Fri, 12th Feb 2010
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If you haven’t heard the news by now, Cap’n Sweet Valley has acquired his first book!
Francine Pascal’s SWEET VALLEY CONFIDENTIAL, following her iconic identical blonde twins and full cast of characters into adulthood, now in their late twenties and early thirties, “where the real world intrudes,” to Dan Weiss at St. Martin’s (who created the original series with Pascal when he was a book packager), with Hilary Rubin Teeman editing, for publication in early 2011.
Via Publishers Marketplace
Yes indeed, our first book is a nice trip down memory lane for everyone involved. My friends were obsessed with these books when we were in elementary school (I was, alas, not allowed to read them–but never fear, I am properly caught up now) and of course, Cap’n Sweet Valley and Francine Pascal have a long history together. This is an adult title, not young adult.
Official press release to follow beneath the cut.
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Tue, 26th Jan 2010
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Today's lesson is...
Yakko: It’s that time again!
Wakko: To make bizarre faces?
Dot: To encourage kids to send us candy?
Yakko: No, it’s time to learn today’s lesson! And to find out what it is, we turn to the Wheel of Morality! Wheel of Morality, turn, turn, turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn.
-Animaniacs, Best 90s Cartoon Ever
Actually, it’s time to answer a question about New Adult that hasbeen cropping up with astonishing regularity. I answered a few here, but the most pressing concern seems to be from writers seeking to query manuscripts that may fall under the “new adult” umbrella.
If I have a New Adult manuscript, how do I query it?
First, I would like to clarify something: New Adult is not a genre. Why is it not a genre? Because nothing has been published under this banner yet. Cap’n Sweet Valley and I are in the midst of finding, culling, and cultivating books to fill a category that may or may not be successful. There are many marketing directions we can take with this (including an imprint), but as of yet, nothing is finalized. We are letting the books we choose to publish dictate the direction of where this may evolve in the future: it may become its own genre the way YA is now it’s own genre, but nothing is definite.
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Thu, 21st Jan 2010
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I like the alliterative quality of that blog title. Anyway, last night on YAlitchat, I announced the requests for full manuscripts from the 18 partial winners from the New Adult Contest. They are as follows:
- Elissa Hoole THE DHARMA BUM BUSINESS
- Kristan Hoffman TWENTYSOMEWHERE
- Luke Tennis BERNARDO THE DAREDEVIL
- Rae Carson REBEL PRINCESS
- Nicole Beattie POE
Anyhow, I was about to blog some more about New Adult and querying agents but time slipped away from me (busy day at the office). However, have some good news! MAGIC UNDER GLASS is getting a new cover! It just goes to show how awesome the blogosphere can be.
Wed, 20th Jan 2010
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Some housekeeping! Cap’n Sweet Valley and I have reached a decision on which manuscripts from the partial winners we would like to see and I will be giving the names on tonight’s #YAlitchat on Twitter, after an interview with literary agent Elana Roth. Hosted by the lovely Georgia McBride, make sure to stay until the very end!
After I announce the full manuscript requests, I will be sending out emails to those whose partials we requested, thanking them for their participation and our reasons for passing (if we’ve passed). The list will be posted here tomorrow, so watch this space.
Also, Cap’n Sweet Valley and I are so close to being able to announce deal news, I don’t even know what to do with myself.
Thu, 14th Jan 2010
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CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins
A few days ago, I wrote about rejecting manuscripts we felt were too YA for our list. But I’ve also said we wouldn’t turn down really great YA that’s solidly for the YA market.
Are we being contradictory? Not intentionally. Certain YA novels are really wonderful and truly belong on teen shelves but they can also appeal to an adult audience. These are the “breakout” novels. HARRY POTTER, TWILIGHT, and more recent THE HUNGER GAMES are books that deal with an adolescent narrative, but many adults read and enjoy them. I, for one, am salivating at the mouth for the next HUNGER GAMES book (seriously, I haven’t been this excited about a book series since HARRY POTTER).
What about the “crossover” YA book? The definition of a crossover is a little harder to articulate and these are the novels we are the most interested in discovering at St. Martin’s Press. Some of these are novels with an “all ages” narrative and themes (however you want to define that) that may happen to have a young protagonist. But what makes a “breakout” or “crossover” YA?
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