{"id":33674,"date":"2022-03-14T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33674"},"modified":"2022-03-14T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T12:00:00","slug":"what-austin-teens-want-publishers-to-know-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33674","title":{"rendered":"What Austin Teens Want Publishers to Know, 2022 Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>One of the great things that came back this past fall, after a long time off, was our monthly meetings with BookPeople\u2019s Teen Press Corps. Moving from our third-floor event space to the outdoor picnic tables, it\u2019s been so great to get together, share ARCs, talk about what we\u2019re loving (or hating), and catch up. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/51936420785_8048bf2214_k-1-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/51936420785_8048bf2214_k-1-1-958x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33683\" width=\"400\" height=\"427\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Browsing new ARCs!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<p>So, after a year off, I\u2019m back with another round-up of rants, raves, and requests from BookPeople\u2019s Teen Press Corps. From eighth graders through freshmen in college, our current group reads everything from period fiction to gruesome thrillers to intricate space operas. Voracious and opinionated, they jumped at the chance to share their current thoughts!<\/p>\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n<p><strong>What are the trends or tropes are you SO tired of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Zoe D.: \u201cI\u2019m so done with arranged marriage stories.\u201d<\/li><li>Jillian: &#8220;I hate miscommunication tropes. Third act miscommunication is the worst. Want to chuck it across the room. Makes me think the book wasn\u2019t actually plotted out and feels rude to the reader. (much agreement)<\/li><li>Ivy: \u201cThere aren\u2019t any true villains in YA anymore that don\u2019t turn out to be the love interest.\u201d<\/li><li>Ava: \u201cYes, it\u2019s ok for villains to be villains. Or they can become friends. They don\u2019t have to become a lover.\u201d<\/li><li>Sy\u00f1ae: \u201cI love strong female protagonists, but I\u2019m sick of the trope where she\u2019s supposed to be a badass but she\u2019s really just being mean.\u201d<\/li><li>Ivy: \u201cI\u2019m sick of the listing of tropes on book covers and marketing materials without saying anything about the plot.\u201d<\/li><li>Ava: \u201cIt\u2019s OK to have tropes but needs something unique about it.\u201d<\/li><li>Sy\u00f1ae: \u201cIt\u2019s like they\u2019re saying, &#8220;Kids love enemies to lovers now!&#8221; So they\u2019re all doing it, and the stories and characters are just underdeveloped.\u201d (much agreement)<\/li><li>Ivy: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to find a good romantic contemporary novel with more complexity.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><strong>CONSENSUS: <\/strong>Tropes, shmopes. Give us complexity!<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/51936417475_c4c37509e2_k-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/51936417475_c4c37509e2_k-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33680\" width=\"408\" height=\"306\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>What do you want to see more of in 2022?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Rebecca: \u201cI love it in TV shows where you don\u2019t know who you\u2019re rooting for. I need more of that in my life. I like it when there are two sides and you don\u2019t know who\u2019s doing the right thing.\u201d<\/li><li>Ava: \u201cI love morally gray main characters \/ shoutout to <em>House of Hollow<\/em>!&#8221;<\/li><li>Rebecca: \u201cI want murder mystery without the mystery. Want to see people trying to cover it up.\u201d <\/li><li>Jillian: \u201cI LOVE THAT. A murder mystery from the murderer\u2019s perspective.\u201d<\/li><li>Rebecca: \u201cI want to see more college students. I find those stories really interesting.\u201d<\/li><li>Ivy: \u201cIf you\u2019re going to do love triangles, bring back the Team Jacob vs, Team Edward complex \u2013 where you could root for either one. Now, in most YA, one is so obviously just the secondary choice, barely developed, and only there to complete the triangle.\u201d<\/li><li>Zo\u00eb G.: &#8220;Twists on love triangles are good. Two love interests decide to be with each other instead of the main character. Or enemies to lovers where they stay enemies.&#8221;<\/li><li>Sy\u00f1ae: \u201cI really miss platonic relationships. And more female friendships.\u201d (shoutout to <em>Loveless<\/em> and <em>Seafire<\/em>!)<\/li><li>Ivy: \u201cYes, I would love a nice friendship book.\u201d<\/li><li>Rebecca: \u201cI definitely want more male \/ female friendships that aren\u2019t romantic.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><strong>CONSENSUS: <\/strong>More friendship, less boilerplate romance please!<\/p>\n\n\n<p><strong>What about covers? What are you most drawn to right now?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TPC6-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TPC6-1-703x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33676\" width=\"340\" height=\"494\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Showing off two great covers.