All My Middle Grade Author Friends Are Writing Other Things And I'm Not Mad

Don't stop me 'cause I'm having a good time, having a good time

All My Middle Grade Author Friends Are Writing Other Things And I’m Not Mad

If you’ve dipped even the tippiest tip of a pinky toe into kid lit waters lately, or in the last few years, you know that the Middle Grade market is…well, let’s say struggling, to put it gently. There are thought pieces and analysis everywhere about why that might be the case, like this one from Lauren Magaziner. She has some great thoughts on the interplay of all the possible causes, from phones and literacy rates to tarrifs and book bans. There are whole Reddit threads of people talking about this and trying to figure out the why’s and, especially, the what-to-do-nows.

We’re not going to get deep into the weeds on that today. Instead what I wanted to do was report a bit of what I’m seeing from my particular corner of the middle grade world, and two reasons why I think what’s going on in middle grade right now might not be such a bad thing.

First, quanitity.

How many thousands of books are put into the world each year? Hundreds of thousands? Places like The Guardian and Literary Hub have already asked and discussed the question…is it too many?

Man, I don’t know. But I see the overwhelm. I see it in my middle grade author friends who aren’t getting deals on incredible books that would have sold like lightning just a few years ago. I see it in editors and publicists I’ve worked with who are putting even more on their already overfull plate when other imprints are shuttered. There just simply aren’t enough people in publishing to thoughtfully shepherd each book that comes into the world each year, and that’s saying nothing of all the indie-pub books.

This is complicated on both the production and consumption side of the pipeline. As a reader, it’s overwhelming, and how do I sort the stuff for me from the stuff not for me when there’s just so darn much. And as a writer, yes, of course I want my book to be published, but also, wouldn’t we all prefer to be pubished with care and resource and thought, by people who have the time and resources to give that to our books?

So, idk. Maybe fewer deals right now might, in the long run, despite some definitely painful growing pains, have some upsides? (Will I, personally, keep pursuing putting out as many good books as I possibly can? Of course.)

Second, quality.

Vicky Weber wrote an essay recently called Middle Grade Is “Dead” And I Think That’s Good News. I’ve been thinking about it lots lately, and the interesting points she makes.

In it, she reports on a Big 5 editor talking about how Harry Potter actually ruined Middle Grade. While I wouldn’t go that far, I can definitely see the point she’s making about how the pursuit of replicating that one thing created some serious problems.

Long (70k) word middle grade books are an anomaly. So much about Harry Potter is an anomaly. But because of how runaway gigantic it was, of course everybody in publishing rushed to take a piece of that particular long fantasy pie.

The problem might be one of monoculture.

Vicky says, “Middle grade, as a category, started trending longer. More complex. More ambitious in scope. And over time, middle grade became something that kids could no longer read.”

In my head, these thoughts have been joined by ideas from Chrissie Wright about making books for kids actually look like and read like books for kids. She’s posted on her stories lately very interesting arguments about why things like blurbs don’t belong on kids books (they’re for grownups!) and why the physical object of a book is so important.¹

Because when we say middle grade is dying, that’s not entirely true. There’s one particular area of middle grade that is absolutely, utterly thriving.

A few years ago, sales of graphic novels were 25% of the Middle Grade market and that number is still going up. Sales of graphic novels have doubled in the past five years.² Graphic novels, as well as high concept, carefully formatted, and/or highly illustrated books are what’s working right now.

These are the books that still look and act like books for kids.

I freaking love graphic novels. I love really quippy, snappy books with short chapters, or told in verse, or with illustrations, or verse AND illustration! If a kid wants to spend a few months reading only Dog Man, great! They’re reading! (Plus Dog Man is awesome.) I think there’s value there in and of itself, and value in keeping links in the chain between picture books and long prose. That’s just one important thing that graphic novels and illustrated books and deliberately formatted books do. Each link in that chain is valuable, each type of book matters, and we need so many more in this particular area.

So with all that, I’m not mad—or surprised—at the things my friends are working on lately.

A strong majority of my middle grade circles, both the ones I know well and the ones I know more anecdotally or virtually, are working on not-middle-grade things right now. Some are teaching themselves illustration and working on picture books and chapter books. Some are showing their teeth in edgier YA. Many (most?) are working on books for adults.³

Myself included. I’m also working on an adult novel (Just about at 45k with it right now!!). I am also always and forever working on middle grade. Especially, lately, this kind of illustrated, short, and hopefully kid-friendly type.

Timicin is obviously crucial to my writing process.

In my middle grade circles, the question has never been one of writing and storytelling talent. Even the regular, lengthy, blurbed-by-grownups middle grade books we’re familiar with are still some of the most beautiful, well-written, evocative stories being told today. I believe all of my middle grade author friends who are working on adult books right now are both going to completely smash it with some absolutely incredible adult books, and then eventually write some more incredible middle grade books.

I think we’re all—authors, editors, publicists, marketers, teachers, librarians, everyone—giving things a little time while we work together to figure out how to make the kids table just that: a place for kids. And I think as we do that, middle grade will bounce back more vibrantly and ferociously than we could imagine.

Your turn!

What is your favorite graphic or illustrated novel released in the last few years?

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10 Side Dishes Worth Sharing

1. I’d Like to Comment on What Robert Olen Butler Just Taught Us About Publishing by Renee K Nicholson

2. 

3. Should writers edit while drafting? Or finish the book first? by Jodi Meadows

4. What institutions besides the Louvre consider to be their “Mona Lisa”

6. Penny Lane Hype House, or: How I learned to stop worrying and embrace my inner content creator by Penny Lane

7. First-person formats beyond the personal essay by Julie Vick

8. ‘Cloud Jaguar’ Sighting Is First in a Decade Caught on a Trail Cam in Honduras

9. What Bookstores Want From Traditional Publishers—and How the Bookstore Market Has Changed by Jane Friedman

10. Super cute hand created computer game, The Midnight Cafe. (Thanks for the rec Haley Weaver!)

Share your own favorite sides in the comments!

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Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

• Five poems I want my students to read before the end of the school year by Adrian Neibauer

• Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

• Various and free activity sheets up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store! More added all the time, so check back regularly.

  

• I am so, so excited and honored to now be on the roster at the Macmillan Speakers Bureau! For school and other events, you can find my speaker page here!

You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for reading!

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Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

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2. One of my very most successful articles here on the stack is this one about deliberate use of white space in middle grade novels. Also this is something Soman Chainani has been talking about a lot lately too.

3. It’s smart people like Claire Swinarski who have been writing for both this whole time.