On the Popularity of Young Adult Novels and the Reasons and Implications Therein
Over
the past decade and a half, media convergence has created a new world of
marketing. In general, there are several ways a book could be advertised: through
magazine review sections, literary publications, through television (whether it
be reviewed on a program or, rarely, displayed via commercial advertisement), talked
about during a radio program, or on book-promoting websites. Now, with the
convergence of these different media, it is possible for a company (or person)
to promote a book through a handful of these options at once. Instead of
choosing to put out an add in a newspaper or magazine for the promotion of a
novel or trying to get a spot on a television program, one can have a title
with a short description on countless book review sites acquired through
relentless emailing. The same goes for book-related applications on smart
phones. The larger the number of resources for which to push a novel, the
larger the chance of success will be for representation. In the modern age of
media convergence, it is easier for someone to get his or her book noticed
because there is an infinite number of websites, blogs, magazines, and the like
for which to submit work.
Due to
the sheer number of applications and websites easily available to the public,
like E-Readers, book sellers (like Half.com or Amazon), and otherwise
downloadable literary content, it has become easier for readers to acquire
books. Because there are more interfaces from which to access the written word,
people who would not normally read have begun to do so. For example, there are
smart phone users or Kindle owners who download and read books due to the ease
of access and would have otherwise avoided a trip to the library or bookstore.
This widens the audience to include citizens who do not normally read novels.
Here, the young adult novels enter.
In relation to media convergence,
many young adult novels are made into movies and heavily promoted. Now older
individuals who do not normally delve into literature have young adult series
like “Hunger Games” and “Twilight” pushed into their faces via news talk on
their smart phones, promotions on their Kindles or Nooks, and Hollywood films that
reach high popularity and remind the public that they were originally books and
should therefore be read. The phenomenon of the Hollywood book is bothersome in
and of itself. Many adult novels (including “Twilight,” “The Golden Compass,” “Eragon,”
“Harry Potter,” “Hunger Games,” “The Lightening Thief,” and countless others) are
snapped up and spat out as shiny, highly promoted films that cater to the same
large audience that the novels were meant to reach. Here, I believe, is where
adults (and sometimes children) get the idea to read the novel. So many times I
have personally witnessed people come out of the theater saying, “Wow, that was
pretty good—I have to read the book now!” Parents who tag along with their
children get inspired to read the original source and go forth to do so. Through
the convergence of film and print and the adaptation in between, viewers become
readers. While the series are turned into films because of their popularity, I believe
this is how the multitude of the young adult novels are sold and read. After
the films are released, there is an increase in department carrying and online
text promotion.
The success of such young adult
novels rests in the plotlines and the particular kind of struggle that the main
characters go through. For the sake of this case study, I am choosing to look
at two series: “Twilight” and “Harry Potter.” Although very, very different,
the two series retain many of the same qualities. Both are fantastical in
nature and involve supernatural/magical endeavors. Both series string their
fantastical worlds through the mainline of “real life.” The train to Hogwarts
can only be found by those that know it is there and the wizards and witches of
the novels live in secrecy from most normal humans. “Regular” society in “Harry
Potter” is kept aloof from the magical realm that lies therein. The same goes
for the war between vampires and werewolves in the “Twilight” series. The monsters
live alongside humans but are hidden in the shadows, kept secret from “normal”
eyes. This theme is popular in young adult novels and is lapped up by readers
because it suggests a privilege that the reader is let inside a world otherwise
inaccessible to others. “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” make the audience feel
like they are part of something larger, something that should be secret. Also,
the theme of escape makes these series popular. Both main characters become
involved with a magical plot and leave their normal homes and lives behind to
embark on a great, otherworldly adventure. When adults, young or old, are
having hard times in their lives, they long for an escape. Through the runaway
adventurer, readers can transport themselves into the main characters’
footsteps, so in a way they are running away from their own problems while
reading. These ideas of escapism are agendas set by the authors, whether consciously
or not. I do not believe, however, that this use of fantasy to peel away
reality is a negative thing.
Negativity, on the other hand, does
breed in the publishing industry as a result of the popularity of such young
adult fiction. Because of the sheer number of sales of series like “Harry
Potter” and “Twilight,” a multitude of spin offs are thrown up from the bowls
of the industry. Quickly written to be churned out during the height of series
popularity, piggy backed novels are released like a plague. Poorly constructed
and closely resembling their inspirations, such books are published just because
they are similar to currently famous series. The quality of these novels is not as
important as the themes that they are built on. These fad books limit the
publishing industry’s spectrum. Looking specifically for popular themes and
easy to sell plotlines, other books that could be published/promoted are
dropped to the dust only because they do not conform to what is currently
trending. This sales bias limits the kind of novels that are published and is
an unfair restriction based on money making instead of knowledge or imagination
expansion. I personally have seen this affliction affect my mother, who had
read the “Twilight” series and immediately bought every tacky vampire book off Wal-Mart’s
shelves. Instead of filling her head with a variety of novels, she got blinded
by popular young adult fiction and pigeonholed herself into mindless (and often
poorly written) escapism.
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