In the coming weeks I’ll launch the first of three young adult manuscripts. So when I saw the Publishers Weekly Webcast hosted by reviewer John Sellers, I knew I had to sign up. His guests, Harlequin Teen editor Natashya Wilson, and Disney-Hyperion editor Emily Meehan, were upbeat and informative from the get-go. (And they had distinctive voices so it was easy to tell who 
was saying what, a BONUS for listeners.)
The webcast will post to the archives about a week from now, but in the meantime, I’ve compiled highlights from my notes.
Building the Next Generation of YA Stars:
A social media discussion kicked off the hour. Natashya Wilson (NW) touched on the internal social media program offered to Harlequin authors, and noted that a build to a launch is 6-9 months out from the release date.
To bridge the gap between books, Emily Meehan (EM) talked about using social media to keep fans engaged via short stories and novellas.
Most effective, according to EM, were group author events and festivals to promote author discoverability.
Not a name brand author yet?
Blog tours (author of The Darkest Mind used as an example)
Get creative with blog content (glossary, etiquette guide, etc.)
NW liked the use of teasers and uses the HQN platform heavily for cross-pollination of her authors.
Is social media changing in terms of promoting books?
Both editors agreed, “Twitter is my second job.”
EM added she wants to tell her authors to, “Get off Twitter and finish their revisions.”
She also mentioned her company was starting monthly author video chats via Shindig.
A “Wear Your book” Pinterest campaign is high on NW’s list.
In the next segment, both editors promoted upcoming titles.
For Disney-Hyperion, costume drama is all the rage.
Cinders and Sapphires by Leila Rasheed
All Our Yesterdays, a time travel, by Cristin Terrill
Project Paper Doll: The Rules (told in two points of view)
Harlequin Teen:
Dare To You by Katie McGarry (NW said this was a great example of breakout author campaign with the title boasting 9200 to-reads on Goodreads)
INK by Amanda Sun
And the zombie-slaying Alice in Wonderland, Through the Zombie Glass
John Sellers turned over the rest of the hour to reader questions.
New adult – hype or what?
NW is a huge fan of new adult and feels it’s a growing market.
EM seemed reserved on the subject. She prefers to focus on a good story instead of publishing through a trend.
What’s the next big thing? Is dystopian over?
In a nutshell, nobody knows.
EM: “Many dystopian books are still selling well.”
NW: “Every second submission is dystopian.”
How are you finding new authors? (Wattpad was mentioned in the question)
Both editor take only agented submissions. It was noted there is a strong trend toward self-pubbed authors now repped by agents.
“On our own, we go out and look for authors who have created a buzz.”
NW has requested pages from non-agented authors via Yahoo chat and conferences.
Both editors always love hearing from people on Twitter.
Wish lists:
Funny…time travel… something that feels unique… because they don’t like to compete with themselves on the shelves.
Thanks for reading! I hope you’ll have a chance to check out the archived webcast, but in the meantime, head to Twitter if you want drop these ladies a line.
If you enjoyed this post, let’s stay connected on Facebook and Goodreads. And, of course, comments are always welcome.
Posted by terripatrick on February 20, 2013 at 5:14 am
You’ve got YA books coming out? How cool!