Assignment 2
I read all of the articles listed (except the last one- the link was not working), but I specifically want to mention points made in three of the articles.
"New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak or Valued Subgenre?"
I had already heard of the "new adult" genre in grad school. It's been creating a lot of buzz among students who are getting their certificates in teaching and are planning on working in school libraries. I thought one interesting point raised by the article was that the age of characters in new adult literature is not as important as the theme, voice, and style are. Unfortunately, the article doesn't mention what the typical theme, voice, and style are in these books, which would have been useful information. The article does mentions some interesting facts about the term "new adult." I agree with Kenny Brechner's viewpoint on it- that the term does not have much appeal or pizzazz. I actually think that this term is confusing, for if we were to label a shelf as "new adult," I believe that most patrons would perceive this shelf as containing simply books that were new for adults. Seeing as many bookselles are not yet aware of this term (as pointed out by the article), it is unlikely that patrons are aware of it.
"The Next Big Thing: Adults Reading Teen Literature"
Concerning this article, I simply wanted to mention how much I enjoyed the ten reasons the author listed for why adults are reading teen literature. I had noticed that popular adult authors like Patterson and Picoult were writing teen literature, but it had never crossed my mind that this could be one of the reasons why adults were venturing into this genre.
"YA Comes of Age"
I thought this article made a fascinating point about the Hunger Games covers being appealing to all ages and genders. When I was a teenager, I remember that I wouldn't pick up a book if I disliked its cover. Although this does not happen to me now, I have a feeling that many readers still judge a book by its cover. Thus, the attractive covers on these teen books must definitely be reeling in adults.
Assignment 3
Forever Young Adult
I really enjoyed the posts on this website- lighthearted, personal, and highly entertaining (e.g. hilarious commentary on the mini-series North & South). I also think it has a great design that is feminine, yet not too "preteeny" girly looking. This post (http://foreveryoungadult.com/2013/06/04/stay-sweet-fya/) actually mentions who the intended audience is (female adults interested in reading a YA blog). I'd say that this website is quite successful. Each post gets at a few comments on it and their facebook page has over 5,800 likes. This blog is definitely for adults though. For instance, a blog post on Rick Riordin's Lightening Thief movie is accompanied by a drinking game - http://foreveryoungadult.com/2013/05/31/book-vs.-movie-the-lightning-thief/. There are numerous authors for this blog (all listed here- http://foreveryoungadult.com/cast-of-characters). All seem to be young women (except one male contributor). Each blog post is followed by a short biography of the author (of the biographies that I have read so far, they seem to be quite hilarious!).
Cassandra Clare's Tumblr
I've never actually used tumblr before, so this was a new experience for me. Once I got used to the format of the website, I was able to determine that Cassandra Clare is the one who posts, her intended audience are fans of her books, and her tumblr seems to be quite popular (each of her posts have been reblogged or liked thousands of times).
Assignment 4
Harper Teen
Harper Teen's website has two nice lists of the top 10 most popular books and top 10 most popular authors. I was surprised to see how many times the Pretty Little Liars books appeared in the top 10 books list (four times). This shows that one of the current trends in teen literature are books that have been made into tv shows. Harper Teen's homepage actually features a link to information about the Carrie Diaries book/tv show. Dystopian teen fiction is also still popular, as two of Veronica Roth's books appear on the list of top 10 books and she is the #5 author on the top 10 authors list. The #1 author, Michael Grant, also writes dsytopian/supernatural teen fiction.
Teens@Random
The other site I explored was Teens@Random. Listed under its new releases are three science fiction titles (dystopian and fantasy/magic), two books classified as romance (one historical, another modern), and four books dealing with social situations (such as family). It's good to see that there is a range of different types of books being published. I particularly enjoyed how this website breaks down its releases into different genres, including books specifically for girls and those specifically for guys.
Hi Melaine,
ReplyDeleteCommenting on the "YA Comes of Age" article...I love picking books based on the cover. I used to do that as a child, teen and still as an adult. I still cannot pick up a book with a boring cover!
-Erika T.
Also commenting on "YA Comes of Age" - I feel like there have been a lot of copycat covers playing off the appeal and success of the Hunger Games. These covers also remind me of the "adult" covers for the Harry Potter series, which were also slick with black backgrounds and a single, gender-neutral (and age-neutral) image. Definitely helps customers who are reading outside of their "intended" genre (i.e. adults reading teen books) to feel more comfortable.
ReplyDelete- Olivia
Re: The Next Big Thing article
ReplyDeleteI also think that this phenomenon goes in both directions. Kids who start with Theodore Boone (Patterson) and move up to Maximum Ride in middle or high school are perhaps more likely to look to Adult fiction for more Patterson titles as they grow older. This is a great way to grow readership and I think more authors are starting to recognize that. It's great that this also probably improves the quality of YA fic in general and that it also has the side benefit of attracting Adults desperate for a fix of their favorite authors.