What Is New Adult Fiction?

How's it going lurkers? For years, I have been trying to figure out which age demographic my short stories would be labeled. Since the time I was 17, I've written short stories about characters close to my age and a little older. 

Even when I was taking Creative Writing at UW-Parkside and Carthage College, during the early 21st Century, I mostly wrote about characters ages 18 to 20-something years old. 

Short stories I handwrote over these last 4 years have some characters in their early 30's, now that I AM in my early 30's.

Throughout these last 10-15 years or maybe longer, I had never heard of a particular category for adults younger than their 40's. These last several years, I have read and heard about Young Adult Fiction and assumed, that it was actually for "young adults" 18-30-something years old.

Then, I recently discovered that Young Adult Fiction is REALLY meant for preteens to teenagers 12-17. That is NOT  what a young adult is by any means!

How are 6th-12th graders considered "young adults"?

That is being an adolescent. If anything, 18-39 years old should really be labeled as YOUNG ADULTS for age demographics regarding books. This only shows that publishers today are pretentious with the labeling of age demographics.

Wouldn't "New Adult" really be considered "Young Adult," which is the same thing?

The "New Adult" branding for REAL young adults sounds absurd. Rather than saying "New Adult," it should really be named "Of Age" or "Coming Of Age Fiction." This seems more logical, if you ask me.

To get back on the topic of my short stories and their age demographic, they (short stories) seem like they would mostly fall under the "New Adult" and possibly Adult demographics. 

Thinking more about what I have written over the last 4-12 years, my work would mostly fall under the Horror and Thriller genres, as well as Realistic Fiction for the "New Adult" audience.

"Model Parent" is at least 1 short story, that would be considered Realistic Fiction. The rest of my other stories are more Horror and Thriller, which could fit "New Adult" Fiction age demographic.

Judging from some of what I have read about the New Adult age demographic, it's basically a bridge between Young Adult (TEENS) and Adult Fiction age demographics.

Personally speaking, I have felt for years that there were hardly any books for actual young adults ages 18-30-something years old. I have never picked up a book and read anything about characters being college aged or being college graduates. 

When the short stories and novels were not about characters under 18 years old, they were usually about middle-aged characters and older. Also, when publishers spend most of their time advertising and releasing stories for minors and older adults, they make it a lot more difficult for other writers to determine how to market their own books, which are neither of the 2. This especially applies to yours truly.

There should be more books for those of us, who are somewhere in-between young and old age demographics.

As someone, who is in her mid-30's, I do NOT  want to read a book about teenagers or characters, that are old enough to be my parents and grandparents. 

This might sound like something ageist to say, but I am beyond the age of a teenager and do not always want to relive my adolescence vicariously through teenage characters.

In addition, I don't necessarily care to read about empty nest characters and lonely housewives, since I am nowhere near that stage of life.

In today's society, everyone is NOT  married and/or divorced with or without children. Some young adults are just starting college, graduating from them, seeking employment after college, are still bachelors/bachelorettes, and have yet to settle down. 

Then, there are those, who cannot handle being eternally single, during their 20's and 30's.

If they really want to generate more readers, they must be willing to meet an ignored and potential audience, that is between the youth and the elderly. This is what more publishers really should take this into consideration. When saying "they," I mean authors, marketers, and publishers.

Something else that was repeatedly addressed, while I was learning more about "New Adult" Fiction was sex. Book publishers must decide how much sex there is in a book, in order to label it as Young Adult or simply Adult. Think of this in terms of movie ratings.

Are the sex scenes mild enough to be rated PG-13 or should they be R-rated?

It is somewhat amusing that the amount of sexual content in a published book is what determines if it is Young, New, or Adult Fiction. The fact that a story has any sex in it is enough to be considered for teenagers and adults of any age group.

If a book has any kind of sex in it, you already know that the book is NOT meant for young children.

As far as my short stories go, if we were talking in the terms of movie ratings, I would say that mine would probably range between PG-13 to rated R. This would all be due to violence and sexual content. 

Anyway, if you would like to learn more about the "New Adult" Fiction age demographic, click right HERE.