Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Landing a Publishing Deal by Regina Brooks

From the Publisher

From a top young adult literary agent, the only guide on how to write for young adults

With an 87 percent increase in the number of titles published in the last two years, the young adult market is one of the healthiest segments in the industry. Despite this, little has been written to help authors hone their craft to truly connect with this audience. Writing Great Books for Young Adults gives writers the advice they need to tap this incredible market.

Topics covered include:

• Listening to the voices of youth
• Meeting your young protagonist
• Developing a writing style
• Constructing plots
• Trying on points of view

Agent Regina Brooks has developed award-winning authors across the YA genre, including a Coretta Scott King winner. She attends more than 20 conferences each year, meeting with authors and teaching.

Library Journal

Experienced literary agent Brooks offers targeted advice for potential authors of young adult fiction. Though her general suggestions regarding plot, characters, and point of view may be found in many standard fiction-writing guides, Brooks's knowledge of the 12- to 18-year-old market adds meaningful value. As if following her recommendation to maintain a brisk pace in YA books, she moves through her topics quickly; plot and dialog are given the most page space, while the publishing process is given only cursory coverage. VERDICT Brooks offers writers who are serious about attracting teen readers solid guidance through the creation process of writing YA fiction. Writers looking for detailed information about the steps that follow the manuscript's completion will likely want to supplement this title with others, such as Michael Larsen's How To Get a Literary Agent or Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato's Thinking Like Your Editor.—Stacey Rae Brownlie, Lititz P.L., PA

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