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Wednesday 10 June 2015

Best of the ACW Archives: So What is New Adult Fiction and Why Should We Care?

By Jeanette O'Hagan




What do you think of when you hear new adult fiction? 

As a reader or even as a writer you may be thinking of the latest titles in adult fiction. If you searched your local library or bookshop you would find a Children’s section, a Young Adult (or teen) section and an Adult section – but it’s unlikely that you will find a New Adult section. What makes it more confusing is that the New Adult category (targeting say 18-25 year olds) is sometimes called mature Young Adult (generally targeting the upper end of 12-18 age bracket) and “new” doesn't seem to be a natural progression of “young.”

Read more at the following link:

http://australasianchristianwriters.blogspot.com/2013/10/so-what-is-new-adult-fiction-and-why.html

6 comments:

  1. I wonder which genre this demograhic prefers, Jeanette?

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    1. Primarily contemporary romance Rita - though other genres (like paranormal, fantasy etc) are also represented. A good way to get a idea of New Adult is to do a search for it in Good Reads.

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  2. would Hunger Games fit in this category?

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    1. Not really, Katnis is 16 at the start of the series. THG is generally seen as the upper end Young Adult (same withe the Divergent series). I think many of Paula Vince's novels could be seen as New Adult as she frequently has protagonists in early twenties. Probably, Andrea Grigg's A Simple Mistake and Too Pretty fit too. It more or less covers the 'college/Uni' years - the transition between leaving home - going to Uni or finding the first job etc before settling down in with family, career & mortgage.

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  3. My work-in-progress is apparently New Adult, which worried me at first, as I do associate that category with explicit scenes. It's certainly a generalisation, but I think a lot of people think that. Hopefully, my book will still do well without that. :-)

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    1. Hi Lynne - is a common perception that New Adult has explicit sex scenes or is sexed up YA - but I don't think that has to be the case. I think this post by Ava Jae (Writability) expresses it well http://avajae.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/new-adult-no-sex-required.html

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