Writing Great Books for Young Adults
Page 18
WEBSITES, BLOGS, AND OTHER ONLINE COMMUNITIES
Teenreads.com provides teens with information about authors, books, series, and characters. The site shares book reviews, author profiles and interviews, excerpts of new releases, and literary games and contests.
The Young Adult Library Services Association, found at www.ala.org/yalsa, is a division of the American Library Association dedicated to books for the young adult reader.
Jacketflap.com is a comprehensive resource for information on the children’s book industry. It has a searchable database of information on children’s and YA book publishers, agents, and editors.
YA Book Blog Directory is a list of YA book blogs. A comprehensive site of blogs dedicated to the YA market, it’s an excellent reference for authors looking to publicize their books, publishers looking for reviewers, book bloggers looking to network, and teenage readers.
Many authors use blogs to promote their books; it’s an excellent way to reach your audience and build excitement about your writing. Some authors even go on blog tours, where they visit a number of blogs, do interviews, and promote their book. So it’s in your best interest to be familiar on as many online communities as possible.
AWARDS FOR THE YOUNG ADULT MARKET
The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas, school librarian who was a longtime active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.
The William C. Morris Debut YA Award, first awarded in 2009, honors a debut book published by an author writing for teens and celebrates impressive new voices in young adult literature.
The National Book Award for Young People’s Literature is administered by the National Book Foundation and recognizes the best in young people’s literature annually.
The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction was established in 1998 to recognize the best in young adult literature and is administered by the Los Angeles Times.
The Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel has become widely acknowledged to be one of the most prestigious awards in the genre of mystery. This award is sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America.
The Margaret A. Edwards Award was established in 1988 and honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. It recognizes an author’s work in helping young people become aware of themselves and in addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and the world.
The YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages twelve through eighteen). The award winner is announced annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting Youth Media.
YALSA also sponsors the Alex Awards, given to ten books written for adults that also appeal to young adults, ages twelve through eighteen. Margaret A. Edwards pioneered young adult library; her work is described in her book Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts. The Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.
The IRA (International Reading Association) Children’s and Young Adults Book Award is intended for newly published authors who show unusual promise in the young adults book field. Awards are given for fiction and nonfiction, and books from all countries are considered, so long as they are published in English.
The Américas Award, sponsored by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs, is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected nonfiction published in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States.
The Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award, sponsored by the Stonewall Book Awards, is awarded to exceptional young adult literature that portrays the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) experience.
The Cybil Awards are given each year by bloggers for the year’s best YA titles. Categories include YA speculative fiction, YA nonfiction, and YA fiction.
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There are additional national and state awards. They can be found at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/awards/nat_awards.html.
APPENDIX B
Publishing Process at a Glance
1. Author writes the manuscript.
2. Author revises the manuscript.
3. Author gets critiques and implements necessary changes.
4. Author submits queries to agents.
5. Author secures agent.
6. Author makes any changes per the agent’s feedback.
7. Agent submits work to publishers.
8. Editor reads the manuscript and tells agent she is enamored and plans to share with the editorial board.
9. Editor shares the manuscript with the editorial board.
10. Editor prepares profit-and-loss statement for the book.
11. Editor contacts agent and makes an offer.
12. Agent shares offer with author.
13. Agent negotiates the terms of the offer with editor.
14. Agent reviews actual contract, makes additions and deletions to the clauses in agreement in the best interest of the author—for example, redlines—and sends it back to the publisher’s legal counsel.
15. Editor sends final contract to agent.
16. Agent sends contract to author for signature.
17. Editor prepares editorial notes for author, and the author revises again.
18. Author submits final manuscript.
19. Editor reviews the manuscript and then prepares it for production.
20. Editors in production department copyedit and proofread the manuscript.
21. Editor sends copyedits to the author for review.
22. Author reviews last pass of manuscript after proof.
23. Editor prepares back cover copy, catalog copy, and other tools to sell the book.
24. Publicity department sends out galley copies to media for review.
25. Book is published and selling begins.
APPENDIX C
Glossary of YA Genres and Terms
ADVENTURE FICTION: fiction where an adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, forms the main story line.
