{"id":28894,"date":"2019-03-13T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=28894"},"modified":"2019-03-13T08:00:12","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T12:00:12","slug":"reporting-from-bookpeoples-teen-press-corps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=28894","title":{"rendered":"What Austin Teens Wish Publishers Knew"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I blogged about what some of our local teens are reading, but I also like to check in with our teens toward the beginning of the year to see what they\u2019re looking for, what they\u2019re sick of, and what they wish they could tell publishers. So what\u2019s on their minds? Well, as a group they definitely don\u2019t love covers with real people on them these days, are tired of tropes and predictable plot lines, and (most of them) are enjoying the YA horror trend, as long as it doesn\u2019t get too gory or steamy. Take a look at what they\u2019re loving (and hating) below, and check in with them throughout the year <a href=\"https:\/\/bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com\/\">on their blog<\/a>\u00a0or come into the store and peruse the\u00a0book display they curate all year long.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bookpeople.com\/sites\/bookpeople.com\/files\/20181208_132433.jpg\" width=\"431\" height=\"242\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>What do you prefer? Series, duology, or standalone? How many books is too many?<\/strong><br \/>\nCONSENSUS: Series, within reason:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cShorter series. I often like duologies as long as the second book can hold its own up against the first. For series, more than six is definitely a NO.\u201d \u2013Aurora<\/li>\n<li>\u201cTrilogies work. They offer enough room for authors to resolve plot holes in\u00a0their work, and it\u2019s not so\u00a0long that the writing gets stale.\u201d \u2013Gustavo<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI prefer trilogies, but there can be exceptions like Harry Potter. Duologies are fine, but they often feel like one big book.\u201d \u2013Ivy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>COUNTERPOINT: \u201cStandalones are great. It\u2019s hard to remember the first book when the sequel comes out!\u201d\u2014Xander<!--more--><br \/>\n<strong>What 10 trends or tropes are you SO tired of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Love triangles<\/li>\n<li>Terminally ill main characters<\/li>\n<li>Instant love or best friends<\/li>\n<li>Emotionless guys<\/li>\n<li>The mean girl \/ enemy at school<\/li>\n<li>Popularity tropes (it honestly doesn\u2019t exist in the same way anymore)<\/li>\n<li>\u201cBad Boy\u201d characters<\/li>\n<li>Teens not stressing about college or never doing homework and still getting good grades. Also teens with no extracurricular commitments.<\/li>\n<li>Not talking to adults about serious issues<\/li>\n<li>Titles that are like: The __ __ of __ __<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>COUNTERPOINT: \u201cI\u2019m SO tired of <u>nothing<\/u>. I read the books I want to read. I feel like most \u201ctrends\u201d in YA are positive things.\u201d \u2013Ivy<br \/>\n<strong>What do you want to see more of this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Books that break the mold and subvert tropes associated with their genres<\/li>\n<li>Coming-of-age stories, especially comedies<\/li>\n<li>Latinx fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Books about Native Americans written by Native Americans that aren\u2019t just non-fiction<\/li>\n<li>Books with disabled heroes<\/li>\n<li>Muslim representation on all parts of the spectrum<\/li>\n<li>More YA graphic novels this year. And every year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/images.booksense.com\/images\/960\/076\/9781250076960.jpg\" width=\"192\" height=\"293\" \/>FINGERS CROSSED: \u201cThe third Six of Crows novel. I know it\u2019s real. I know Leigh Bardugo is hiding it.\u201d \u2013Sofia<br \/>\n<strong>What do you personally want to see less of this year?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cDystopian novels because they are always too clich\u00e9, too similar to others, or <u>scientifically impossible<\/u>.\u201d \u2013Aurora<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe guy always falling for the girl. Guys in books get rejections all the time, but sometimes girls get their hearts broken too, rather than getting a perfect romantic resolution.\u201d\u2013Sofia<\/li>\n<li>\u201cFewer chances for people who have been called out for doing sketchy stuff to get published.\u201d\u2013Xander<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Fewer retellings, more original stories.