I'm in the middle of writing a novel that I have no idea how to define. I feel like it falls between young adult fiction and adult fiction, and as for the genre, it's a political and social satire that deals with discrimination/racism, political corruption, being a refugee, and illegal immigration. My story's characters are all different ages and it focuses on a group of people rather than one in a kingdom called Televisionland. I've read in several places that YA is defined as having a protagonist that's in their teen years, but I feel like a satire/parody of Hollywood and reality TV is a bit too juvenile for regular adult fiction... More facts: It is set in modern day, in our universe, but it takes place inside of the TV. (you know how some children believe that the characters on TV actually live in side of it? It's kind of like that.) It's a humorous story.
First focus on writing a good story. Only then should you concern yourself with what market segment to target (and thereby how to pitch it to which publishers).
Sixteen more posts, @Cogito. Just sixteen. That's the big 40,000 and you can join Voyager 1 in Deep Forum Space.
"Political corruption", "social satire" and "illegal immigration" are generally themes that most children under the age of 16 don't care about, so it seems to me that this is an adult themed story.
Sorry but if you think it's juvenile why the hell are you writing it? That's no way to write a good story. Write the story how it wants to be written. THEN judge it. Because if you've already decided it's too juvenile for adult readers you'll write something condescending and arrogant, which young readers, unsurprisingly, DO NOT like.
I'm a little confused. I don't think that a satire of reality tv is juvenile at all. Generally, I don't think any satire is juvenile -- well, it can be immature, but I don't think that it is "juvenile" in the sense that it's aimed toward children. I don't think most kids understand satire. Although yes, most YA is classified as such based on the age of the protagonist. But it isn't always that way. I've read several novels that had young protagonists, but were classified as adult. So although it is a big factor, it's not the only factor. And as Cog said, worry first about writing and finishing your story. You can deal with categorizing it later.
@Professor Gargantua who knows, maybe you have invented a new genre. But the first words that pop into my mind are "comedy-fantasy". I would not automatically call it young adult fiction.
I'm in the same boat. I have a story in my head that feels like YA novel- with a crisp feel, a lot of adventure, humor, and a dash of romance. But the protagonist is going to be 19 at the youngest, and then get older from there. She'll be an adult, and the target audience will be in their teens. Risky move, perhaps. We'll see.
Young readers usually prefer characters a few years older than themselves over characters a few years younger than themselves.
