Money, Meet Mouth

Over at Andrea Brown agent Mary Kole's Kidlit blog, she answered a question about whether publishers are looking for boy-focused material.  Her short answer is that boy books without girl appeal are a tough sell.  Her article is honest and blunt.  No one is really doing anything.  Publishers aren't really doing anything.  They're waiting for the boy market to explode the way the girl market has.

I'm not going to talk about boys not reading.  Boys are reading.  Maybe more than ever before.  Andrew Smith talks about this at length at his blog.  Boys want to read.  They're just not reading YA.  Why?  Because YA is a pretty hostile environment for a lot of guys.

What I'm bothered by is that publishers--who are slowly becoming irrelevant in this new marketplace--seem to be content to just let half of their readership slip between their fingers.  Sure, everyone once-in-a-while there's a book that appeals to them.  THE HUNGER GAMES, HARRY POTTER, PERCY JACKSON.  But for the most part, publishers have given up on boys.  They've conceded half of their readership to graphic novels and video games and adult books and on-line porn.  Okay, well YA never had much chance against that last one.

But imagine if Apple simply gave up half of its customer base.  Imagine if they said, "Well, businesses aren't really buying Apple products, so we're just going to pretend that business customers don't exist."  As someone who uses Apple products, I can tell you that their business segment wasn't performing the way they wanted.  They stopped spending the dollars on what wasn't working, and found new approaches.  They found a better entry point into the market.  The iPhone and iPad helped Apple gain a foothold in the business sector.

But publishers have given up.  They occasionally publish boy books, occasionally take risks, but for the most part, they don't.  And I get that publishing is a business.  But you've got to spend money to make money.  You've got to put your money where your mouth is.

So here are some things publishers could do to lure boys back to YA:

1.  Advertise where the boys are.  This one is simple but probably costly.  However, you can't expect boys to buy your books if they don't know you exist.  Buy ads in comic books, video games, and promote heavily at conventions. A lot of what makes something popular is word-of-mouth, but that initial spark has got to begin somewhere.

2.  Do more multi-format crossovers.  Publish graphic novels along with the books.  Or limited run comics as a run up to the publication of the book.  Do more interactive internet puzzle games to get people involved.  Get involved with music.  Stop making lame book trailers and make a kick-ass music video for a book.  Create games out of books.  But stop thinking so linearly.

3.  Publish books with multiple covers.  There are legitimate books out there that girls are reading that would definitely appeal to boys, but the covers are a major non-starter.  The answer isn't gender neutral covers either.  From experience, I know that girls are often put off by a cover that's too boyish.  And boys are put off by one that's too girly.  So, try multiple covers.

4.  Embrace gender differences.  I'm not talking about boys love guns and girls love dolls.  There's a huge difference between stereotypes and differences.  And boys and girls ARE different, whether it's PC to admit it or not.  Embrace those differences and create books that embrace them too.  Want more boys to get excited about THE HUNGER GAMES movie?  How about a comic book from Peeta's POV from his time in the games? Better yet, where's that first person shooter video game?  I'd play a HUNGER GAMES tie-in game on my PS3.

5.  Start an imprint dedicated to books aimed at guys.  This one might be reaching some, but I don't think so.  There precedence for it, in fact.  DC Comics created an imprint called Minx in 2007 to try to lure teenage girls into the graphic novel market.  Sure, it was a failure, but the titles created were quality titles that were well reviewed.  A lot of the failure was pinned to the fact that they weren't able to get the comics shelved in the YA section of the bookstore.  The point is that DC recognized that there was a huge untapped market out there, and they went for it.  Publishers need to do the same.

6.  Create more crossover titles.  Forget the whole YA title altogether.  Stop trying to force boys to come to you, and go to boys.  Get boy oriented books shelved where boys will find them.  Sci-fi and fantasy shelves are always a great spot for a book that won't fit in.  You'll never sell a book if your audience can't find it.  So find them instead of making them find you.

The point is that publishers can't sit on their assed and then claim that boys aren't reading.  I don't buy it.  Boys are out there and they're reading.  But if you want them to read your books, you've got to go get them.

Genre Conventions and Expectations

Predictable is a four letter word.

We like the unexpected (in most cases...in surgery or during commercial airline flights, not so much).  One of my favorite roller coasters is The Hulk ride at Islands of Adventure.  It looks like a regular roller coaster.  It begins with the climb, has the descent, the loops.  You look at it from the line and think it's just a regular green roller coaster.  But it's got a surprise.  Something unexpected.  It's still a roller coaster.  It still scares the crap out of you.  It still has all the regular things coasters have, but the touch of the unexpected makes it feel new and exciting, like nothing else that's come before.

Books are the same way.  They have to balance a reader's expectations of the genre conventions with doing the unexpected.  Follow the conventions too closely and you become predictable.  Stray from them, and you upset people who bought your fantasy novel hoping to see the hero triumph at the end.

