Assignment 1: What to Read Next? flowchart. I've suggested many of these books & merchandised them, but it was great to have them in a connective flowchart. Love to have more of those!
Assignment 2: Read 2 teen articles, comment on yours & a coworker's blog -
1. Who is Buying Teen Books? - highlights of this include:
New market research shows that 55 percent of those buying books labeled 'young adult' are in fact 18 and over, a trend that's only been increasing over the past several years... In fact, the largest group of readers purchasing titles labeled "young adult" are actually 30 to 44 years old – hardly the target demographic for the books. I fall right into that category, as do many others, including many of our customers. When I was a Librarian trainee at CA in 1998, an elderly man asked for the teen section, then proceeded to choose books. He said that there were good books & good writing in teen fiction. I knew there were other adult readers of teens & childrens books through the years as adults asked for popular titles like "Holes", "Harry Potter", "Uglies","Twilight", even teen graphic novels & manga. Teen books are fun, exciting, dark, poignant, etc. - all the things adult books can be, but without all the plodding text that often accompanies them. Faster to read too! Many of the teen titles are being made into movies as well, & when some adults ask for them they are surprised they are teen titles.
2. The Next Big Thing: Adults reading Teen Literature - highlights of this book include a short sampling from:
10 reasons why adults are reading teen -
1. Many adult authors now write teen (Hiaasen, Patterson, Grisham, etc.) & have a built-in following
2. Nostalgia & escapism
3. Paranormal shows are big on t.v. right now, consequently adults are looking for more vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc. titles
4. Publishers are using clever mktg. techniques,like - “Looking for the teen girl version of Game of Thrones?” is the tagline for Throne of Glass - which could draw in many of the GOT fans
I posted comments on Debbie Klink's & Rodney Campbell's blogs.
Assignment 3:
I chose John Green Books & John Green's Tumblr to follow. I could not get into the others due to ugliness or annoyingness of their sites. John Green is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, etc. The Fault in Our Stars is one of those teen books being asked for by adults currently & being made into a movie. His sites are cleanly designed, wryly amusing, peppy (yes, I said peppy) & current. He definitely knows how to use social media.
At first glance I think they would appeal to quirky, nerdcore teens, young & old hipsters (real or wannabe - wait is that the same?) alike. Info varies depending on what tab you choose. I pick out the most interesting stuff to me & do quick snippets of reading - that I like. You can read just a bit or spend a whole lot more time on both sites. I could see how these could be huge time sucks. Some of it is better than others, but isn't that subjective? I will tell you more later....
Assignment 4:
I browsed through all of them to get a feel for each. Here is a summary of two:
Harper Teen is packed with stuff & designed to keep teens interested & on the site. Here are just some of what they feature: Today's most popular pages, Top Books, Top Titles, Twitter feed, social media options YouTube, FB, Pinterest, tumblr, sign up for hiplit Newsletter, contests & features section - also full of good stuff like cover reveals, Browse Inside (Try Before You Buy)- full access to 100% of a title, Top 10 Lists - bestsellers, most emailed, most viewed, Harper Teen podcasts, blogs, Authors on Air, & more.
Conversely, Harlequin Teen is decidedly unappealing to teens (& me) - it essentially is a list of teen book covers with summary, & a price & purchase box next to it. It looks a bit like Amazon, except Amazon is more appealing.
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