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Love scene in a YA series?
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Elizabeth,It seems to me you have answered your question when you say that given the character and his situation this was the only way to write it.
So the question is more from a publishing point of view. Is it or is it not a YA book?
Generally speaking if the protagonist is older than 19, the book is not YA. That doesn't mean that teens won't read it but it will not be marketed as YA.
You say that it stands on its own so that won't be a problem.
My two cents.
Carmen
Author of Two Moon Princess
Thank you Carmen. I guess my biggest concern is because it's part of a series that started YA will I be alienating those readers with this NOT YA book... yes they are both over 20 btw.
Thanks again for your input.
Eli
Your publisher will be the best qualified to answer this. Has the publisher already bought the sequel? If so, the marketing department will have some interest in its placement genre-wise. Good luck, Elizabeth.
Thanks Mary, I should've pointed out I'm self published, so uh yeah, the publisher is still having second thoughts. lol =)
Eli
*chuckling* Yeah, if you argue with your publisher and you're self published, people with think you're crazy.In my opinion, if the first book of a series is YA and has been marketed as YA at any point, the entire series needs to remain true to that.
I'm not certain the best way to still write what you want to write, because I believe that you truly need to remain true to what you are enjoying. Perhaps you could rename the first book and series if you haven't developed a large following? I know that's not easy to contemplate.
I think you should always stay true to your characters. If not, than the reality that the novels are fiction will cause the readers to loose interest. But I do think that you should stay with YA books. It would be confusing if you had 1 book in YA and another in adult from the same series. Although, if the book really seems too grown up for YA readers, then maybe it would be the best idea.
I think the scenes are needed if the character is to be truly displayed but whether or not it should be on the YA shelves I'm still thinking.
Sorry I've been so slow to respond to this. I guess I'm still not really good at this good reads thing. I log in here and never see anything that pops out at me saying I have a new comment or anything. Maybe I do and I'm not looking in the right place. Very good points to thinkn about, John and Xandy. I'm all over the place with this now. No I don't have a big following by any stretch of the imagination. lol But now I'm wondering, just because in the first book they are teens is it really a YA? I mean there are a lot of curse words (teen boys whatta ya gonna do. =/ ) There is a love scene, albeit a closed door one but it's there. And birth control is discussed in earlier chapters after some heavy petting scenes. It's a more mature YA. *sigh*... Maybe I don't have to call it a series since theyre all stand alone? The third one is going to be about the oldest brother!....decisions.. decisions.
Honestly, it all boils down to what you want to write. Another option is to put a disclaimer that reads something like:"The first book in this series was largely written with young adults in mind. The second book evolved into more mature matter and may not be appropriate for those of more tender years. Please keep this in mind when beginning the story."
Stories tend to take the writer where they want to go and it can be just as fun for the author to see what happens next as it can be for the reader. :)
Why don't you just write the books that are in you? Quit worrying about anything else.I can say that if you have swear words stronger than dammit in your first book, it's not really YA.
Just write the books that are in you. Make them the best they can possibly be and the market will determine where they go, later, when they're finished.
Mari
Yeah, I'm thinking the disclaimer thing is the best way to go. Also I think I start obsessing about the details like this for example when I hit a bump in the story and I'm not sure how to work it out. My way of procrastinating. Focus on other non-issues. lolYou've all been very helpful thanks so much. I was thinking the disclaimer thing all along but I kept worrying it wouldn't be enough. And Yes, M.L. the first book does have words much stronger than dammit. So your comment makes me feel better. =)
I'll chime in with those who say that if a series starts out YA, it should stay YA. In the same sense, I would think it truly bizarre if volume 1 in a series was a pleasant romance, and volume 2 was a gruesome zombie horror story. Etc. If you want to switch to a different genre, then start a new series. Otherwise, your readers will feel cheated. They'll feel like they bought a book expecting it to be one thing, but then it turned out to be something totally different. When you write the third book in the series, who will your audience be? Will you expect the teen readers to come back? Will you stay with the adult audience? Etc.
But I'm now working on the second. This one is about the older brother. He's in college, in his twenties and it takes place several years later. Problem is I set myself up in the first book. While the first brother was very intense I literally introduced this one as being just like him X3. I'm halfway through it and I've written a couple of very HOT love scenes. His personality absolutely called for it. I felt the readers would be waiting for it. But now that I'm past them I'm thinking WAIT A MINUTE. More than likely who ever reads the first book and enjoys it will want to read the second and the first one is very much a YA book. So what to do?
Does anyone know if there is any type of series similar to what I'm describing? Or is it NOT done? =/ The book DOES stand alone, so you don't NEED to have read the first.