PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

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Sommer Leigh
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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by Sommer Leigh » May 14th, 2010, 10:18 pm

I don't know about strict sci-fi, at least not similar to adult sci-fi. At least not right now. But I think stuff like Little Brother by Cory Doctorow will be popular, and with that dystopian/sci-fi/speculative future is already starting to pop up all over the place. Right now Suzanne Collins has everyone's attention, I think she has opened up the YA group for some pretty big ideas.

Take this years current releases and up coming releases, just a few I could think of below. They deal with famine, resources running out, oil is gone or contaminated and no longer useable, gene therapy, perfecting gene pools, wars that destroy parts of the world, viruses that kill all the men, islands of women fighting off men, social experiments on teenagers as a way to solve the destruction of human kind, rising sea levels, depleting sea levels, living beneath the sea... I think LOST is partly to blame but I think the next big trend will be post-apocalyptic, speculative futures where story heroes are expected to live in extreme conditions and find a way to survive. I happen to love this trend and can't wait to see what else our species will be forced to survive.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Carbon Diaries, 2015 by Saci Lloyd
Raiders' Ransom by Emily Diamand
The Line by Teri Hall
Epitaph Road by David Patneaude
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Birth Marked by Caragh O'Brien
The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
Empty by Suzanne Weyn
Restoring Harmony by Joëlle Anthony
The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
Nomansland by Lesley Hauge
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emvtc
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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by emvtc » May 14th, 2010, 11:18 pm

Since we're talking Young Adult, I'm going to leave out the Rick Riordan killings in the Middle Grade market. But I totally agree with angels - except for one thing. We are currently IN the new trend of angels. Do not be fooled by those who tell you that it is not upon us. It is nigh - or at least, the peak is. The era itself is here.

1) You have the reprinting of The Fallen series (originally published during the early 2000, a time when two books were published as one for whatever reason) by Thomas E. Sniegoski

2) HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick came out in October of '09 (the cover has extreme sex appeal and the sequel is coming out in November). NYT Bestseller.

3) FALLEN by Lauren Kate came out in December.

4) Sharon Creech wrote THE UNFINISHED ANGEL.

4) Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series and her new one The Infernal Devices is chock full of angel lore.

There are definitely other books, but these are these are the ones that I (a voracious consumer of the young adult market - which makes sense, since I am a teenager) have noticed (and that are worth mentioning). Angels are big right now - and they will only get bigger until the next thing comes along.

What will that next thing be after that though? Faeries have huge potential with authors like Melissa Marr and Maggie Stiefvater at the helm, but then again magic seems to be doing pretty well. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, HEX HALL, MAGIC UNDER GLASS, and Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle Trilogy are/were all pretty successful. But then you have sci-fi like THE HUNGER GAMES and THE MAZE RUNNER that have done really well, too. It all depends.

So really, it's kind of inconclusive until the angel trend really reaches its height. I don't think anyone saw angels coming when the 2000's Vampire Revival was going on.
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eringayles
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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by eringayles » May 15th, 2010, 3:29 am

I'm so glad I started this discussion. What a wealth of reading suggestions it's generated.
Glad to hear, too, that angels and demons (sorry, Dan Brown) and fairies are in the race. Both are in my interest area.
Most of you are thinking sci-fi thoughts though, and I agree with Sommer that lighter SF could be the thing, but if it expands to the serious realms then I'm out of the race, as I merely turn light switches on and off - wouldn't have a clue what happens inside the wall!
Thanks for the response, people. Keep going - this is very interesting.

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by Jessica Peter » May 15th, 2010, 2:17 pm

I agree that angels are already a trend. So is future dystopian and post-apocalyptic, though I think we are just getting started here. I think there's a lot more to come! I also think we're going to keep seeing vampires, werewolves, and also zombies.. they haven't all had their day, and zombies are just getting especiall hot.

Steampunk is a rising trend, and I think we'll see more steampunk YA. (Anyone ever read the Mortal Engines series? It's a bit older, but really good YA steampunk!)

