Uncreated Conscience

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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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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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.

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.

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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Last night I went to the 10 year reunion of my High Point Academy classmates and had an amazing time (but then again, we always did). I went to a small private school–36 of us in our graduating class–so in effect, these were kids with whom I grew up. For nostalgia’s sake, Mandi brought our 8th grade yearbook and I immediately turned to our “Remember When” page.

Remember when…Sarah didn’t use big words.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Although I went by Sarah in those days; it could because I was the only Sarah in that class and was thus able to avoid sharing the name with another girl.

Looking at my Remember When, I suppose it came as no surprise to anyone that I now work in publishing. :) Speaking of which, I finally got around to reading FIRE by Kristin Cashore, the review for which follows beneath the cut.

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Before we get to business, how about a little rampant narcissism? When I was younger, my mother used to accuse me of dressing like a cartoon character. Well, she’s sort of right–on most days I like to fictionalize myself, and this includes wearing a costume. Some days I like to dress like a flapper, on other days a 30s moll (or Mrs. Coulter). Today, I am feeling a retro/60ish vibe, complete with fishnets and heels.

I'm feeling Mad Men-ish today.

And now business. Question and answer time! Well, sort of. Just one question already asked, to which I have something of a long-ish answer.

If I have a New Adult manuscript, whom do I query for representation?

Boss and I have been actively courting different agencies and agents with our “mission”, as it were, so we’re not operating entirely in the dark. We are trying to get the word out (both online and in person) about us and about a publisher who is actively seeking stories that fall into this “in-between” area of adult fiction.

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First, I want to say I received submissions from everyone (except Nicole Beattie for POE–please send when ready!) who won the St. Martin’s “New Adult” contest. Thank you for responding and I will try and get a head start on them over the holidays.

Second, I want to thank agent Kristin Nelson for her really kind comments about Boss and me. We try our best to impress, you know. :)

Third, I want to address an issue that seems to crop up a lot in discussions about New Adult: that it’s just chick lit and isn’t chick lit dead? Why try and revive a dead genre with a sexy new name?

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

I won’t deny that New Adult will absolutely encompass what is known as “chick lit”, but to say that will only encompass chick lit is too narrow. That’s like saying YA is only about high school. It is not. YA is about a certain time of life, when you are no longer a child but not quite an adult and one can write about this period of time through less literal genres like historical fiction or science-fiction and fantasy. Similarly, New Adult is about young adulthood, when you are an adult but have not established your life as one (career, family, what-have-you).

Boss’s favourite example of something not contemporary we consider New Adult is GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier. Griet is a young woman who must serve as a maid in a rich household in order to support her parents. She finds a situation in the household of the artist Johannes Vermeer, cleaning his house by day, serving as his assistant by night. Griet finds herself in a relationship with her enigmatic master that is less than proper but no more than chaste, and must learn to navigate the complicated relationships with her master, his patrons, her mistress, her parents, and the handsome butcher’s son in the market.

Although Griet is young (she is 16), this is the story of a young woman in her first job away from home. She falls in love with her boss, must learn how to appease and fawn before her superiors–despite her greater intelligence–and stave off inappropriate advances from people in positions of power. Remove the historical element, and you’ll find a similar story in the works of many “chick lit” novels. And yet it is so much more than that.

I’m not much of a reader of “chick lit” myself–to date, I have only ever loved BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY by Helen Fielding. I find a lot of chick lit follows many romance novel conventions and while some people find the familiarity of the tropes comforting, I do not. But to each his/her own. Just as YA doesn’t necessarily have to reflect contemporary teenaged life, New Adult doesn’t necessarily have to be “chick lit”.

A bit of an update for the winners of the St. Martin’s “New Adult” contest. I have received partials/synopses from:

• Elissa Hoole THE DHARMA BUM BUSINESS
• M. P. Morehead ZOMBIE PROOF FENCE
• Kristan Hoffman TWENTY-SOMEWHERE
• Barbara Hacha THE ART OF CARVING METTLE
• Sharon Biggs A MAD, WICKED FOLLY
• Jennifer Rummel WAITING
• Rae Carson REBEL PRINCESS
• Laura Diamond THE PICTURE OF FATE
• Paul Sungenis MALL BATS
• Jennifer Al Lee VINNIE’S DINER
• Simon Barkley IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD
• Topie Winn VERTERE
• Glenn P. Johnston THE WORLD AND ITS PARTS
• Bonnie Davidson AFTER THE END
• Ruth F. Long MAY QUEEN

I still need submissions from:

• Luke Tennis BERNARDO THE DAREDEVIL
• Amanda Brice PARTY LIKE IT’S 1899
• Nicole Beattie POE

Thanks again and congratulations, everyone! Elissa, Mark, and Kristan, copies of TEMPTED are winging your way soon.

I know I promised to review some books, and I have a (very long) post about worldbuilding in the works, but I was thinking about agents updating their “What I’m Looking For” posts and thought, why shouldn’t I have one?

Of course, the difference between an agent and me is that what I acquire is definitely going out into the marketplace (because we’re buying), which adds extra pressure from On High to MAKE IT SUCCESSFUL, MAKE IT SUCCESSFUL. My Hamster of Personal Aesthetic is not everyone else’s Hamster.

THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM by William Dean Howells

Regardless, do you know what I would love to find in a bookstore? A novel of manners. I will admit my tastes are somewhat eclectic and old-fashioned, but I do love a book that examines class. I realise that class, like race, is something of a delicate issue, especially with today’s societal values, but I’m fascinated by the concept.

One of my favourite novels of all time is THE RISE OF SILAS LAPHAM by William Dean Howells. (I love anything by William Dean Howells, really, including A HAZARD OF NEW FORTUNES. He’s a contemporary of Henry James and while I love Henry James, he don’t got nuthin’ on Howells.) It’s a familiar story: Old Money vs. the nouveau riche, but I love SILAS LAPHAM for many reasons. First, it addresses the notion of “class” in the way we refer to someone sophisticated and elegant as “classy” rather than “class” as a socio-economic strata to which people belong.

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