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Jillian: &#8220;I prefer covers with art rather than photography. BUT I loved <em>House of Hollow<\/em>. The flowers and bugs make it really cool.&#8221;<\/li><li>Ava: \u201cAlso<em> Wilder Girls<\/em>! A drawn face styled with florals!\u201d<\/li><li>Rebecca: \u201cI love painted covers, darker colors. Also covers that set the right atmosphere for the book.\u201d<\/li><li>Ava: \u201cI love when covers have Easter eggs you can\u2019t see until you read the book. (Shoutout to <em>Scythe<\/em>!)&#8221;<\/li><li>Ivy: &#8220;The King of Scars duology is so pretty, especially under the cover. I wish more books did that.&#8221;<\/li><li>Zo\u00eb G.: \u201cI take off the cover before buying it, and the case can change my decision. I love a hidden reveal under the jacket.\u201d<\/li><li>Ivy: \u201cMiddle grade covers are the best. They always match, and when you line them up in a series they sometimes all line up to make an image on the spines.\u201d (much agreement)<\/li><li>Ivy: The clear cover on <em>Permanent Record <\/em>is one of the coolest things.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><strong>CONSENSUS:<\/strong> Cool cases really make a difference!<\/p>\n\n\n<p><strong>What are your cover pet peeves?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Rebecca: \u201cMatch the mood! Don\u2019t put light colors with a dark book.\u201d<\/li><li>Sy\u00f1ae: \u201cYA covers that look the same as a lot of other books. I don&#8217;t buy them.\u201d<\/li><li>Ivy: \u201cThe biggest disaster was <em>The Diviners <\/em>series, which kept changing the cover style.\u201d<\/li><li>Zo\u00eb G.: \u201cWhen one paperback is slightly taller than the others, it drives me crazy.\u201d<\/li><li>Zoe D.: \u201cI want the whole thing in hardcover, but then when there\u2019s a mid-series change, you can\u2019t go back and get the original. For <em>Carry On<\/em>, they reprinted the hardcover with the new look. That was really appreciated.\u201d<\/li><li>Zo\u00eb G.: \u201cI hate when books in the series have different textures.\u201d<\/li><li>Jillian: \u201cI hate books that collect fingerprints all over it.\u201d<\/li><li>Rebecca: \u201cI put books with colors I don\u2019t enjoy on our family bookshelf instead of in my room.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><strong>BAD COVER HACK:<\/strong> Sy\u00f1ae\u2014\u201cI have a cupboard next to my bookshelf where I shove the books with ugly covers. But that won\u2019t stop me from reading them!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p><strong>BookTok \u2013 Good, bad, or indifferent?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>All: It\u2019s hard to enjoy books after they\u2019ve been overhyped. But we still enjoy BookTok.<\/li><li>Jillian (creates content on TikTok):  &#8211; A lot of what you see is the same thing over and over, and you need people to fill in the gaps, but you don\u2019t get views if you don\u2019t mention the books that are featured everywhere.&#8221;<\/li><li>Ivy: &#8220;I prefer BookTube. It\u2019s generally more open and not trying to follow trends as much. (Shoutout to ReadwithCindy!)&#8221;<\/li><li>Sy\u00f1ae: &nbsp;&#8220;There are so many popular books on there that I\u2019ve hated. Most are suspicious.&#8221;<\/li><li>Jillian: &#8220;On TikTok, books that aren\u2019t really for teens get marketed to teens, like books with toxic relationships (specifically Sarah J. Maas).&#8221;<\/li><li>Zo\u00eb: &#8220;I don\u2019t like spice, but a lot of books on there are super high spice.&#8221;<\/li><li>Ava: \u201cBookTok books that go super viral are really good for people who don\u2019t read a lot.\u201d <\/li><li>Zo\u00eb: &#8220;Popular books get popular for a reason, but they tend to be trope heavy, and the more they get hyped, the more people write those tropes, which is why we don\u2019t like tropes anymore.&#8221;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p><strong>CONSENSUS: Yes, no, maybe? But also stop with the tropes, people!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Interested in more from the Teen Press Corps? See some highlights from their recent coverage below:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com\/2019\/12\/19\/interview-pete-souza\/\">The Press Corps interviews director of <em>The Sky Is Everywhere<\/em><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com\/2019\/12\/12\/books-we-loved-in-2019\/\">TPC&#8217;s Holiday Quick Picks<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com\/2022\/01\/26\/review-the-girls-ive-been\/\">Rebecca reviews The Girls I&#8217;ve Been<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com\/2019\/08\/15\/review-circe\/\">Ivy Interviews Liliam Rivera<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p>Browse&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com\/\">their archives<\/a>&nbsp;here!<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Note: There are a large number of Teen Press Corps members, but these opinions reflect those of the kids who attended the last meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Enough with the tropes, and what happened to good old-fashioned friendship?<\/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-33674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}