NICK & NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST is a wonderful contemporary YA romance that gives people exactly what they want in an unconventional way.  You know that the two main characters are going to end up together at the end.  You know that they'll meet, fall in like, fall out of like, fall into lust, have a fight, make up, and wind up together at the end.  You know that before turning the first page.  You expect that.  And frankly, you'd probably be upset if that didn't happen.

What makes that book so much fun is the unexpected ways in which it happens.  Much like the Hulk ride, NICK & NORAH is predictable in an unexpected way.

The truth is that if you're writing a romance, we know the main couple will end up together.  If you're writing a mystery, we know your detective will solve the case.  If you're writing a dystopian, we know your heroine will outwit the government.  Anything else would probably be unsatisfying.  But that doesn't mean that the ride should be predictable.

Blog Chain - Critters

See, told you I could stay away long.  Here we are, back for another round of the blog chain :)  This round was brought to you by caffeine, homemade cookies, and the always wonderful Sarah, who wants to know:

Do you work with critique partners? How did you find your crit pals, and what influence have they had on your work?

Writing is a solitary task.  That's what people always tell you.  And for the most part, they're right.  But sometimes, you have to let other people in.  At least, I do anyway.  I have vision, when I write.  I can clearly see in my head what I want my book to be, what I want it to say, to mean.  And what I get on paper, doesn't always match what's in my head.  Only, because we human beings are masters of self-deception, my wily brain fills in those gaps between what I wrote and what I mean, leading me to believe I have created the ultimate work of staggering genius!

That's where my awesome peeps come in.  I don't have a dedicated writing group.  The only person who I can always count on to read my stuff is my best friend Rach.  I'm pretty sure I'm the reason her son started watching Blue's Clues.  She doesn't read as a writer, but as a reader, and I can always count on her to prop up my ego when it needs it, and to gently call me out for the things that suck.  She's my cheerleader.  And when I write, she is the one person I think about.  She's my ultimate reader.  It's her, that I want to impress.

But I also have a network of amazing writer friends.  Fellow chainer, Tenner, and author Margie.  She's not only a fantastic critique partner, but also a great friend.  She's got a wonderful eye for pointing out things that I'd never see otherwise.    I never let too many people read early drafts, but I usually try to get one totally subjective opinion.  A reader who isn't used to my writing, who can see things no one else will.

I think that without crit partners, my books wouldn't be anywhere near where they are.  They help me peel away the parts of my books that don't work, and find the parts that do.  Without them, I'd be lost.

If you haven't already, head on back and read how Margie feels about Crit partners, and then start at the beginning and catch up on everyone else!

Blog Hiatus

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines.   I haz them.

I'm taking most of the rest of the year off of blogging.  Not just because I'm busy, but because I fear I've run out of things to say.  I'll still post with the Blog Chain, because they always give me awesome things to talk about, and I'll still post about my favorite books, but for now, I'm taking time off.

Have a picture of my dogs.

STICK

Tuesday, STICK by Andrew Smith comes out.  Tuesday can't come quickly enough.

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of STICK.  If you've been reading the blog then you know that I'm an Andrew Smith superfan.  Seriously, when he comes down to Miami for the book festival, I may just go all Misery on him.

Here's the thing about STICK.  It's not THE MARBURY LENS (which is getting a sequel next year called PASSENGER...).  Not even close.  It's a quiet, often sweet tale about a young boy named Stark McClellan, nicknamed Stick.  He's got a deformed ear, and it's that deformity that forms the basis for the unusual structure of this book.  Lines of this book as scattered around the page as if Smith typed them up, cut them out, and then scattered them about for kicks.  Initially, I was annoyed.  But as I continued reading, and the rhythm of the words began to take shape in my head, I was blown away.  Not only does Andrew show us what it's like to be Stick, but he lets us hear what it's like to be Stick as well.  It's an amazing feat and I don't mind admitting that I'm jealous for not thinking of it.  But this book isn't THE MARBURY LENS...and that's okay, because it's heart-wrenchingly spectacular all on its own.

Aside from the brilliant structure, st's the relationship between Stick and his older brother Bosten, who happens to be gay, that makes this book so damned amazing.  The brothers form a united front against the abuse inflicted upon them by their parents.  They lean on each other and rely on each other that reminds me in all the best ways of the brotherly relationships in Hannah Moskowitz's books.

Stick, himself, is a bit naive, is bullied, and talks about boners a lot.  Especially when he's around girls.  One girl in particular.  But it hardly ever crosses over into crass or vulgar territory.  It's the language of a thirteen year-old boy trying to describe his feelings and the world he lives in.  It's not easy, and Smith does an outstanding job channeling his inner horny budding teenager.

There were a couple of parts at the end that felt slightly rushed and a little too "happy-ending" to me, but I honestly don't think anything else would have sufficed for young Stick.  He deserved a happy ending; by the ending, he'd earned it.  So I don't begrudge him his happy ending.

Like I said before, I'm a huge fan of Andrew Smith's work.  I think he's one of the best writers working today.  But STICK will hold a special place in my book collection.  If it doesn't make you tear up a little, then you're probably dead...

Pick it up Tuesday.