And I agree that hard sci-fi might be popping up, maybe even some things that the young GUYS are more into. Plus, I still think urban fantasy YA hasn't had its day in the sun, and writers will be turning to more obscure things that we haven't seen much of.
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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by mojo25 » May 17th, 2010, 4:32 pm

I don't read or write YA, so this is more of a parlor game for me. But maybe the next big YA genre will be reality-based, instead of paranormal--but not so edgy or dark--more like the TV series GLEE--fun, quirky, yet with some emotional depth etc. Or perhaps YA historical fiction might come into its own?

I know some teens who tired of reading "problem fiction" (death, parental divorce, drug addiction etc etc) and yet aren't interested at all in vampires/fantasy/sci fi and so on.

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by ryanznock » May 18th, 2010, 7:14 pm

Okay, brace yourself.

A young woman meets a mysterious guy at her school. He's different somehow, possessed of some magical magnetism that overwhelms her. Only after she has fallen in love does the man of her dreams reveal that secretly he is that most dangerous yet romantic of beings: a novelist.

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by FK7 » May 18th, 2010, 7:37 pm

ryanznock wrote:Okay, brace yourself.

A young woman meets a mysterious guy at her school. He's different somehow, possessed of some magical magnetism that overwhelms her. Only after she has fallen in love and gotten her in his bed does the man of her dreams reveal that secretly he is that most dangerous yet romantic of beings: a novelist.
Fixed for added drama.

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by bcomet » May 19th, 2010, 2:25 pm

Angels, Demons, and Super Heroes and Heroines, all of which have daring, dangerous, and romantic adventures that the YA can star in, in their imagination, and, of course: VAMPIRES.

Good + EVIL + Sex + rollicking adventure + a protagonist the YA can relate to! Hot stuff!

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Ishta
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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by Ishta » May 19th, 2010, 11:25 pm

Please, let it be angels!

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by bcomet » May 20th, 2010, 11:25 am

You have to read this (if you haven't already). Nathan posted this a while back.
It's the wrap-up on queries at The Rejectionist blog one week last November about Angels:

http://www.therejectionist.com/2009/11/ ... eries.html

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Ishta
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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by Ishta » May 20th, 2010, 6:38 pm

THANK YOU, bcomet! :-) Very funny. And my husband is an investment banker, and it is definitely not the way to go, unless 16-hour days writing computer code and scanning printouts for errors and sitting in meetings talking about how not enough is getting done while you sit in the meeting getting nothing done, knowing that one typo can lose millions of dollars and get you fired, are really your thing. UGH.

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by Polenth » May 22nd, 2010, 2:13 am

Steampunk! That's more because I'm hopeful than for any real marketing reason. The genre does seem to be getting more publicity for all age ranges though.
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J. T. SHEA
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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by J. T. SHEA » May 22nd, 2010, 4:03 pm

Steampunk! Yay! Guess what my series is. Dieselpunk really, but close enough.

But is steampunk really ‘next’ or new, apart from the name? Jules Verne? But I suppose the deliberate and self-conscious retroism is the difference. Yesterday’s SF becomes tomorrow’s steampunk/dieselpunk.

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by otherside89girl » May 23rd, 2010, 8:47 pm

Just replace vampires with illegal immigrants!

It'll be all the rage, I promise.

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Re: PREDICT THE NEXT BIG YA GENRE

Post by Polenth » May 23rd, 2010, 9:54 pm

J. T. SHEA wrote:Steampunk! Yay! Guess what my series is. Dieselpunk really, but close enough.

But is steampunk really ‘next’ or new, apart from the name? Jules Verne? But I suppose the deliberate and self-conscious retroism is the difference. Yesterday’s SF becomes tomorrow’s steampunk/dieselpunk.
Vampires weren't new when they become the next big thing either. Being the next big thing is about the popularity of a concept, rather than how new it is. Steampunk's been around awhile, but it's always been rather niche.
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