BIOGRAPHICAL FICTION: fiction where an author gives a fictional account of the life of a real person.
BIOGRAPHY: an account of someone’s life written by someone else.
DYSTOPIAN FICTION: fiction set in a society characterized by mass poverty, squalor, suffering, or oppression that society has most often brought upon itself.
FAIRY TALES: a children’s story about magical and imaginary beings and lands.
FANTASY FICTION: fiction characterized by highly fanciful or supernatural elements.
FRACTURED FAIRY TALES: traditional fairy tales, rearranged to create new plots with fundamentally different meanings or messages.
HISTORICAL FICTION: fiction characterized chiefly by an imaginative reconstruction of historical events and personages.
HISTORICAL MYSTERY FICTION: fiction set in a historical time period whose central plot involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder).
HISTORICAL ROMANCE FICTION: fiction set in a historical time period whose central plot is a romance between one or more characters.
HORROR FICTION: fiction intended to frighten, scare, or startle its readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.
HUMOROUS FICTION: fiction employing or showing humor to entertain its readers.
ILLUSTRATED FICTION: a hybrid narrative medium in which images and text work together to tell a story.
MAGIC REALISM FICTION: fiction where magic elements are a natural part in an otherwise mundane, realistic environment.
MYSTERY FICTION: fiction where a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery.
PARANORMAL FICTION: fiction set in a world/universe very much like ours, with some kin
d of supernatural or paranormal creatures (werewolves, vampires, ghosts, etc.).
PARANORMAL ROMANCE FICTION: fiction set in this world, but involving a romance between two people at least one of whom is some sort of paranormal creature or has paranormal abilities.
POETRY: creative work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. Fiction that includes a series of poems that tell a story and have a narrative arc are called novels in verse.
POST-APOCALYPTIC FICTION: fiction that is concerned with the end of human civilization.
REALISTIC FICTION: fiction that deals with events that, while untrue, are not outside the realm of possibility.
ROMANCE FICTION: fiction whose primary focus is romantic love between two people and that has an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.
SCIENCE FICTION: fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets.
SEA ADVENTURE FICTION: fiction where an adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, takes place at sea.
SPY FICTION: fiction involving espionage as an important context or plot device.
STEAMPUNK FICTION: fiction set in an alternative history of the nineteenth-century British Victorian era or American Wild West or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power.
URBAN FANTASY FICTION: fiction where fantastical elements—magic and/or strange creatures—are set in an urban environment where the city itself is a character.
VAMPIRE FICTION: fiction concerned primarily with the subject of vampires.
WAR FICTION: fiction where the primary action takes place in a field of armed combat or where the characters are preoccupied with preparations for, or recovery from, war.
