries in a year so I'd take that as a positive. Now I don't know if other agents are also seeing fewer vamp subs but if so that will have a knock-on effect with publishers as in a year or two there will be few vamp books in shops... and, presumably, then the gap in the market will come back.

MaryLennox said:

I've been a fan since before the big vampire/paranormal boom, so it's disappointing that something you enjoy and have always enjoyed suddenly becomes "dead". Good luck to you when you start submitting!

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It's not so much that the market for vampire YA is dead, but that it's supersaturated with competition. Twilight spawned thousands of manuscripts with paranormal love triangles, and I can't imagine a publishing house putting out more than one or two such books a year.

So, reader-wise, the demand for vampires might still be relatively high, but the supply of vampire fiction being provided by writers outweighs the demand--meaning publishers value such books much less than they would have before the Twilight boom.

If you write about sexy vampires, you have to make your vampires sexier than the thousands of other writers who are also writing about sexy vampires.

Oh, but I guess if Vimes' experience is any indication there's a bit less competition now. Haha.