Writer Sanctum

Writer's Haven => Quill and Feather Pub [Public] => Topic started by: notthatamanda on November 05, 2019, 08:19:59 AM

Title: Article on books for tweens
Post by: notthatamanda on November 05, 2019, 08:19:59 AM

I only skimmed it, because I'm not writing for that age range, but thought people might like to see it.

https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=MiddleGrade-Too-Young-YA-Too-Old-Where-Are-the-Books-for-Tweens-libraries

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: okey dokey on November 06, 2019, 01:18:26 AM

I think it's amazing that one series - Harry Potter - hit all the markets.

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: Simon Haynes on November 06, 2019, 02:02:52 AM

They didn't have high hopes for it though, did they? Wasn't the first print run 500 hardcovers?

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: Bill Hiatt on November 06, 2019, 06:32:37 AM

Quote from: Simon Haynes on November 06, 2019, 02:02:52 AM

They didn't have high hopes for it though, did they? Wasn't the first print run 500 hardcovers?

Yeah, they underestimated the appeal.

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: notthatamanda on November 06, 2019, 08:13:10 AM

I think it was turned down by a bunch of publishers too.

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: Bill Hiatt on November 07, 2019, 04:16:56 AM

And only picked up by one because the young child of one of the editors got ahold of the first part of the MS and wanted to see the rest.

Or so the story goes. I've heard different versions of that part, suggesting it may already be morphing into legend. In some versions, the editor gave the pages to the child on purpose to see what the reaction was. It does seem clear, though, that a certain amount of luck was involved.

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: notthatamanda on November 07, 2019, 04:22:30 AM

If you could buy luck...

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: Simon Haynes on November 07, 2019, 05:06:24 AM

I think that was The Hobbit, wasn't it? Publisher's ten-year-old son loved it or something. Nobody else knew what to do with it.

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: Tom Wood on November 07, 2019, 08:24:07 AM

Quote from: Simon Haynes on November 07, 2019, 05:06:24 AM

I think that was The Hobbit, wasn't it? ...

All signs point to yes: https://thearcanist.io/the-hobbit-how-a-10-year-old-boy-helped-unleash-tolkien-upon-the-world-f9c478358d1d (https://thearcanist.io/the-hobbit-how-a-10-year-old-boy-helped-unleash-tolkien-upon-the-world-f9c478358d1d)

Title: Re: Article on books for tweens
Post by: Vijaya on November 07, 2019, 10:04:18 AM

Thanks for the links. Some of my friends are writing for the tween group and they are really hard to place--most of the feedback they get from editors is to either make it MG or YA. And most YA is upper YA.