Tips for Writing For the YA Market—Part One

Writing young adult books, whether your niche is post apocalyptic books or a young adult fantasy adventure romance like the Save the Pearls series, can be tricky yet extremely fulfilling. At a small publishing company like Sand Dollar Press, there are certain things we recommend to writers who want to write young adult novels for the first time.

Surrender boundaries
The beauty of young adult fiction and other books for young adults is that the genres blend seamlessly and can have parts that transcend typical demographics. Novels for young adults can easily incorporate elements of young adult fantasy and romantic apocalypse with adventure romance, harlequin romance, sci-fi and mystery. Currently, the independent publishing world is seeking post apocalyptic books with a bit of each genre. For example, Sand Dollar Press was ecstatic that the first book of the Save the Pearls series crossed so many genres that they were able to deem it a young adult fantasy adventure romance.

Point-of-View (POV)
It is so important to get the POV right. The most important thing to consider when writing young adult books is that your narrator is writing from an immediate perspective, not as an adult remembering the past. The story should be told from the POV of a teen protagonist who lacks the knowledge we have in adulthood—that’s the only way YA fiction will work.

Age
The age of the protagonist in young adult novels should suit your targeted audience. A book publishing company will typically want the main character’s age to be the same as the book’s ideal reader. Another thing to keep in mind is that readers of young adult books tend to read upwards in age, not down. A high school age reader of books for young adults will not want to read about the trials and tribulations of a middle school character. What is most important to a book publishing company is that the characters in novels for young adults are relatable, even if it’s a protagonist of a young adult fantasy book with superhuman powers—they can still suffer the same issues as real teenagers and that is where they become relatable.

What’s also important to independent publishing companies is the character’s arc—readers of YA fiction will want to watch the character learn, grow and change throughout the story. The reader can even possibly not like the character at first, but grow to truly relate and admire them by the end of the story. Whether it’s a theme of harlequin romance or romantic apocalypse, we want to watch them learn lessons and apply what they’ve learned.