Uncreated Conscience

A reminder to anyone entering the St. Martin’s “New Adult” Contest, the deadline is Friday, November 20.

Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund, whose SECRET SOCIETY GIRL novels I have been touting as “new adult” has written some great posts on the concept. She approaches the subject from marketing angles, which is admittedly a difficult subject to tackle. People are rightly saying that “new adult” as a type of book exists; we’re not doing anything new or particularly revolutionary here.

What we are trying to do, first and foremost, is find more adult fiction that can appeal to twentysomething readers. This isn’t to say that we think twentysomethings are “unready” for adult fiction–on the contrary, we are publishing adult titles. Marketing will always be a problem in this industry; I won’t go into the arguments about the “ghettoization” of different genres and the “genre snobbery” that exists. Because they both exist. Ethnic fiction, romance, mystery/thriller, sci-fi/fantasy, chick lit/women’s fic, these are all problematic labels because they are labels.

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Rachel (who still needs a better cognomen) and I have a household imp or a brownie. We’ve given him a name–Elijah–in the hopes that will appease his tricksy ways. (He’s especially fond of hiding our silverware.) It seemed to have worked for a while, but we may now need to leave him a plate of bread and milk at night. This morning I tore my apartment apart looking for my work ID (which I swear was in my wallet last night) only to find it sitting very nicely on my desk right before I ran out the door. I hope you like doughnut holes, Elijah!

I’ve received a few questions about New Adult that I will try and answer to the best of my ability. Clearly this is a new venture, so I can’t foresee/predict/broadcast anything concrete yet. However, I will address questions as I can.

Where does New Adult belong?

On the adult shelves. The target audience are people in their late teens and twenties, the college-aged and post-undergraduate crowd. Now, this doesn’t mean we don’t want other readers picking up our books, of course, but for marketing purposes, this is what Dan is telling the Powers That Be. Now, the question of whether or not “New Adult” will be it’s own section in a bookstore (the way YA is its own section) is largely up to the booksellers, but we are hoping there is enough momentum in this category to warrant that. One of the things I love about YA is that all of the genres are shelved together: contemporary, science fiction, fantasy, romance, etc. and I hope that one day this will happen for us as well.

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Recently there was an article in GalleyCat about no longer needing an agent if you are thinking of publishing. Since then, there have been some great rebuttals in defense of the agent, from an agent and and from a writer‘s perspective.

Moonrat has written a better post about why you should never submit unagented to publishers, but I would like to offer my own meagre, neophyte thoughts from the publishing/editorial side of the desk.

Do you–strictly speaking–need an agent? No.

Do you want an agent? Oh yes, wholeheartedly yes.

Of course, I am running a contest for unagented (and agented) writers, but as someone who writes, who has worked for a literary agency, and who is now on the editorial/publishing side of the entire business, I will say that all these roles have a place.

The reason that a writer wants an agent is because the agent works for the writer. Always, always, always. They do more than negotiate contracts; they help guide your career. The publisher does not work for the writer; the publisher first and foremost publishes for the consumers, the readers, the hoi polloi (and ourselves). We are concerned with developing a book, not an author. We produce products–the physical (or digital) book. There is even a difference between a publisher and an editor–the editor focuses on the book while the publisher deals with placing the book in the market.

The agent, on the other hand, develops the author. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that agents and editors/publishers sit on the same side of the desk. There are five distinct places in the publishing industry and it flows in a specific way: from writer to agent to editor to publisher to reader. A writer might think that bypassing the agent and going straight to the source works to their advantage, but more often than not it can blow up in your face. You can self-publish, of course, but if you want a chance of your work–your baby–reaching a greater audience, a traditional publisher can help with that. Do you know everything about the ins-and-outs of a publishing house? No. Does your agent? Your agent sure as hell knows a lot more than you.

On the editorial/publishing side, we are more likely to turn to agents to find book to publish. Why? They know our tastes, but more than that, they do the actual work in finding authors. We want the product; they want the writer. There’s a difference.

Now that the weather’s grown colder, I dress White-Harp up in her sweater and leave her with a stack of books to read before leaving for work in the mornings. I officially have a to-be-read pile larger than my head, which is a first for me. I read very quickly and I often read several books at once–a useful ability in this industry–but I may overmatched here. Also, until today I could claim that nothing fazes me in literature, but on my subway commute to work this morning, I had to shut a book because I simply couldn’t handle the visceral descriptions of the human body reduced to meat. I wince even now.

White-Harp in her new sweater and my to-be-read pile.

Last night I went to Books of Wonder to listen to a number of fabulous YA authors speak. This may have been the first time I’ve attended an author event for which I’ve read all the books, with the exception of Kristin Cashore‘s FIRE which I have not yet gotten around too, although I have read GRACELING.

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As I have been given license by Dan to buy ALL THE BOOKS I WANT, I took him at his word and spent over $200 on novels last week. Many of these were for research purposes—to get a sense for the market, as it were—but let’s face it, the vast majority were books I wanted to read. There is something incredibly cathartic about spending that much on fiction without feeling the least bit guilty.

Firstly, I want to announce that submissions continue apace for the St. Martin’s New Adult Contest. Remember, contest is open until Friday, November 20, after which I will announce the winners of P.C. and Kristin Cast’s TEMPTED, as well as the writers from whom we’d like to see partials. We’ve received some really great submissions thus far.

