Podcast #7: New Adult Fiction - Industry Perspectives

Remember our podcast discussion about New Adult fiction?

In that episode, we focused on reader perspectives on this emerging segment of the book market. This time, I'm talking to three smart ladies with first-hand experience with the publishing side of New Adult: Suzie Townsend, agent with New Leaf Literary & Media; Cora Carmack, author; and Lisa Desrochers, author (scroll down for their complete bios). We discuss the breakneck pace of NA's emergence, the future for NA, common criticisms of the genre/category and recommendations for readers wanting to test the New Adult waters. 

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Podcast Guests

Cora Carmack, Author

Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She’s done a multitude of things in her life – boring jobs (working retail), fun jobs (working in a theatre), stressful jobs (teaching) and dream jobs (writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, Losing It, was a New York Times and USA Today Bestseller. Future titles include Faking It (June 2013), Keeping Her (August 2013), and Finding It (October 2013), all with William Morrow and Company.

Twitter: @CoraCarmack

Lisa Desrochers, Author

Lisa lives in central California with her husband and two very busy daughters. She adores books that take her to new places, specifically JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and A Separate Peace by John Knowles, as well as contemporary authors like Melissa Marr, Kristin Cashore, Jay Asher, and Suzanne Collins. In addition to working full time as a physical therapist, Lisa has made time for writing, including her debut series, Personal Demons (Tor Teen). She is also working on a New Adult series entitled A Little Too Far (William Morrow, 2013).

Twitter: @LisaDez

Suzie Townsend, Agent, New Leaf Literary & Media

After teaching high school English for several years, Suzie Townsend started publishing at FinePrint Literary Management in January 2009 and worked her way up from intern to agent. Now an agent at New Leaf Literary & Media, she represents adult and children's fiction. She is actively looking to build her list. In adult, she's specifically looking for romance (historical and paranormal), and fantasy (urban fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, epic fantasy). In Children’s she loves YA (all subgenres) and is dying to find great Middle Grade projects (especially something akin to the recent movie SUPER 8). She's an active member of AAR, RWA, and SCBWI.

She's interested in strong characters and voice driven stories: she's particularly keen on strong female protagonists, complex plot lines with underlying political, moral, or philosophical issues, and stories which break out of the typical tropes of their genre. Some of her favorite novels (that she doesn't represent) are Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Jellicoe Road and Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Jeaniene Frost's Vampire Huntress series, Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series, and Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series.

She drinks too much diet orange soda, has a Starbucks problem (those soy chai lattes are addictive), and lives in New York with two dogs who know that chewing on shoes is okay but chewing on books is not. 

Twitter: @sztownsend81 

Books Mentioned in This Episode

Losing It

By Cora Carmack

Faking It (Losing It)

By Cora Carmack

A Little Too Far

By Lisa Desrochers

Addicted to You

By Colina Brennan

Ten Tiny Breaths: A Novel

By K.A. Tucker

Easy

By Tammara Webber

Wait for You

By J. Lynn

Frigid

By J Lynn

Notes

Huge thanks to Jaida at New Leaf Literary & Media for all of her work in coordinating logistics for this discussion! 

We hope to host more discussions involving guests on the podcast (we're recording one this week with a couple of our favorite bloggers). If you have topic or guest suggestions, please drop us a note in the comments or send us an email on the contact page.