So I’ve been asking around Twitter as to what I should do with my book…
I’ve recently changed my MC from 17 to 18 and now 20 years old. At the moment, she’s in college. But crossover doesn’t sell well, if at all.
Which leads to the question::
a) Do I change Alexis back to 17 and have her ‘excel’ — so that she’s starting her first year at community college?
This option would add more depth — she actually is an extremely smart girl with a photographic memory, which I haven’t been able to showcase that much..
My book would stay YA, but I’d have to make it so teens can relate to such an individual — which shouldn’t be too hard…
But there’s another option….
b) Should I make her 24 and just out of college and working/or looking for work?
This choice would be good because of the adult content. The prologue is extremely violent and the rest of the book is rather thriller-like. Plus, there’s a sex scene later on that I’ve been concerned about. And my character starts out the book drinking to blur the line — is she drunk or dreaming or having a vision or is it all real???
Also, the ending is not a HEA—not at all.
I don’t want to underestimate teens as I know they deal with these issues and might eat up something with more edge.. But, I have read adult books with YA pacing (which my book definitely has) and I devoured them. Quick and compelling, but I didn’t feel I was having to change my frame of mind to read YA.
A publisher told me that the adult market is more lucrative than YA, but that I should take note of where I want my career to end up and what my platform already is and such… So I think I have my answer, but if anyone wants to weigh in, I’d greatly appreciate it!
Which option would you pick? a or b???
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Well if it were me… I’d probably say option b, but that’s only because I never had any desire to write YA, and I think the last YA novel I read was a Star Wars series when I was in elementary school… I should probably give the genre another chance.
But I would say, write what you want. Only when you write what you are passionate about without any other concerns will your writing be the best it can be.
I think if you sacrificed what you wanted to do just for the sake of fitting into someone else’s catagory your writing will suffer, and I also think it will burn you out in the long run.
I think just write the story the way you want to, and I have no doubt an audience will find you. And I’ve read quite a few of your excerpts. Hurry up and finish already. ;-P
I’m trying, I’m trying… End of Sept. is the deadline. Gulp!
I’ve made my decision, but thanks for the input — it did help!!
xx -e*