YA LGBT Books discussion
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The Future of this Group
I'm the same as you Lori, I don't read enough of them to do anything with it. Have you talked to Thorny about it, he might be interested.
Another group I'm in someone made a facebook page for it and I've tweeted about it a few times. Also discussions about sex on YA is always a good topic. How much is too much, should it be in there at all? stuff like that. A few weeks ago twitter was in a whirlwind over two authors who said an agent said he/she would represent them but only if they made the gay character straight or cut him. A discussion about needing gay characters might be good too.
Is there some free way for a group to advertise on Goodreads? To increase the membership. I wonder if gay teens are reluctant to join because their friends will see that they are in this group? Something to consider.
I'm sorry I'm not very active in this group:-(
I promise I'll start to comment more, and also participate the book of the month readings.
I join this group to learn more about M/M YA books, and I add many books, I saw here mentioned.
I think the only thing I would like to see here is interview with the M/M YA writers. Maybe that could be done? I saw some, so it could be something to add, like I saw in some groups.
Example:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
(it's allowed to add link to other group? It's just to give an example, of a "meet the author" chat thing I'm trying to suggest)
It's not like self promotion, already here, but more like the writer is there, in an specific day and hour, and well, everyone have fun talking at the same time
:-)
Patricia wrote: "Another group I'm in someone made a facebook page for it and I've tweeted about it a few times. Also discussions about sex on YA is always a good topic. How much is too much, should it be in there ..."I hope those authors told that agent where he could go!
Scylar wrote: "I hope those authors told that agent where he could go! "
They didn't take the offer, but I think they were polite about it. They never said any names. Then a claim came out that the agent in question never suggested what the authors claimed, but admitted it was suggested there were too many pov and should cut some, including the gay character's. It turned into a bit of fiasco. lol
Also, is there a way to organize the threads? There's a lot and it's a little daunting and overwhelming for newbies (like me.) Is there a way to move dead threads? Give it a clean start look and try to build discussion up from scratch?
Patricia wrote: "Another group I'm in someone made a facebook page for it and I've tweeted about it a few times. Also discussions about sex on YA is always a good topic. How much is too much, should it be in there ..."Thank you for the suggestions Patricia. Both of those topics have already been discussed here. Explicit content in books - how much is TMI? and Authors Say Agents Try to “Straighten” Gay Characters in YA
I try and think of topics that I think may be of interest to the group members. Sometimes they generate lots of discussion, sometimes they don't.
Scylar wrote: "Is there some free way for a group to advertise on Goodreads? To increase the membership. I wonder if gay teens are reluctant to join because their friends will see that they are in this group? Som..."This group was one of the "Featured" groups on the GR group homepage and we did get several new members. It's not the number of members that is the issue, it's the lack of participation. As a moderator, part of the job is, or should be, sparking discussion. That's why I'm looking for another moderator who really has the time to try and get things moving again.
I only became a member for moral support. I'm not a teen, and my books are hardly YA. But I want to help this group, because I think there's a real need for it.1. Don't give up too soon. This group hasn't been active that long, and at the end of the year a lot of young people will be getting Kindles.
2. The group should promote itself more.
I'm not that versed in social media, but Twitter is very good for getting the word out.
a) Somebody should write a good promotional tweet of about 120 characters
b) choose good hashtags
c) ask the members of the M/M-romance group to retweet to their followers. Don't forget a link to the group. I would certainly do that, and I know some of my followers will retweet my tweet.
d) rinse and repeat (twice a week or so)
I'm rubbish at social media in general, so my lack of participation is partly due to the fact that I forget to sign in... I wonder if we might broaden the focus of the group a bit to include books about teens who are lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, questioning...in other words, all those other letters in what I've seen occasionally called the QUILTBAG. I'm not sure that there are as many YA books in the M/M romance genre as there are adult books, but there are definitely a lot of YA books in which the characters aren't purely straight.
I write YA under this name and romance under a different name, including some M/M romance and some YA with GLBTQ characters. I'd love to see more interaction on this group. I'm as rubbish at managing things as I am at remembering to use social media, but I'd definitely be willing to help with discussions and things about YA. I just can't commit to being a moderator.
