“Hallaway said that she decided to write YA because it was the ‘it’ genre that all the ‘cool’ writers were publishing in. She also wanted to feature a nerdy teenage girl as the heroine and not just the sidekick.”
Heroes & Hearbreakers this morning on mainstream fiction authors who cross over to YA: they’ve got their reasons. Editors and agents are asking them to, because it’s where the money’s at… and somehow, these people aren’t getting asked when they’re going to write “real” books for adults. (Although, perhaps they’re being asked, as Katie Crouch must have asked herself, when they’re going to stop being “literary predators” preying on children for their money?! What the heck, Katie Crouch!? It was a joke, yes, but ugh!)
Wow. After reading that article I feel almost speechless. Meanwhile, the many authors who write because they actually love writing YA fiction (instead of being told to do it) keep getting harassed or undersold.
After reading that article my first thought – I wonder how well romance has been selling, since all but one author are from that genre.
I respect Crouch honest answer but it's a real turn off.
In the end YA writers who do it because they love it will come out on top
I'm stuck on the nerdy girl needing to be the protagonist rather than a sidekick. Exactly how many YA novels has she read because from where I'm sitting there ARE A ZILLION BOOKS WITH NERDY GIRL HEROINES.
Please.
And could all these books look/sound more alike? Heaven forbid we see something other than actual teen paranormal romance.
SIGH.