# A question for people who like Young Adult Fiction????? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574 "2014-02-18T01:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jmliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jmliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmliny)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/41 "2014-02-19T20:10:00Z")
Is that so? LOL. Okay. . . . I appreciate your replies. Take care of yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/42 "2014-02-19T20:21:22Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > It’s not that simple. I have 500 other ideas. All calling my name. Like hungry children. Plus, it takes me anywhere from a year or two to write a book the way I like it. Have you had books published before this? ---
**Author:** ![jmliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jmliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmliny)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/43 "2014-02-19T20:24:33Z")
I publish them my self. ---
**Author:** ![jmliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jmliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmliny)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/44 "2014-02-19T20:33:29Z")
Bob, Phonetics. A lot of it is subjective. Personally, I don’t see much difference. (I said them both out loud.) How about you say both of them out loud, and write back to me, and tell me if one sounds sweeter than the other. And when you say The Girl in the Bell, how you would put the emphasis on both the B’s in The Boy in the Bell, trying putting the emphasis on both the L ending sounds in The ‘Girl’ in the ‘Bell’. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/45 "2014-02-19T20:42:17Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > I publish them my self. Icy. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/46 "2014-02-19T21:30:20Z")
I can see where this is going… ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/47 "2014-02-19T21:33:30Z")
I really have to respond to the “Master of Phonetics” line: Cool, we should talk! I have a masters in theoretical linguistics with a concentration in phonetics/phonology. That’s how I got into this children’s publishing thing as editor. Share your credentials! You didn’t happen to do your studies at University of California like I did, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/48 "2014-02-19T21:35:10Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > I’m a master of phonetics. If this were reddit, master phoneticer would be my flair now. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/49 "2014-02-19T21:48:49Z")
Besides the alliterative qualities of The Boy in the Bell making the title better (in this editor’s opinion), one thing I can tell you about YA fiction is that to sell, it had better have some opposite-sex interaction. I don’t mean action, just interaction. The girl-girl idea in the OP actually would \*not \*be a good bet unless there were sexual undertones. I’m not saying I’d back a book from that aspect but I am trying to explore the original idea to make it sell at all. As for the chariot race/one farm boy thing–I’d reject it immediately due to similarity and proximity to the whole Hunger GAme thing. The basic idea has been done, and there’s nothing novel in the version proposed in the OP. I could go on but, well, I usually get paid. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/50 "2014-02-19T21:49:46Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > I publish them my self. Have you ever worked with an editor or proof-reader? edited to add: Could you perhaps provide a link to a sample of your writings? ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/51 "2014-02-19T21:59:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Have you ever worked with an editor or proof-reader? > > edited to add: Could you perhaps provide a link to a sample of your writings? Would you like to sample some of her finished product your self? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/52 "2014-02-19T22:09:10Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > Would you like to sample some of her finished product your self? Sherwood. I’ve seen an example of her/his [non-fiction](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17105391&postcount=1), and was wondering how it compared to her/his fiction. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/53 "2014-02-19T22:15:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Sherwood. I’ve seen an example of her/his [non-fiction](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17105391&postcount=1), and was wondering how it compared to her/his fiction. Maybe she/he will oblige you her self/him self. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/54 "2014-02-19T22:56:01Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > No. I like snark! Wow, great! > [@jmliny](#): > > I like snark very much! Hey, even better! > [@jmliny](#): > > Especially when it’s given in a positive manner. Oh. Nevermind. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jmliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jmliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmliny)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/55 "2014-02-20T01:03:00Z")
C, I’m not sure why you’ve labeled that non fiction. But that’s okay. I couldn’t understand why you were taking the harassing tone you were. Now I see why. Okay. I must’ve struck a nerve. It is what it is. ---
**Author:** ![jmliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jmliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmliny)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/56 "2014-02-20T01:21:07Z")
T, I could point out errors in your writing and the way you speak if I wanted. My days of snowball fights are over, though. Come on now. (I would think someone with your education would rise above and beyond, too.) I’ve read several hundred thousand lines of verse. So I know sounds. That’s why I said what I did. I disagree with your takes on certain things, but I appreciate the fact you took time to comment. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/57 "2014-02-20T01:23:12Z")
You, and your aspirations, depress me. ---
**Author:** ![jmliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jmliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmliny)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/58 "2014-02-20T02:19:16Z")
T, Sometimes they depress me, too, but it’s the burden a creative soul has to bear. I would have rather have been a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher or an editor or an accountant. It is what it is. (I initially wrote bear as bare.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/59 "2014-02-20T02:51:44Z")
> [@jmliny](#): > > T, > > Sometimes they depress me, too, but it’s the burden a creative soul has to bear. I would have rather have been a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher or an editor or an accountant. I, for one, thank you profusely for deciding to become a writer instead. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574/60 "2014-02-20T03:11:33Z")
To be totally honest, neither of those stories sounds very interesting. I’ve read both of them quite often. Many of those versions have been self-published and written by people with much more engaging prose and command of punctuation than you’ve shown here. Of course, if I’m being _totally_ honest, I’ve also read a fair few self-published novels aimed at various ages with a similar level of writing skill. Well, I’ve read the beginnings of a fair few of them, anyway. A large percentage were abandoned after a few chapters because of the formulaic plot, cardboard characters and sub-standard writing/editing/proofreading. The ones I finished were mostly the ones that were exceptionally awful, for the purpose of pointing and laughing. In the further interest of total honesty, deciding what to pursue based on what seems most salable isn’t a particularly creative way to approach things. I say this as someone who makes a lot of stuff–the things I make because I think “Oh, I think people would like that” never have the same spark and life and interest factor as the things I make because I saw or heard or thought of something that made me go “OOOOOOOH, MUST MAKE NOW!!!” And ffs, please observe the local custom of quoting the post you’re replying to, or at least writing out the poster’s actual name. Trying to figure out what you’re trying to say to whom is incredibly obnoxious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-people-who-like-young-adult-fiction/681574.md?page=4)