Hi guys, I wasn't sure if I should ask this in the publishing thread. I consider my current WIP a YA (teenagers are the main POVs), but romance is not an important part of the book at all. In fact, I really do not want the MC to have a romantic arc in this installment.I was just curious if, from a marketing angle, a lack of romance is a real deal-breaker. All published YA seems to adhere to very strict rules.
Sure! It's not a rule of YA that there has to be a romance. The fact that most of them have one isn't a YA thing: most adult books have a romance as well.
Red Rising is one I've read recently that I can't remember there being much romance in. Ender's Game is another. You'd probably be alright without one, but if your book ever gets turned into a movie, be ready to see one shoehorned in there somewhere.
Not really, but if eschewing romance, have you thought of another b plot? I find people like a b plot to break things up a bit. Not necessary probably, but something to consider.
My younger sister actually asked me a while ago if there were any good books for her age group that didn't involve romance. She thinks it's boring in concept and more often than not sexist in execution. So, I guess there's at least one person who wants it. For my money, certain authors may have given the concept of romance in YA a deservedly bad rep. That's not to say Stephe certain authors ruined everything forever for everyone, but maybe this is just one of those times in history where it might be nice to focus on something besides teen romance. There's a huge selection for readers who want a love story with their adventure. There's practically nothing out there for people who don't. Trust me, I've checked. It may not be the biggest market, but I think those YA fans deserve some stories too.
The dolphin crossing (jill paton walsh), Cats eye and the beast master (andre norton), The Vandal (Jan scheer), The Machine Gunners and the Scarecrows (Robert Westhall ),
If I was writing a YA book (which I'm not) I would probably have a think about what is important to people who fall within that age group. Ask them, if you're stumped, or think your own view might be too old fashioned. The one thing they all have in common is that they are young, and unless their lives are going to be curtailed in some way (they have a terminal illness) that they know about already, they will probably be interested in their future. Not only what they might become themselves, but interested in what the world will be like for them when they are adults. They might be concerned about politics. They might be interested in new technology. They might be concerned about a friend who is having difficulty. They might be trying to overcome some difficulties in their own lives, either past or present. They might be wondering if they should continue to try to please their parents, or maybe take a step that will annoy or even alienate their parents. They might be thinking about where they might end up living. Either what kind of house and what kind of neighbourhood, or even what country or what part of the country. And their personalities come into it as well. Are they rebels who might need to adjust to society—or at the very least accept that rebellion brings its own set of problems? Are they obsessed with fitting in rather than standing out? Are they timid? Brash? Do other people like them? Do they like other people? What do they like or dislike? Are they grounded in reality? Dreamy? Objective? Scattered? Focused? Temperamental? Picky? Open-minded? Introverted? Extroverted. Medium-overted? In other words, if you focus on what kind of people they are and what they want their future to hold, you'll probably find that romance is only a part of that. It will be a bigger part of future hopes for some than for others. Some will be focused on it, absorbed by it. Others won't really care.
Write something you wanna write. If you don't wanna write romance and you go ahead and write it, it might show. I get that you gotta make money and that and I'm not an author but if you're not passionate about something it will be hard to write, I don't like maths and I'd just write random answers to the homework to get it done even though I knew they probably weren't right - the same kinda thing could happen if you try involve romance when you don't want to. Stereotypes I've seen a lot in stories *this isn't to say they can't be executed well, it's just it would be nice to have smth different/new every now and then...*: - love triangles - you are the ~chosen one~ (tbh I like this one but it does get a lot of stuff online bc everybody seems to be the chosen one) - bad boys. bad boys everywhere. and not even good bad boys. verbally abusive bad boys who's abuse is romanticized (no thanks) - help, I'm in love with someone I can't legally be in love with bc they are my teacher or something like that And so much more. So um, yeah, there are some stereotypes to things but that's why it can be a good thing to break them. There are plenty of posts on tumblr wherein they describe some teen movie and everybody says it's about 3000 different movies bc the movies have a similar plot. So don't be afraid to change it up a little. Sincerely, a YA.
This though. Sometimes I look up from my craft books and Scriverners and authorearnings.com and ask myself "if I knew for a fact that this would never get published, would I still write it?" If the answer isn't yes, why even bother?
Def Totally agree with this comment and the one above it. This is a passion project, so I'm not gonna change it, so I was asking to know if I should even bother trying to publish it.
Two that had a huge cult following: See Dave Run by Jeanette Eyerly Go Ask Alice Maybe you can bring back a trend.