I will retweet you Andrew :-)it's a good idea :-)
Patricia wrote: "Also, is there a way to organize the threads? There's a lot and it's a little daunting and overwhelming for newbies (like me.) Is there a way to move dead threads? Give it a clean start look and tr..."Yes, I can move the inactive threads to the Dead Threads folder but there really aren't that many threads in this group, only 53 which is nothing if you compare that to the M/M Romance group.
I don't have time to be a full-time moderator, but I'd be more than happy to lend a hand. If you guys want to do some interviews/Q&As with YA MM authors, I'm sure I can arrange a few of them.
Andrew wrote: "I only became a member for moral support. I'm not a teen, and my books are hardly YA. But I want to help this group, because I think there's a real need for it.1. Don't give up too soon. This gro..."
Thanks Andrew. We do appreciate your moral support :)
Getting more members might help but if all we get are those that like to stay in the background and lurk, which is usually about 80%, then we still have the problem of no real discussions going on.
Ooh, chats! Why not put together some chats with authors who write M/M or other GLBTQ books? The authors would advertise those, and even if you bring in authors who aren't members of the group they might join or might bring in new members.I wouldn't mind doing a chat or a Q&A; I love talking about myself. LOL
I'll talk to some teens I know who might be interested in joining the group as well...
Jo wrote: "I'm rubbish at social media in general, so my lack of participation is partly due to the fact that I forget to sign in... I wonder if we might broaden the focus of the group a bit to include book..."
Thanks Jo. This group was started by a 15 year old boy who reads M/M Romance. I don't think I'm at liberty to change his vision to include say F/F. I do think some of the books on our bookshelf include transgender and questioning teens though.
Jo wrote: "Ooh, chats! Why not put together some chats with authors who write M/M or other GLBTQ books? The authors would advertise those, and even if you bring in authors who aren't members of the group they..."YEY!
Great... I love chats :-) and I'm always participating of group chats, that's why I propose it :-)
Moderatrix Lori wrote: "Getting more members might help but if all we get are those that like to stay in the background and lurk, which is usually about 80%, then we still have the problem of no real discussions going on. "Mathematics, Lori. :)
1) That is always the case.
2) It only means you need 100 members to get 20 active ones.
Don't forget that it can mean a lot to people to be able to follow a group like this from the privacy of their computer in terms of support, not feeling alone in the world, not feeling like a freak and so on. And eventually they might become more active.
I joined for moral support also and wish I could be more active. I hate to see the group fall though. It seems very needed.
Ack! Now I feel like I've shot down everyone's suggestions and I apologize for that. I do have tons of experience moderating a very large, very active group here on GR so I kind of know from experience, what works and what doesn't. It's member participation and a really dedicated moderator with lots of fresh ideas that is going to make this group flourish. I can set up author Q&A's (thanks Ralph) and I know someone that will help with reading challenges. But I don't want to invite authors here if nobody is going to participate. That's embarrassing! So, unless you tell me what you want and that you will participate, it's kind of tough to know what to do.
Lori, ah, okay. I wasn't aware of how the group started. That makes sense. If there's some acknowledgement of other groups, that addresses my thought. Was the group's name also the boy's idea? I wonder--I taught high school for a while and have two teens with a lot of friends who hang out here, so this line of thought is based on that--whether some teens are holding back from joining the group because it has "romance" in the name. (I have a couple of books coming from Featherweight eventually--well, one definitely and one under consideration--with gay main characters, but I definitely wouldn't call them romance...)Chats can be fun :) And I think authors are always looking for ways to connect with their teenage readers; it seems like a lot of chats end up being authors chatting with each other instead of with readers. Chatting here, it seems like authors would be more likely to encounter their target audience.
Andrew, the twitter idea is great and I know there is a #gayYA hashtag that is used for a weekly chat. Plus #LGBTQ is one I use when I need to tweet that's related to that topic. Could start our own hashtag. #yammrom? lolLori, OMG the M/M group boogles my mind w/ all the topics. I never know where to go. LOL
And if you're going to do chats, I'd love to be one of the authors chatting...
Andrew wrote: "Moderatrix Lori wrote: "Getting more members might help but if all we get are those that like to stay in the background and lurk, which is usually about 80%, then we still have the problem of no r..."I see your point Andrew. Still need a moderator to take the bull by the horns. The big group is a full time job for me, on top of the full time job that pays the bills, and my real life activities.
