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Write A Children's Book And Get It Published: Writing Teenage Fiction

by Allan Frewin Jones & Lesley Pollinger

Teenage fiction is currently a huge and thriving market. As well as more traditional coming of age stories, the recent success of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series has seen an explosion of dark supernatural romances. Agents and publishers are being inundated with teenage manuscripts, so that it can feel difficult for a new author to make their work stand out.

Some key tips:

1 Don’t do it for the money. First, you’ll probably be disappointed, and second, you’re unlikely to succeed unless you have a genuine passion for the teenage genre.

2 Know the market. While the existence of similar books shouldn’t put you off writing a story you’re in love with, it’s better to know going in if your subject matter has been overdone recently.

3 Don’t be afraid of challenging topics. Teenagers tend to be savvy, sophisticated readers; there’s hardly any subject that I would consider taboo for the 13+ audience. It’s all in how you handle it.

4 Pace is often a deciding factor. Hold back with any information you can, and don’t load down your opening pages with back story and exposition. Teenage fiction is all about pace and keeping the interest level high.

Enjoy yourself, and good luck!



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