&#8221; \u2013Ivy<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;In high fantasies where the guy or girl is abusive, but they reveal those actions were because they liked the other person.&#8221; \u2013 Sumayyah<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How does what you see in the world right now shape what you want to read?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cWhen I\u2019m too upset or mad, I need something happy to pick me up. When I\u2019m moderately happy or upset, I love reading things that make me think and feel the full range of emotions.\u201d \u2013 Aurora<\/li>\n<li>\u201cEveryone\u2019s making metaphors between real-world events and morality in fiction, which is cool. It\u2019s nice to have relevant lessons nowadays.\u201d \u2013Gustavo<\/li>\n<li>\u201cEverything is so boring that I want to read thrillers so I can feel alive.\u201d \u2013 Julia<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI like books that tackle present issues.\u201d \u2013Xander<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI want to read about people\u2019s stories and their truth.\u201d \u2013Sumayyah<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI want to see books that actually reflect the teenagers of today, but not in clich\u00e9d ways. I like honest voices that aren\u2019t overdramatic.\u201d \u2013Ivy<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI want more magical realism. I want a book to show me wonder and magic in the real world that I\u2019m stuck living in.\u201d \u2013Colleen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What do you love \/ hate about covers these days?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hate: real people on covers. Not only does it break your own image of the characters, but it\u2019s <img decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/images.booksense.com\/images\/963\/552\/9780525552963.jpg\" width=\"214\" height=\"323\" \/>always so clich\u00e9.<\/li>\n<li>Love: The more cinematic the better, like the Percy Jackson covers.<\/li>\n<li>Love: Pretty covers with pretty colors.<\/li>\n<li>Love: Simple covers with interesting art, bright colors, and clever references to the book.<\/li>\n<li>Favorite recent covers: <em>Darius the Great Is Not Okay, What If It\u2019s Us, King of Scars <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>SERIOUSLY, PUBLISHERS: \u201cDon\u2019t put real people on covers. Ever. Please.\u201d \u2013Colleen<br \/>\n<strong>What do you think about\u00a0the YA horror trend?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cI love when YA incorporates more horror elements to create darker undertones with more manipulation, death, etc. But I\u2019m not loving books solely focused on horror, gore, and death.\u201d \u2013Aurora<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have our own horror genre, but when it gets mixed with romance, it spoils the mood.\u201d \u2013Gustavo<\/li>\n<li>\u201cYes, but not to the point where authors should write books just to go along with the trend.\u201d \u2013Ivy<\/li>\n<li>\u201cHorror is not my favorite genre, and the romances in them are subpar because they shift focus away from the scariness.\u201d \u2013Sumayyah<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGive (Austin author) Chandler Baker a raise!\u201d \u2013Sofia<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>COUNTERPOINT: \u201cI\u2019m not a fan, personally.\u201d \u2013Colleen<br \/>\n<strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/images.booksense.com\/images\/655\/430\/9781534430655.jpg\" width=\"219\" height=\"331\" \/>What books are on\u00a0your nightstands right now? <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>The Lord of the Rings<\/em> series by J. R. R. Tolkien<\/li>\n<li><em>The Mark of Athena <\/em>by Rick Riordan<\/li>\n<li><em>All the Bright Places <\/em>by Jennifer Niven<\/li>\n<li><em>On the Come Up <\/em>by Angie Thomas<\/li>\n<li>A book about maps and cartography that I received for my birthday.<\/li>\n<li><em>Crown of Feathers <\/em>by Nicki Pau Preto<\/li>\n<li><em>Tradition<\/em> by Brendan Kiely<\/li>\n<li><em>Black Enough<\/em>, edited by Ibi Zoboi<\/li>\n<li><em>Two Dark Reigns <\/em>by Kendare Blake<\/li>\n<li><em>Comics Will Break Your Heart <\/em>by Faith Erin Hicks<\/li>\n<li><em>Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens <\/em>by Tanya Boteju<\/li>\n<li><em>Harry Potter <\/em>in German<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>FINAL THOUGHT: \u201cDude, I wish I had a nightstand. My phone charges on the floor right now.\u201d \u2013Sofia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Checking in with BookPeople&#8217;s teen bloggers about wish lists, cover art reactions, and tired trends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}