APPENDIX D
YA Books-to-Film Chart
BOOK (SERIES) TITLE AUTHOR YEAR OF PUBLICATION FILM TITLE YEAR OF RELEASE MOVIE STUDIO SUBGENRE
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum 1900 The Wizard of Oz 1939 MGM Studios Fantasy
A Little Princess Frances Hodgson Burnett 1905 The Little Princess 1939 20th Century Fox Mystery
National Velvet Enid Bagnold 1935 1945 MGM Studios Drama
The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1938 1946 MGM Historical
Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson 1883 1950 Walt Disney Productions Adventure
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne 1870 1954 Walt Disney Productions Science fiction, adventure
Old Yeller Fred Gipson 1956 1957 Walt Disney Productions Historical
Lottie and Lisa Erich Kastner 1949 The Parent Trap 1961 Walt Disney Productions Drama, humor
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960 1962 Universal Pictures Historical, drama
Go Ask Alice Beatrice Sparks 1971 1973 Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC) Drama
The Apple Dumpling Gang Jack Bickham 1971 1975 Walt Disney Productions Historical
Escape to Witch Mountain Alexander H. Key 1968 1975 Walt Disney Productions Science fiction
Forever Judy Blume 1975 1978 EMI Television; Roger Gimbel Productions Romance
The Black Stallion Walter Farley 1941 1979 American Zoetrope Adventure
Tex S. E. Hinton 1979 1982 Walt Disney Productions Drama
Rumble Fish S. E. Hinton 1975 1983 American Zoetrope Drama
Something Wicked This Way Comes Ray Bradbury 1962 1983 Walt Disney Productions; Bryna Productions Fantasy/horror
The Outsiders S. E. Hinton 1967 1983 Zoetrope Studios Drama
I Am the Cheese Robert Cormier 1997 1983 Almi Pictures Crime, mystery
The Neverending Story Michael Ende 1979 1984 Warner Bros. Fantasy
That Was Then, This Is Now S. E. Hinton 1971 1985 Paramount Pictures Drama
The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 1987 ACT III Communications Fantasy/comedy
The Chocolate War Robert Cormier 1974 1988 MCEG Sterling Drama
White Fang Jack London 1906 1991 Walt Disney Pictures Adventure
Madame Doubtfire Anne Fine 1987 Mrs. Doubrfire 1993 Blue Wolf Productions Humor
Little Women Louisa May Alcott 1868 1994 Columbia Pictures Drama
Jumanji Chris Van Allsburg 1981 1995 Interscope Communications; Teitler Film Fantasy
I Know What You Did Last Summer Lois Duncan 1973 1997 Mandalay Entertainment Suspense, thriller
The Borrowers Mary Nolton 1952 1997 Working Title Films Fantasy
Practical Magic Alice Hoffman 1995 1998 Village Roadshow Pictures; Di Novi Pictures Fantasy
Where the Heart Is Billie Letts 1995 2000 Wind Dancer Films Romance
The Princess Diaries Meg Cabot 2000—2009 2001 Walt Disney Pictures; BrownHouse Productions Humor, drama
Harry Potter series J. K. Rowling 1997 2001—2011 Warner Bros. Fantasy
Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt 1975 2002 Walt Disney Pictures; Scholastic Entertainment Fantasy
About a Boy Nick Hornby 1998 2002 StudioCanal; TriBeCa Productions; Working Title Films Humor, drama
Holes Louis Sachar 1998 2003 Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media Historical, fantasy
Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions Christopher Paolini 1997 Big Fish 2003 Jinks/Cohen Company; The Zanuck Company; Tim Burton Productions Fantasy
Freaky Friday Mary Rodgers 1972 2003 Walt Disney Pictures Drama, fantasy
That Summer; Someone Like You Sarah Dessen 1996; 1998 How to Deal 2003 New Line Cinema (USA); Focus Features Romance
The Cheetah Girls Deborah Gregory 1999 2003—2008 Disney commercial, humor
The Bad Beginning; The Reptile Room; The Wide Window Lemony Snicket 1999—2000 Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events 2004 Nickelodeon Movies; Scott Rudin Productions Mystery/gothic fiction
Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne 1873 2004 Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media Adventure
Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine 1997 2004 Jane Startz Productions; Blessington Film Productions Fantasy, romance
Speak Laurie Halse Anderson 1999 2004 Showtime Networks Inc. Drama
