Marketing YA novels to actual young adults who don't have credit cards yet?

[Tom Wood]

I've read articles about companies that targeted young adults (13 - 18) with their Facebook campaigns, only to pay for a ton of clicks but no sales because young adults don't have a credit card to make an online purchase. Similarly, I've seen articles that assert that young adults use the library for a lot of their reading material. It's also my understanding that half of the readers who read YA novels are in fact adults.  Combined, those assertions would lead me to first target the adults who read YA novels.

When setting up the targeting at Amazon, Facebook and BookBub for a YA novels series, how would you target the ad? How would you successfully reach those readers who can't buy online?

[Crystal]

I wouldn't.

With advertising, you have to go to where the readers are, not the other way around. Lots of adults read YA, so I would study the demo more (look at insights on your page or on similar author's pages) and target those people (I'm guessing women 20 to 55ish).

People who can't buy online, won't buy online.

[Tom Wood]

Marie Lu recently published Warcross 1 and 2. It's YA futuristic adventure that bridges between romance (mysterious billionaire) and sci-fi (cyberpunk lite).  That is what I want to do (less the mysterious billionaire) - tap into that market that bridges both romance and sci-fi. Ready Player One is also a good comparable. I'll target those two books, but I think I'll be better off staying above the 20+ age range for the adverts.

[Crystal]

Ready Player One is aimed at Gen Xers. It's not aimed at young adults at all. It's riding a nostalgia wave pretty hard and anyone who wasn't a kid or teenager in the 80s won't appreciate it.