One cannot speak of YA without speaking of its readers and their incredible impact on our understanding of the category. YA, created with the intention of pleasing a certain demographic of consumers, is one of the most reader-driven markets in publishing.

Episode 11: Why We Can’t Talk About YA Without Its Readers

In this episode, I give YA readers by the numbers. These staggering figures point to the incredible power of YA to draw in hordes of readers. I also discuss some of the ironies of YA readership.
Citations:
Curcic, Dimitrije. “Young Adult Book Sales.” WordsRated, 22 Dec. 2021, https://wordsrated.com/young-adult-book-sales/.

“New Study: 55% of Ya Books Bought by Adults.” PublishersWeekly.com, 13 Sept. 2012, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/53937-new-study-55-of-ya-books-bought-by-adults.html.

Radway, Janice. “READING THE ROMANCE.” Media Studies: A Reader, edited by Sue Thornham et al., Edinburgh University Press, 2009, pp. 440–50, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctvxcrv1h.52.

Episode 12: Fan Communities, Genre Fiction and More with Racquel Nassor

On today’s episode of What Is YA Anyway? I welcome YA reader Racquel Nassor. Racquel has been an avid YA reader since she, herself, was a young adult. She works as a contributing writer for BookRiot and has experience in the publishing field, which she shares in this conversation. A fellow English graduate student, Racquel and I talk about why it’s important to take YA seriously and how to incorporate these books into the academic conversation.

Episode 13: The YA Industry with Julia Guilardi

On this episode of What Is YA Anyway? I speak with Julia, an Editor in the Young Adult category at BookBub. As an Editor, Julia gets a firsthand look into what is trending in YA. She brings with her a host of industry knowledge that’s fascinating to hear. In addition, we chat about her favorite YA books, what makes YA popular, and where the industry is headed.

Episode 14: YA Readers on Social Media with Lisa Parkin

On this episode of What Is YA Anyway? I speak with Lisa Parkin, who runs @uppercaseya on Instagram. She talks about what readers are loving today, why they love YA, and trends she is noticing in the field. We also discuss why she got into YA and why she returns to these books time and time again.

Head to Chapter Five: The Future.