S. W. Raine

When I was at the Farmington Author & Book Festival two weeks ago, a few of the authors in our shared tent got into the discussion of New Adult fiction.

The YA author that spoke with the reader at her table defined New Adult as a term used to describe the level of spice in books. I excused myself and cut in, saying that wasn’t true and that it was based on age range. Apparently, everyone inside our shared tent had a different opinion on it. But now that I’ve looked into it, it’s a lot more complicated than that.

So what exactly is New Adult fiction?

According to Wikipedia, “New adult (NA) fiction is a developing genre of fiction with protagonists in the 18–29 age bracket.”

Simple enough, right? Even MasterClass says something similar: “New adult (NA) fiction refers to books written for an audience between the ages of eighteen and thirty. It falls between the categories of young adult (YA) fiction (books for readers between twelve and eighteen) and adult fiction (novels geared toward readers in their late twenties and older).”

This is always how I viewed New Adult—as an age bracket.

When I first marketed The Techno Mage and Rise of the Sky Pirate, I marketed it as New Adult. Why? Because my characters were older than those in YA fiction and younger than what some deem Adult fiction. But New Adult was still a relatively new term, and I wasn’t getting much bites with it. So when I first marketed The Elemental’s Guardian, I used the term Adult. Big mistake.

While I thought the term Adult fiction meant it was written for and marketed to adults with some mature themes or content, apparently the term Adult suffers from the same confusion as New Adult, in that some people use the term to describe sex, nudity, rape, or other sexually explicit behaviors. I was told that if I didn’t specify a book as being Middle-Grade or YA, then people assumed it automatically meant the adult age range.

How confusing.

So when I looked it up, there were just as many opinions on what New Adult meant as there were websites on Google’s search. Apparently, there are constant debates regarding its precise characteristics and scope:
– that it’s an age range
– that it tackles an array of themes and experiences
– that it explores more mature content and themes, like explicit language, sexual situations, and emotional complexities
– that it tackles various issues like identity, self-discovery, personal growth, and the challenges of transitioning into adulthood

And let’s not forget subjective and influencing factors like personal experiences, personal preferences, and cultural backgrounds. (This goes double for Adult fiction!)

Whew!

I’m not going to fight it. I’ll back off marketing my books with the terms “Adult” or “New Adult” until there’s a wider consensus (but I’ll still vouch for it being an age range in any type of discussion!). Until then, I’ll just keep marketing themes, tropes, settings, and all the other good stuff you’ve already come to know about my books.

Have you ever heard of the term New Adult? What’s your take on it? Let me know in the comments!

Raine