New adult (NA) fiction is a developing genre of fiction with protagonists in the 18–29 age bracket.

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

first coined the term in 2009, when they held a special call for "fiction similar to

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

(YA) that can be published and marketed as adult—a sort of an 'older YA' or 'new adult'". New adult fiction tends to focus on issues such as leaving home, developing sexuality, and negotiating education and career choices. The genre has gained popularity rapidly over the last few years, particularly through books by self-published bestselling authors like

Jennifer L. Armentrout Jennifer Lynn Armentrout (born June 11, 1980), also known by the pseudonym J. Lynn, is an American writer of contemporary romance, new adult and fantasy. Several of her works have made ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. She is considered ...

, Cora Carmack,

Colleen Hoover Colleen Hoover (born December 11, 1979) is an American author who primarily writes novels in the romance and young adult fiction genres. She is best known for her 2016 romance novel ''It Ends with Us.'' Many of her works were self-published befor ...

Anna Todd Anna Renee Todd (born March 20, 1989) is an American author and screenwriter, who is best known for her ''After'' series. She started publishing on the social storytelling platform Wattpad. The print edition of the series was published in 2014 by ...

, and Jamie McGuire. The genre originally faced criticism, as some viewed it as a marketing scheme, while others claimed the readership was not there to publish the material. In contrast, others claimed the term was necessary; a publicist for

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

described it as "a convenient label because it allows parents and bookstores and interested readers to know what is inside". Examples of books in the new adult genre include

Sarah J. Maas Sarah Janet Maas (born March 5, 1986) is an American fantasy author known for her fantasy series '' Throne of Glass'' and '' A Court of Thorns and Roses''. As of 2022, she has sold over twelve million copies of her books and her work has been ...

's ''

A Court of Thorns and Roses ''A Court of Thorns and Roses'' is a new adult fantasy novel series by American author Sarah J. Maas, beginning with the novel of the same name, released in May 2015. The story follows the journey of mortal Feyre Archeron after she is brought in ...

'' and ''

Throne of Glass ''Throne of Glass'' is a young adult high fantasy novel series by American author Sarah J. Maas, beginning with the entry of the same name, released in August 2012. The story follows the journey of Celaena Sardothien, a teenage assassin in a cor ...

'', Jennifer L. Armentrout's ''Wait For You'' and ''Blood and Ash'' series, Jamie McGuire's '' Beautiful Disaster'', Colleen Hoover's ''Slammed'', Cora Carmack's ''Losing It'', Kendall Ryan's ''The Impact of You'' and Casey McQuiston's ''

Red, White & Royal Blue ''Red, White & Royal Blue'' is a 2019 LGBT romance novel by Casey McQuiston. The novel centres around the character of Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the United States, and his romantic relationship with Prince Henry, a British prince. B ...

.''

Marketing

This category is intended to be marketed to post-adolescents and

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

s ages 18 to 29. This age group is considered to be the lucrative "cross-over" category of young-adult titles that appeal to both the young-adult market and to an adult audience. Publishers of young-adult fiction now favor this category as it encompasses a far broader audience. The chief features that distinguish the new adult fiction category from

are the perspective of the young protagonist and the scope of the protagonist's life experience. Perspective is gained as childhood innocence fades and life experience is gained, which brings insight. It is this insight which is lacking in traditional young-adult fiction. The other main differences are characters' ages and the settings. YA does not usually include main characters over age 18 or in college, but these characters are featured in new adult books. New adult can best be described as the age category after young adult.

Themes and issues

New adult literature touches upon many themes and issues to reach the readership that falls in between the categories of young adult and adult fiction. Many themes covered in young adult fiction such as identity, sexuality, depression, suicide, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, familial struggles, bullying are also covered in new adult fiction, but the various issues that are dealt with in the category hold it separate. Some common examples of issues include first jobs, starting college, wedding engagements and marriage, starting new families, friendships post-high school, military enlistment, financial independence, living away from home for the first time, empowerment, loss of innocence, and fear of failure. This category focuses heavily on life after an individual has become of legal age, and how one deals with the new beginnings of adulthood. Commonly, these themes and issues have been seen taking place post-high school in popular new adult fiction titles, but there are exceptions.

Genre

Like the fiction categories of young adult and adult, new adult fiction can combine with all genres and subgenres.

Science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

urban fiction With more than half the world's population living in cities, urban fiction has become a truly global field. Recent comprehensive studies of urban fiction showcase the worldwide reach of the genre and include ''Writing Beirut: Mappings of the Ci ...

, horror,

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

, etc. are some examples.

Controversies

Publishing industry

Many agents and large publishing houses have yet to recognize the category due to various issues. Some view the category as a marketing scheme, while others claim the readership is not there to publish the material. Therefore, authors have turned to self-publishing as a means to get their books out into the market. The success of these authors has led to many independent publishing houses and agents opening up to the category. Publishers are now publishing these books with many of the bestsellers having deals with large publishers.

Sex

In 2012, new adult fiction saw a rise in the romance subgenre of contemporary when self-published titles such as ''Slammed'' by

, ''Easy'' by Tamarra Webber, and '' Beautiful Disaster'' by Jamie McGuire were acquired by major publishing houses. Some believe this jump in response to the category came from the release of the popular erotic novel ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

'', which featured a heroine in college. Since new adult fiction tackles issues such as sex and sexuality and many of the categories' successful titles deal with those same issues the category itself and the single issue of sex have been stated as synonymous, and even been called over-sexualized versions of young adult fiction. Both readers and authors of the category combat the claim by stating that the category deals with the exploration of a character's life, and that sex is not ubiquitous in new adult titles.

2009 to present

Following the end of the St. Martin's Press contest, the new adult category has become increasingly popular through self-publishing. Major New York publishers are taking self-published authors of these titles and acquiring them for mass market sales. Some authors include: *Cora Carmack for ''Losing It'' *Sylvia Day for ''Reflected in You'' *

for ''Slammed'' and ''Point of Retreat'' * Jamie McGuire for ''Beautiful Disaster'' * Tammara Webber for ''Easy''

Authors

Some noteworthy authors of the category include: * Gemma Burgess * Katy Evans * Abbi Glines *

J.A. Redmerski J.A. Redmerski (born November 25, 1975) is an American ''New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'' and ''USA Today'' Bestseller List novelist. Her book ''The Edge of Never'' was initially self-published in 2012, but was re-released in 2013 throug ...

* Sylvain Reynard * Jessica Sorensen

References

External links

Goodreads.com: List of popular new adult fiction books
{{Fiction writing Fiction by genre Literary genres Narratology Teen fiction Young adult fiction Youth culture 2009 neologisms