tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post1468475570483447891..comments2023-11-28T06:18:53.641-05:00Comments on In Propinquity: To NA or not to NA?Julie Sondra Deckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-16647021557803492082014-09-29T17:05:46.424-04:002014-09-29T17:05:46.424-04:00Thanks for the thoughts, Kristen. I think what I&#...Thanks for the thoughts, Kristen. I think what I've written is maybe of interest to a niche audience rather than a large one, but one never knows unless one asks! If my agent likes it, she'll probably want to try the big houses first, but I wouldn't mind this one going to a smaller house at all.<br /><br />I wouldn't say Nick's is a coming-of-age story. I think coming-of-age in NA is different from YA--not quite as overt--but the identity stuff that I do tackle isn't associated with maturity. Nick is 25 in the book. I didn't conceive it as a NA when I wrote it, and think it's more likely that it's a straight-up adult book with young characters, but since I don't read as much NA as some of the buffs I know, I thought I'd feel it out to see if anyone thought I should move in that direction with framing it in the pitch.Julie Sondra Deckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-56088793632412450722014-09-26T19:21:31.462-04:002014-09-26T19:21:31.462-04:00I write pretty non-traditional NA, but I'm als...I write pretty non-traditional NA, but I'm also indie. My protagonists are widows, homeless, college graduates, or girls who just haven't been to college. NA, in the broadest sense, is a coming of age story. The struggles are new to them, or they're dealing with things on their own for the first time. The voice is critical. <br /><br />That being said, I took my NA contemp. romance to a big 5 editor at a conference and she wouldn't even consider it because my 21 year old military widow wasn't a traditional college student. That was this spring. However, my publicist, who handles some big names in the category, is extremely excited about it. So you're right, it will probably appeal to a smaller house, but don't think that doesn't mean that it won't have readers.<br /><br />From what you tell us here, it seems like romance is very important to the plot, even if it is sci-fi. I think it really depends on Nick (you don't tell us who old he is), his voice, and if his story is a coming of age story. If it was told from Summer's POV, I'd say it's NA. But I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger on this. You may have an adult sci-fi romance. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05018769007159829340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-63477686194771750122014-09-26T04:29:08.745-04:002014-09-26T04:29:08.745-04:00Yeah, it's not a college story--and I have ano...Yeah, it's not a college story--and I have another book that is definitely going to be spun as New Adult and happens in college. That's just not definitive of the category as far as I'm concerned. I think the voice could go either way, but I did initially conceive of it as adult--just wanted to see if any New Adult smarty-pantses might crawl out of the woodwork and give me some hints about whether spinning it as New Adult might actually improve its chances. It's a bit of a niche, but if you FIT that niche. . . . Julie Sondra Deckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-52847063022129634612014-09-26T04:26:55.809-04:002014-09-26T04:26:55.809-04:00Yeah, it is small, and I was thinking that might a...Yeah, it is small, and I was thinking that might actually work for me here--that if it fits the specifics, it might get snatched up. (I don't know that it's big-pub material.) Word count can always be cut, and I'm always up for that if necessary. But what I'm most interested in is how its tone and storytelling matches. I'm still leaning toward thinking of it as an adult story, but I want some NA buffs to weigh in and hear what they say. :)Julie Sondra Deckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15755582329896793392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-41951218114634463942014-09-25T21:20:24.230-04:002014-09-25T21:20:24.230-04:00o-e So granted, I don't know that much about t...o-e So granted, I don't know that much about the market, but the friends I have that read NA specifically seek it out for the college setting. I'm sure there are NA books that don't take place in college, but I don't know if they're the norm? Or even if they're accepted by publishers often.<br /><br />I know I read the first three chapters or so of this book (and...then I think I forgot to email you the feedback @_@ and that is my regret) but I thought the voice was pretty adult-ish. I'm going off memory, but it's what I remember o-e<br /><br />You should totes give it to your agent though 8D I'd love to finally read the book in full >.>Darth Lolitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18042975826918171575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8793202434796167753.post-24707866809437215262014-09-25T20:19:41.852-04:002014-09-25T20:19:41.852-04:00My understanding is that NA is still a very small ...My understanding is that NA is still a very small market segment. Also, you have a word count at 100K. For these two reasons, I'd brand as adult SF. Dan Koboldthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09836750989342667229noreply@blogger.com