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen Dyan Sheldon 1999 2004 Walt Disney Pictures Chick lit
Queen Bees and Wannabees Rosalind Wiseman 2002 Mean Girls 2004 SNL Studios Self-help
The Earthsea series Ursula K. Le Guin 1968-2001 (TV miniseries) 2004 The Sci-Fi Channel High fantasy, adventure
Howl’s Moving Castle Diana Wynne Jones 1986 2005 Studio Ghibli Fantasy
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Ann Brashares 2001 2005 Alcon Entertainment; 12th Street Productions; Di Novi Pictures Drama
T*Witches H. B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld 2001—2004 2005 Disney–ABC Domestic Television Paranormal
The Chronicles of Narnia series C. S. Lewis 1949—1954 2005—2010 Walden Media High Fantasy
Eragon Christopher Paolini 2002 2006 Davis Entertainment High Fantasy
Aquamarine Alice Hoffman 2001 2006 Storefront Pictures Fantasy, Romance
Hoot Carl Hiaasen 2002 2006 Walden Media; Kennedy/Marshall Drama
The Thief Lord Cornelia Funke 2000 2006 Warner Bros. Pictures (International); 20th Century Fox (North America) Fantasy, adventure
Stormbreaker (Alex Rider series) Anthony Horowitz 2000 Stormbreaker 2006 The Weinstein Company; Moving Picture Company (MPC); Isle of Man Film; Samuelson Productions Adventure, thriller, spy
The Golden Compass Philip Pullman 1995 2007 New Line Cinema; Ingenious Film Partners; Scholastic Productions; Depth of Field; Rhythm and Hues Dark fantasy
Blood and Chocolate Annette Curtis Klause 1997 2007 Lakeshore Entertainment Paranormal, Romance
Stardust Neil Gaiman 1999 2007 Marv Films; Ingenious Film Partners Fantasy, romance
The Dark Is Rising Sequence series Susan Cooper 1984 The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising 2007 Walden Media Fantasy
Alice series Phyllis Reynolds Naylor 1985—2013 Alice Upside Down 2007 Open Pictures Drama
Gossip Girl Cecily von Ziegesar 2002—2011 (TV series) 2007—
2012 Warner Bros. Television; CBS Television Studios; Fake Empire Productions; Alloy Entertainment; College Hill Pictures, Inc. Chick lit
Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging/It’s Okay, I’m Wearing Really Big Knickers Louise Rennison 1999/2000 Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging 2008 Nickelodeon Movies Chick lit
The Spiderwick Chronicles Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Blac 2003 2008 Nickelodeon Movies; Kennedy/Marshall Fantasy
City of Ember Jeanne DuPrau 2003 2008 Walden Media; Playtone Post-apocalyptic, science fiction
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist Rachel Cohn, David Levithan 2008 2008 Mandate Pictures Romance
Jumper Steven Gould 1992 2008 Regency Enterprises; New Regency Productions Science fiction
The Clique Lisi Harrison 2004 2008 Alloy Entertainment; Bankable Productions Chick lit
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas John Boyne 2006 2008 BBC Films; Heyday Films Historical, postmodern
Twilight series Stephenie Meyer 2005—2008 2008—2012 Summit Entertainment Paranormal, Romance
Youth in Revolt C. D. Payne 1993 2009 Permut Humor, romance
Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002 2009 Laika; Pandemonium Fantasy/horror
The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold 2002 2009 Film4 Productions; WingNut Films Fantasy, drama
Inkheart Cornelia Funke 2003 2009 New Line Cinema Fantasy
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant Darren Shan 2000 2009 Relativity Media; The Donners’ Company; Depth of Field Paranormal
The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic Sophie Kinsella 2000 Confessions of a Shopaholic 2009 Touchstone Pictures; Jerry Bruckheimer Films Chick lit
I Love You Beth Cooper Larry Doyle 2007 2009 1492 Pictures; The Bridge Studios; Ingenious Film Partners Comedy, romance
Derby Girl Shauna Cross 2007 Whip It 2009 Mandate Pictures; Flower Films Drama
Vampire Diaries series L. G. Smith, Aubrey Clark 1991—present (TV series) 2009—present Outerbanks Entertainment; Alloy Entertainment; CBS Television Studios; Warner Bros. Television Paranormal, Romance
Flipped Wendelin Van Draanen 2001 2010 Castle Rock Entertainment Romance