Beta Reader Group discussion
Writing Advice & Discussion
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Can a prequel series be a diff age category/What counts as YA?
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Does the prequel have any mature themes/material in it? I think there's a list online that tells you what material in a book is classed as Adult/YA. I would take all of the obvious things into consideration such as graphic violence, abuse and all that nasty stuff.
I'd keep the YA age category on the OG book because that's what it is (your beta readers said the same thing) and if the new book has adult themes/material in it then set the age category appropriately. I wouldn't set the YA book as Adult if there is no adult material in it, some people specificially stay away from YA books because they prefer a more mature read.
If your reader's are mainly YA then they might not be able to read the new prequel because it has adult material in it, it's unlikely they won't be able to get their hands on it - but it's something to think about though. If your target readers/genre is YA then I suggest sticking to writing material that a YA can read, if you're writing for a more mature reader then go crazy with it lol
Good luck with everything : )
Sarah wrote: "Does the prequel have any mature themes/material in it? I think there's a list online that tells you what material in a book is classed as Adult/YA. I would take all of the obvious things into co..."
I don't really have anything graphic in either series, or at least I don't plan to. The OG series has past abuse/torture described but none of my betas ever commented on it being too mature or anything. I also wouldn't really put anything too mature in the prequel either
like a sex scene or anything because I doubt I could write it well enough. However, from my understanding publishers differentiate adult and YA more by the ages of the main characters rather than the themes, so it has me a little worried about how I would go about marketing it.
It's a tough one, what to do.......If the beta's are saying it's YA then I'd stick with that if majority have came back with that feedback, I'd maybe see what feedback the beta reader's give you back on the prequel. Someone who mainly reads YA, if something is there that they'd normally never come across in the YA genre they'll tell you.
Light descriptions/soft of torture/abuse would be okay for YA, you've mentioned there won't be anything raunchy either. What do you feel as the writer? Would you want a teenager reading your book?
See what the betas say and go from there on the prequel. When it comes to marketing, good luck that's all I can say. It's a jungle out there, but as long as we writer's support one another we'll be okay.
Sarah wrote: "It's a tough one, what to do.......If the beta's are saying it's YA then I'd stick with that if majority have came back with that feedback, I'd maybe see what feedback the beta reader's give you ..."
I would definitely be okay with a teenager reading my books, even the ones I do plan on marketing as adult (characters are closer to 30 if not that but no raunchy or really graphic details, the the adult books would have an older voice to them) it's just a question of what would a publisher allow me to sell as YA because all I hear on the subject is that the characters' ages are the defining factor and less-so the content.
Why publishers decided that character ages matter more than the narrative voice or content I have no idea.
I think they try to match the character's age with the potential reader's age, it's more than likely that an adult would want to read adult material. I know there are many adults who read YA also, but I'm sure they also read more mature material also.If the main character's are in highschool for example a teenage reader would be best to target marketing wise, but if they are adults they will most likely be dealing with adult situations/experiences which would mean the best reader to market to would be adults.
That's my understanding anyway, I think you'd be safe marketing them as YA and the adult readers who also like reading YA will come across it.
It's a tricky one for sure, but you've said you're confident a teen could read the book, so I'd go with YA like I said before the adult readers that like that genre won't be put off by that. You'll get the best of both world's really, YA and Adult readers will have the option to read the book.
Sarah wrote: "I think they try to match the character's age with the potential reader's age, it's more than likely that an adult would want to read adult material. I know there are many adults who read YA also, ..."Thanks for the advice! It's much appreciated. I'm still a long way from querying the OG series and drafting the prequel (considering the OG series is 6 books which is a hard sell as a debut), but it's always good to have stuff like this in mind for down the road. It helps to figure out how to approach the writing before I start on it, ya know?
Yeah, you need to know who your target reader/genre is for sure! It helps so much when it comes to marketing like you said earlier, I think you'll be good with YA though.Good luck with the books and happy writing : )
Sarah wrote: "Yeah, you need to know who your target reader/genre is for sure! It helps so much when it comes to marketing like you said earlier, I think you'll be good with YA though.Good luck with the books ..."
Thanks! Good luck in your work too!
One problem, the OG series is YA but considering the prequel would take place during the parents' early-mid 20s it would be an adult series.
Another thing to know is that in the OG series the main characters are all between 18 and 20 years old and there is no sex involved and feedback from beta readers suggests that the series does read as YA so I figured this would be a YA series.
My question is, can the prequel series be in a different age category from the OG series or could the OG series be relabeled as adult even though it reads younger?