Hei hei, y'all. It's ST. And I want to talk about New Adult. Specifically, I want to know where you think it's heading. Because it feels like things are changing these days, and I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.
We all know NA has the corner on steamy contemporary romances. We adore these stories. A good chunk of the #NALitChat crew and half of the Igniteers write these stories, and they rock at it! Even the publishing industry, who warmed fairly slowly to NA as a category, has embraced the steamy contemps. One agent recently told me that she didn't know if she could sell an NA that wasn't a contemporary romance. It seems New Adult has carved out a little niche and happily set up camp. And in a lot of ways, that's awesome! We have a camp!! And don't you worry, I've got s'mores for everybody!!
But I've been hearing a LOT of talk from readers and bloggers lately, and they want more. NA readers are starting to want the same diversity in genres as their YA and Adult counterparts. They love their contemporary romance, and they love their sexy time, but they want more options in their NA buffet. Chelsea Fine just penned an amazing blog post about "The Giant Sexball", and Addison Moore wrote a phenomenal piece for Delphina Reads talking about Great Sexpectations in NA. And between those remarkable articles, and the comments I've heard in the last few weeks, readers are ready for a little something extra.
So what's it going to be?
Tonight, Kristie Cook's NA hero Tristan Knight won his match in NA Alley's #NACrushTourney14. He's the ONLY paranormal hero left standing in the tourney -- the ONE other non-contemporary hero of the thirty entrants was eliminated last week. (That other hero was our little old Ull! *beams*) Tristan's win was a massive victory for New Adult as a category, because it showed that that readers are excited to embrace something outside the box. Tristan's supernatural in all the best ways -- he's the hero of Kristie's otherworldly paranormal romance that has completely sucked in yours truly, along with over 200,000 other readers. And more and more outside-the-box NA stories are coming out every day. #pnrNA like Kristie's Soul Savers Series; #sweetNA like Amy Evans' Jellybean Kisses; #scifiNA like SJ Pajonas' Nojiku Series; and #specficNA like PK Hrezo's Butterman (Time) Travel Series. As an author who writes outside the box, I'm super excited when I see readers responding so favorably to these kinds of books! New Adult is so new, and we're so lucky to be writing in a category that's just beginning to define itself. So long as authors are supportive of one another, and so long as readers keep asking for more, there's no limit to where we can take this category. Time travel? Sci fi? Sweet romances? Paranormal? Fantasy? Absolutely!! At least, I really, really, really hope so. Because I want more too -- I love my steamy contemps, but I also love my angel/demon/warrior prince. And my Norse gods. And my time traveling boy banders. And if that makes me greedy, I'm totally cool with that. Because I brought enough s'mores for everybody. :)
Tell me -- what do YOU want to see more of in New Adult books? Do you think there's room to grow?
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