Book Trends and Fashions: Amazon's Kindle Scout Program

Who has heard of the Kindle Scout program?  It’s something Amazon launched last year that lets the readers decide who gets published.  It’s an interesting concept.  Authors sign their stories up with the program.  Kindle Scout readers (just a sign up away for most people) can then read the story for free and decide if they want to recommend it for publication through Amazon’s KDP program.   Sounds like a win-win for both authors and readers, right?

So, with the first few batches of Kindle Scout books published and the program making news and waves again, I thought it was the perfect time for it to be labeled a “Book Trend and Fashion”.  Now, I’m not going to go into the details of whether or not Amazon’s contract is good or bad.  I don’t know what other contracts out there are like, so I would be a horrible judge of that.  This is just my opinion as a reader on how the program seems to be working.

The How It Works page for Kindle Scout lays it out as pretty simple for both readers and authors.  An author loads a book (it’s available for 30 days), the readers browse and read through the ones they think are interesting, and if the reader thinks it deserves to be published they recommend it.  The books with the highest recommendations are offered a KDP contract.  If you recommended a book that is then published, you get a free copy of the final product.  Seems very straight forward and Amazon is benefiting from free screening and scouting services from the readers. 

What bothers me is this:

When an author posts a giveaway, but you have to go recommend their book in order to qualify – it seems a bit like buying votes.  Now, how is this different than requesting people like a Facebook page or Follow a blog.  Neither of those actions really contributes to a revenue stream for a blogger or author.  It may help them get some attention that could lead to good things, but there’s no direct pay out.  A publishing contract (with a $1500 advance) definitely has monetary value.  I have no problem with an author requesting their fans to go vote for their book – people ask this all the time of their readers.  But they shouldn’t require it in order to enter a giveaway. 

This type of giveaway also drives down the integrity of Amazon’s publishing division.  If I know books are being published through this program because authors are buying votes – why would I ever buy one of those books?  They must not have been “good enough” to make it on their own, right?

It seems like what was a great idea is being manipulated by a handful of authors.  I don’t think the giveaways have been very successful though. The giveaways I’ve see with this type of entry are, thankfully, fewer and fewer every day.

I think overall the program sounds pretty interesting, but with a lot of potential to do well or go horribly wrong.  I’ve scanned through the selected books a handful of times, and I haven’t really seen one that catches my eye yet.  So, have any of you readers or authors tried the program? What do you think of it?

Book Trends and Fashions: The New Adult Category and Genre - Is It Here to Stay or Will It Fade Away?

Totally off topic – but I love when I can make my title rhyme.  Now onto the business at hand!

The New Adult category has been a surprisingly controversial addition to the romance world.  Publishers have jumped on the category and it seems to be quite popular with indie writers as well.  Some people love it, some people hate it.  Some people don’t quite understand what it is.  The big question everyone seems to be asking: Is it here to say or will it fade away?

Goodreads defines New Adult as a story that “bridges the gap between Young Adult and Adult

genres.  It typically features protagonists between the ages of 18 and 26.”  Other definitions stretch this age group up to 30, but I think that is really pushing the upper limits.  This specifies the age ranges of the characters and the target audience of the category in a way similar to Young Adult or Middle Grade.  But there is more to New Adult than just an age category.

New Adult is also a type of story, a genre that tends to address a group of very specific topics.  These topics revolve around a young adult moving into to the adult world – learning to take responsibility and live and love on their own.  This age group is a natural selection for stories involving college romances or summer romances after high school graduation.  These stories have always existed; they just didn't have as wide spread an audience and their own name as they do now.

In fact, New Adult has been around a lot longer than I originally thought.   I found a contest by St. Martin’s Press looking for submissions “similar to YA that can be published and marketed as adult – a sort of ‘older YA’ or ‘new adult’.”  This contest for submissions began Nov 9, 2009, and was the first mentions of New Adult that I could find.  If you know of an older one, please let me know.  I find this type of research fascinating.  St. Martin’s press states that their reason for looking in this direction was to attract all the adult readers that were currently reading tons of Young Adult.  They received 333 responses.

Angela Brown, a Young Adult and New Adult author, describes this genre beautifully:

“Students transitioning from the guided days of high school to the independent self-management (or mismanagement) in college/a trade school/special training beyond high school academia isn't a trend. A son or daughter going straight into the workforce or a foster kid who has aged out of the system and must fend for themselves...those are not trends. And because these types of situations are par for the course, New Adult is not a trend. In truth, it's simply providing a name to a "between"category that has long needed its own identifier.”

From this point on, New Adult seems to pop up everywhere, a little at a time.  It snuck up on me and I was reading it before I even realized it.  Then it hit the adult romance world and I heard a lot of interesting things.  Many people don’t seem to take this genre seriously.  I hear it mocked and labeled as a fad that will be fading away anytime now.  Granted, these people don’t enjoy diving into a good YA novel like I do, but I think these people are wrong about the value that New Adult has brought to the book world and especially the romance genre.

  

There is a strong market for New Adult.  And yes, it will probably lose a bit of its hype and popularity over time.  This happens with any shiny new thing.  Paranormal romance blew up, and then it calmed down – but it is still very successful.  BDSM is currently in the blow up phase as well, but eventually the next thing will come along and it will find its happy place and carry on as well.  New Adult will follow these trends and find its place in the overall romance genre, settle in, and make a permanent home.  It’s not going anywhere.  

One of the largest (and best) reasons it’s here to stay are the authors who are writing some truly amazing stories.  New Adult writers are passionate about their work, as any author should be.  The genre has opened the doors for new writers to share their stories and really target their audience of readers.

New Adult author, Carrie Butler, summarizes it quite nicely:

“New Adult (NA), as a category, has one thing in common with its characters—the coming of age struggle. It took three years, an under-served market, a few independent bestsellers, and the support of a vocal few for it to find its place in the literary world. Talk about an uphill battle! Now we’re seeing NA contemporary romances take off left and right. Why? Because readers are finally getting something they’ve been denied for years: love (and sometimes lust) amidst those awkward exploratory years.

After this particular genre rides out its tropes and loses trend status, other niches within New Adult will undoubtedly rise to the occasion, i.e. paranormal romance, romantic suspense, etc. Sure, the settings and themes will be different, but the heart of the category will always remain the same. Characters will walk tightropes without nets and face consequences they never knew existed. Their priorities will shift, their concepts of the world will be challenged, and they’ll fight for what’s important to them. They’ll grow, and they’ll find themselves. That’s what NA is all about.

If you ask me, New Adult is anything but a flash in the pan.”              

I hope I've given you something to think about, maybe even something new you’ll want to go try.  Before you judge, pick a New Adult book up and give the pages a few turns.  You might come away with a different opinion and a new love.

Source Links:

Goodreads

St. Martin's New Adult Contest

Quotes from:

Angela Brown

Carrie Butler

Other Resources:

NA Alley