Keep the suggestions coming though and maybe somebody will want to take on the job.
Jo wrote: "And if you're going to do chats, I'd love to be one of the authors chatting..."Me too. ^^
Hey, Lori. I feel I cannot be a moderator since I have such long, odd hours at work without access to computer. But I will surely start helping any way I can. I love the Y/A m/m genre. It consists mostly of coming of age stories, and I believe many more people would really enjoy these stories, even straight people. I will start participating here much more. LEt's not let it die out. Bring on the reading challenges and anything else that would help. I am new here to both groups, and my Kindle should be in my possession within couple weeks. THen I am ready to read/discuss the Y/A genre at the expense of waiting to read the adult stuff.
@Patricia: #yammrom sounds yummy, but I was thinking we should also use already popular hashtags. #gayYA seems very good.@Lori: FYI, the 80/20 rule also applies to boyfriends.
Jo wrote: "Lori, ah, okay. I wasn't aware of how the group started. That makes sense. If there's some acknowledgement of other groups, that addresses my thought. Was the group's name also the boy's idea? I wo..."Yes, the title was selected by Jean-pierre. He tried to join the adult group but was too young so I suggested he start his own group. I offered to help but at the time I didn't know he was going to disappear. I personally have no interest in anything other than M/M romance but if another mod wants to broaden the scope, then I'm fine with that. This isn't "my" group. I'm just trying to help it get off the ground.
Jo wrote: "Lori, ah, okay. I wasn't aware of how the group started. That makes sense. If there's some acknowledgement of other groups, that addresses my thought. Was the group's name also the boy's idea? I wo..."I wonder if we'd attract more members and participation if we moved the focus from just YA M/M Romance to Gay YA books in general. Romance stories would still fall under that umbrella, but they wouldn't have to be the focus of the group.
I promise I'll participate, reading the book before, to ask many questionsbeware writers! ;-)
My problem is always the timezone, but I don't care. I can be up early (or late) to chat with USA timezone :-)
Here I go with the negative thing again but...chats kind of scare me because of the minors in this group. It's much easier for me to control the content here where I can delete posts. In a chat room, especially if it's busy, it makes it much more difficult to control what's being discussed. I believe it's the parents place to monitor their children's internet activity but I would hate it if a group sponsored chat resulted in a member getting involved in anything inappropriate for their age or worse yet, dangerous. We could have members as young as 13 in this group.
Ralph wrote: "I wonder if we'd attract more members and participation if we moved the focus from just YA M/M Romance to Gay YA books in general. Romance stories would still fall under that umbrella, but they wouldn't have to be the focus of the group..."If a new mod comes on board and wants to do that, I'm fine with it.
Moderatrix Lori wrote: "Here I go with the negative thing again but...chats kind of scare me because of the minors in this group. It's much easier for me to control the content here where I can delete posts. In a chat r..."With the chatrooms, I would make sure I'm there and I can monitor the chat making sure we don't veer off into inappropriate subjects. Since I'm the chatroom owner I have the power to kick people out if they're causing trouble. I can also find someone else who's familiar with IRC to help moderate the chats during our scheduled chats.
Moderatrix Lori wrote: "Thanks Jo. This group was started by a 15 year old boy who reads M/M Romance. I don't think I'm at liberty to change his vision to include say F/F. I do think some of the books on our bookshelf include transgender and questioning teens though."Two questions:
1. Can we ask the 15 year old boy what he thinks or is he gone?
2. Would it be better to expand the vision or see the group die altogether?
I do think part of the problem might be too narrow a focus, both on the M/M and Romance criteria. There aren't as many YA books that fit that description as there are adult books, nor as large a market, so it's not fair to compare the activity in the two groups. Expanding the group to include all queer-friendly YA fiction might just be the way to go to get some more activity. A strictly M/M Romance group could break away at a later time if it becomes too busy here.
Moderatrix Lori wrote: "Here I go with the negative thing again but...chats kind of scare me because of the minors in this group. It's much easier for me to control the content here where I can delete posts. In a chat r..."And you see why you're Mamacita? Important point, Lori. Posting of questions with authors posting answers is better for all.
