Writing and Publishing Books
for Young Adults
By Mary Kole
Mary Kole is a former literary agent, freelance editor, writing teacher, author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and IP developer for major publishers, with over a decade in the publishing industry.
Writing and publishing books for young adults is an incredibly exciting endeavor, but you also need to know what you’re doing with this competitive and quickly evolving market. When you’re creating books for young adults, the process involves specific guidelines and considerations that you should follow. From getting to know this precise audience to creating a robust idea and honing your voice, there’s a lot to consider. If you’re curious about writing YA books for young adults, read on.
Books for Young Adults: Creating A Compelling Idea
The best first step toward writing your books for young adults is coming up with an idea that’s both unique and captivating for your target audience. Start by thinking of what themes you would like to explore in your story—romance, adventure, mystery, thriller? What’s your tone? Are you looking at the darker side of life, or writing something uplifting? Make sure to check whether your idea is at all aligned with the current books for young adults market, which changes quite quickly because it’s more aligned with publishing trends. Check out the last year of YA New York Times bestsellers, for example, as well as the last few years of Printz winner and honors. (As a bonus, you might find some comp titles for your work when the time comes to pitch.)
Once you have a general topic, theme, genre, and tone in mind, start brainstorming characters and plotlines that fit within your idea. And remember to keep your story as relatable as possible to young readers. Dig deep to channel your inner teenager, and try to imagine what was important to you. (And remember: don’t try to write books for young adults to teach teens a lesson or make a point—moralizing in books will be immediately ignored.)
You should also take into consideration current trends in the YA market when creating your idea—what tropes and genres are popular right now? Is there a social justice element to the story you want to tell that will reflect the current times? Is there something new or different you could bring to the table that spins a familiar topic in a fresh direction? Asking yourself these questions will help ensure that your books for young adults stand out from all the rest.
Books for Young Adults: Writing Your Draft
Now comes the fun part—actually sitting down and writing! Before you begin putting words on paper, take some time to flesh out your ideas further by mapping out a detailed novel outline for each act and chapter of your project. This will take a lot of the thinking out of the drafting process, because you will already have a strong plan in place. Keep a focus on external conflict, then balance that with internal conflict for your character. Remember to keep the story progressing with action, scene, and dialogue. Once you have an outline ready, it’s time for the real work.
As you draft and flesh out your manuscript, pay attention to word count guidelines. Typically, books for young adults target readers ages fourteen-plus or sixteen-plus and range from 50,000 words (on the lower end) to 80,000 words (and up to 100,000 for fantasy, science fiction, and historical). Your protagonist’s age should hew close to your intended reader’s age (and the character shouldn’t be older than eighteen, as that would put you into the new adult category).
To get started writing books for young adults, or any other kind of audience, find a space where you can focus without distraction and set yourself achievable writing goals (for example, 500 words per day, one hour of writing, three times a week).
Make sure to keep track of any ideas or changes as they come up during this process, and copy them over to your outline so that you can play around with various changes at a hypothetical level before spending time writing in the wrong direction. When it comes time to revise, don’t be afraid to solicit feedback from friends, family members, beta readers, or even a freelance editor, who can give an honest opinion about what works and what doesn’t in your story. After all, being able to get and interpret writing notes is essential if you want your books for young adults to reach their full potential.
Books for Young Adults: Revising and Looking Ahead
Once you feel confident about the overall shape and structure of your manuscript, it’s time for revision! I recommend finalizing your structure, keeping a tight eye on plot, and building your progression of chapters and scenes. Make sure to also create a strong character arc for your protagonist, and remember that they will feel everything intensely. Make sure to add interiority and strong objectives to keep your character proactive. These are all points where many manuscripts fail, so if you can avoid these common books for young adults pitfalls … you’ll be moving through the revision process with confidence.
As you work on your project, you can research literary agents who specialize in YA fiction or attend writing conferences related specifically towards this category. The more you research the books for the young readers market and learn the key players, the easier it’ll be to prepare for submission.
Writing a book is no easy task. It requires research, dedication, creativity, resilience … the list of tools for writers goes on! With these consideration points, however, I hope you feel more prepared to pursue your books for young adults in today’s landscape … and any future marketplace.
Click here to purchase Writing Irresistible Kidlit, my book on fiction craft for MG and YA novels, out from Writer's Digest Books. This will show you my writing craft philosophy and give you lots of valuable advice, including tips for the novel revision process and self-editing. There are over 35 example novels cited and discussed throughout. It’s a valuable resource for any writer’s toolkit.