Oh hey, YA authors! Are you struggling to work out the difference between middle grade and YA, or between YA and adult? Wondering what mistakes you need to avoid if you don’t want to turn agents off or disappoint readers? You’ve come to the right place! In this ‘YA Fundamentals’ series I’m going to be exploring some of the most common issues I come across when editing manuscripts for young readers, so you’ll be armed with all the facts you need to make the right choices when writing your YA story. I know how confusing it can be; the lines are sometimes blurry and lots of novels are referred to as both middle grade and YA (or even New Adult) depending on who you’re talking to or what bookshop you’re in. But don’t panic, you’ve got this!

Who is YA aimed at?

So let’s start with the basics: YA stands for Young Adult and it refers to fiction written specifically for teenagers aged (approximately) between 13 and 18. Here’s where it slots into the market as a whole:

• • Babies and toddlers: Board books and picture books
  • 5-7 years: Early readers
  • 7-10 years: Chapter books
  • 8-12 years: Middle grade
  • 12-18 years: YA
  • 18-25 years: New Adult
  • 18+ years: Adult

These ranges are all approximate and not set in stone! You’ll see there’s crossover at various stages because children develop at different paces and might continue reading chapter books even as they start exploring middle grade, for example, and lots of children and teenagers will read adult fiction, too, either for pleasure or as part of the school curriculum.

Similarly, lots of adults read YA; in fact some studies have shown that the majority of YA is read by people over 25. But that doesn’t mean you should target them – or any other age bracket – when working on your novel. YA should be written for teens, full stop.

But 12-18 is a pretty big range. Which end should I target?

YA should speak to its teenage audience and different themes and characters will speak to different readers. At the lower end of YA, you might feature characters who are just entering their teens and dealing with issues like friendship breakups and first crushes, while the upper end might follow protagonists on the cusp of adulthood, applying for universities or full time jobs. Basically, some YA will appeal to younger teenagers and some to older teenagers; you don’t have to specify which end your story sits at when you query agents or write your back cover blurb: the subject matter and age of your main character should make this clear. I’ll talk more about those factors later in the series, but for now, just remember that your story must reflect the issues and conflicts your readers face in their everyday lives, even if you’re writing an epic fantasy with dragons and time travel.

Read more in the YA Fundamentals series:

• • How old should my main character be in YA?
  • Can I include edgy content?
  • How long should my story be?
  • What subjects and themes should YA include? (coming soon!)