Ralph wrote: "Jo wrote: "Lori, ah, okay. I wasn't aware of how the group started. That makes sense. If there's some acknowledgement of other groups, that addresses my thought. Was the group's name also the boy's..."Seems like a good idea. WHat exactly is the definition of M/M romance? What are the characteristics? I would have said any story where two guys fall in love.
Moderatrix Lori wrote: "Here I go with the negative thing again but...chats kind of scare me because of the minors in this group. It's much easier for me to control the content here where I can delete posts. In a chat r..."I wouldn't feel bad about sounding negative. You bring up good points that need thinking about. Just think of yourself as the devil's advocate (which sounds cool ^_~)
Has this group been prominently promoted at the M/M Romance group? Or mentioned in a general YA books group (if Goodreads has one)? It should be.And Ibis3 makes an excellent point: "Expanding the group to include all queer-friendly YA fiction might just be the way to go to get some more activity. A strictly M/M Romance group could break away at a later time if it becomes too busy here."
Ibis3 wrote: "Two questions:1. Can we ask the 15 year old boy what he thinks or is he gone?
2. Would it be better to expand the vision or see the group die altogether?.."
Jean-Pierre is still the owner and member of the group so he's still around but has not been active in Goodreads since August. At this point, I doubt he cares what is done with this group.
If there is someone who wants to take over the group, then I would be happy to step aside and let them have full control to make any changes they want to. I've been trying to do that for awhile now :)
Scylar wrote: "Seems like a good idea. WHat exactly is the definition of M/M romance? What are the characteristics? I would have said any story where two guys fall in love..."In order for a book to be considered "romance" it should have a happy ever after or happy for now ending. The book's focus should be on the relationship between the two main characters.
We should have a thread where each member can post one suggestion for their recommendation for a new member's first Y/A M/M book. What about challenges to the authors to write a short story based on criteria given by the members like you did over in adult group. I'm all in.
K.Z. wrote: "Has this group been prominently promoted at the M/M Romance group? Or mentioned in a general YA books group (if Goodreads has one)? It should be.And Ibis3 makes an excellent point: "Expanding the..."
I got permission from the moderators of the two biggest YA groups on Goodreads to post about this group in their groups. I did that back in July I think.
Again, I have no issue with anyone who wants to change the focus and direction of this group. It just won't be me :)
Moderatrix Lori wrote: "Ibis3 wrote: "Two questions:1. Can we ask the 15 year old boy what he thinks or is he gone?
2. Would it be better to expand the vision or see the group die altogether?.."
Jean-Pierre is still the..."
Oh, but please don't abandon us Mamacita!
Scylar wrote: "We should have a thread where each member can post one suggestion for their recommendation for a new member's first Y/A M/M book. What about challenges to the author's to write a short story based..."Good suggestions Scy. The authors stories are a lot of work. At least the way we did it in the adult group. Each story was emailed to a moderator and then proof-read and edited for formatting, posted to the group based on a carefully controlled schedule, etc... It's a lot of fun and I'd love to see something like it done here. Anyone want to take on that project?
I'm not going to abandon the group Scy. I just don't have the time to give it the attention it deserves. It weighs on me. Like a project on my To-Do list that I never get to.
Moderatrix Lori wrote: The authors stories are a lot of work. At least the way we did it in the adult group. Each story was emailed to a moderator and then proof-read and edited for formatting, posted to the group based on a carefully controlled schedule, etc... It's a lot of fun and I'd love to see something like it done here. Anyone want to take on that project? i>
Hey, perhaps that is something I could do. Yes, I will take that on. It seems like something I could handle on my type of work schedule. You will have to give me lots of advice on how to tackle it. If you need to make me a Special Moderator just to handle this job, then go for it. But I can't be a standard Moderator since I don't always have internet access. Just for special projects like this.
Perhaps a Christmas themed project like you guys did over there in adult side? GOtta go. WIll check back here tonight.
Ralph wrote: "I wonder if we'd attract more members and participation if we moved the focus from just YA M/M Romance to Gay YA books in general. Romance stories would still fall under that umbrella, but they wouldn't have to be the focus of the group." That's exactly what I was thinking.
What would like to see in the group?
Are you interested in reading challenges?
Is there anything in other groups that you'd like to see us do in this one?
I'm open to suggestions so please let me know.