Secondly, I want to discuss in a little bit more detail about “new adult” or postadolescent fiction and how the age of the protagonist isn’t necessarily the best factor in determining whether or not a novel is YA or adult. I read PREP by Curtis Sittenfield and ICE by Sarah Beth Durst over the weekend. PREP was published as an adult title, despite the fact that its protagonist is in high school, and ICE was published YA, despite the fact its protagonist is 18. Why?

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TEMPTED by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Attention, writers! St. Martin’s Press is holding a contest for submissions. Yes, a contest hosted by yours truly to find books to publish. We are actively looking for great, new, cutting edge fiction with protagonists who are slightly older than YA and can appeal to an adult audience. Since twenty-somethings are devouring YA, St. Martin’s Press is seeking fiction similar to YA that can be published and marketed as adult—a sort of an “older YA” or “new adult.”

The contest begins today on Monday, November 9 and ends Friday, November 20, 2009. Submissions will be taken online and read by JJ of the St. Martin ‘s Press editorial department and Georgia McBride, Founder and Host of #YAlitchat!

There are prizes! The top three submissions—1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, if you will—will receive a copy of TEMPTED by P.C. and Kristin Cast. There may be multiple winners of this contest, but a free book will go to the three I find the most interesting/appropriate for what we are looking for.

The Rules

• One submission per author.
• Fiction applicable to older teens and twentysomethings, please. For guidelines, the protagonist should be 18 or older, but 20s are preferred.
• All works must be complete, edited, proofed and ready for submission upon request.
• Submission must include author first name, email address, 2-3 sentence hook/pitch and first paragraph of story ONLY. Any additional content will be discarded.

How It Works

Submissions are reviewed by the Editorial Department at St. Martin ‘s Press and Georgia McBride, Founder and Host of #Yalitchat. Based on the criteria defined by St. Martin’s Press; submissions are assessed and if we are interested in seeing more, authors are contacted via the email provided in the submission and a partial (first 50 pages) of your manuscript will be requested.

Your manuscript should be edited, proofed and ready for submission. If the editorial team at St. Martin ‘s Press would like to see more of your manuscript after reading your partial, they will request the remainder of your manuscript. Please make sure that your manuscript is properly formatted, spell-checked and ready to go.

Winners

Winners in this “contest” are those who submit and are asked to have their manuscript submitted for consideration by St. Martin ‘s Press. Ideally, a book deal would come of it, but we have no guarantees. The goal is to give as many #Yalitchat writers an opportunity to have their work considered.

Disclaimer: St. Martin’s Press does not guarantee to publish the material requested and cannot be held liable for a book published through St. Martin’s Press with similar content to any submission from the “New Adult” Contest sponsored by #YAlitchat.

Comment here to enter. Good luck!

The Flatiron Building

There’s a law somewhere in the universe that says that on the day you take an ID photo for a new job, you must necessarily have an emerging zit and unruly, uncontrollable hair. Always, always, always.

As I’ve announced before, I am now an editorial assistant at St. Martin’s Press, which means I get to work in the Flatiron Building. It’s gorgeous on the outside, but the interior hasn’t been redecorated since the 1960s. Oh well.

The official announcement of the endeavour of which I am a part went out at Publishers Marketplace today and I am pleased to be part of Dan’s team in searching for new fiction to publish.

Dan Weiss Joins SMP As Publisher at Large

Former SparkNotes publisher and packager Dan Weiss is the latest seasoned executive to join Macmillan, taking the new position of publisher-at-large for St. Martin’s, reporting to paperback publisher Matthew Shear. Weiss will develop and acquire both fiction and nonfiction properties targeted at the audience of “twentysomethings, Gen Yers, and older young adult readers–those emerging adults who are navigating career, love and family in a 24/7 connected world.” Those books will be published through St. Martin’s as well as other Macmillan imprints as appropriate. Shear says “his projects will appeal to a generation that loves the mix of low and high culture, expresses both traditional and 21st century values, and is digital, communal and powerful.”

Dan has expressly asked me to blog about my job and to “leave in the dirty bits” (I paraphrase, of course). I will also be connected via Twitter and Facebook. We’re trying to get the word out there about our new enterprise, so please put this blog on your readers.

• My RSS feed
• Follow me on Twitter at sjaejones (formerly thegreatmissjj, but I’ve changed the username)

Stay tuned: I will be giving an interview with Georgia McBride and hosting a Twitter contest for submissions! Join me on Wednesday at 9pm EST on #yalitchat, where I will hopefully be answering some questions.

This is the best costume for the day.

Halloween was a blast this year, but then again, Halloween is a blast every year. I need no excuses to dress up as whatever character I please, but it’s nice when the rest of the world has license to be five years old again. In New York it’s especially great because you get to ride the subway with adults dressed in costume on their way to various parties. On our way to a med school party in New Jersey, The Inimitable Bex and I spotted Dwight Schrute on the N train into Manhattan.

I loathe store bought costumes but I love the creativity of thrifted ones. Bex was Joan Holloway, having borrowed my retro dress and shoes (as well as a coworker’s DD bra) and our friends Alex and Jay were Big and Little Edie, but my roommate Rachel takes the cake as she was Effie Trinket from THE HUNGER GAMES. She had a pink wig, a spring green trench coat, my mockingjay pin, and a glass bowl filled with names for the Reaping. How awesome are my friends?

As the weather has grown cooler, it is now time for me to be busting out the knitting needles. Last year I made a few scarves, a hat, and a pair of mittens before retiring for the spring. This year I am determined to make these mittens (yes, they’re named for the TWILIGHT books, but I don’t care—they’re pretty!), as well as these arm warmers to wear in freezing cold New York offices. More knitting follows beneath the cut.

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