https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHUzurLr0IM
Author Victoria J. Coe explains what factors categorize a novel as Young Adult vs adult. Like this tip? Go deeper in our book, WRITING KIDLIT 101 https://wri

http://evalangston.com/2021/08/16/kidlit-genres/
Upper Middle Grade: Reader Age: 11-14. Protagonist Age: 12-13 (maybe 14) Word Count: 40,000-65,000 words. Here is the kidlit genre where you will find contemporary stories with more mature themes and longer books with more complicated plots. Protagonists are in middle school and so is the target audience.

https://kidlit.com/ya-vs-mg/
There is a diversity of lengths and age levels and levels of sophistication on the MG and YA shelves, from really young MG to really old YA, but each of those books had to pick a side initially. You have to pick a side, too. Only you can choose which writing audience your work is written for, but there is a fundamental difference between MG

https://writeforkids.org/blog/understanding-childrens-book-categories/
No violence, and harsh themes like death have to be handled gently. Book Categories: Picture story books—5 to 8 (MUCH harder to sell.) Length: 500 to 1000 words, maybe a tad more. But frankly, word length over 750 words will get you an automatic rejection from a lot of agents and editors. Protagonist: 6 to 8.

https://journeytokidlit.com/age-levels-for-childrens-books/
Age: 6-9 or 7-10. Word Count: 8,500-12,000 (Can go up to 20,000 words for older readers.) Chapter book series were my favorite to read in elementary school, and that's the truth for a lot of kids. Books like the Babysitter's Club, the Magic Treehouse, and the Boxcar Children have been favorites for years!

https://www.tckpublishing.com/difference-between-childrens-literature-genres/
Of course, the categorization of children's literature leaves a lot to be desired, given that you wouldn't really consider a 16-year-old to be in the same reading category as a 6-year-old, an infant, or a 20-year-old! That's why we've ended up with all the children's literature sub-genres we have: it's an attempt by librarians

https://kidlit.com/writing-in-different-childrens-book-genres-and-categories/
These differentiators are the bare minimums when it comes to writing across children's book genres and categories. It's also crucial to understand that these category guidelines and requirements are going to be somewhat inflexible. You can always write a 300-page picture book full of words at a college reading level, yes.

https://www.writerandthewolf.com/2020/07/29/which-age-group-is-ya-for/
So let's start with the basics: YA stands for Young Adult and it refers to fiction written specifically for teenagers aged (approximately) between 13 and 18. Here's where it slots into the market as a whole: Babies and toddlers: Board books and picture books. 5-7 years: Early readers. 7-10 years: Chapter books.

https://www.writerandthewolf.com/2022/03/25/exploring-kidlit-subgenres-supernatural-horror/
Back in 2020 I wrote a blog post called 'A guide to middle grade and YA genres and subgenres' and to this day it remains my most popular blog post of all time! I wrote it because I know sometimes it can be really difficult to navigate literary genres and subgenres in general but especially in the kidlit space, partly because a lot of people tend to think 'middle grade' and 'YA' are

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13665361-writing-irresistible-kidlit
The YA and MG book markets are healthier and more robust than ever, and that means the competition is fiercer, too. In Writing Irresistible Kidlit, literary agent Mary Kole shares her expertise on writing novels for young adult and middle grade readers and teaches you how to: Recognize the differences between middle grade and young adult

https://www.goodstorycompany.com/blog/mg-vs-ya
In my book Writing Irresistible Kidlit I have a chapter that outlines, kind of, the main broad-strokes differences between middle grade and YA. But not everybody has read the book, not everybody has the time, so I'm going to synopsize, best as I can, in this video, the key differences, and maybe that will shed some light on your manuscript, if

https://kidlit.com/book-genre/
Active Tips for How to Identify Book Genre. Go to the bookstore. It's a master class on book genre. Head to your local indie or chain store and see what's on the shelves. Don't worry about muddying your artistic integrity by looking at other books in the same vein as yours. (I'll have to post on this, I have lots of thoughts as both a

https://diymfa.com/writing/defining-kidlit/
A five-year-old might say "Daddy" where a ten-year-old might say "Dad"—but if you're writing about a certain kind of kid, or a kid in a culture where this is the norm, they might both call the guy "Father" or "Paw.". A precocious kid might use the word "precocious" where their peers just call them "smart" or

https://writersedit.com/inspiration/3-key-differences-between-ya-fiction-and-adult-fiction/
Let's dive in! 1. The age of the protagonist/s. Without a doubt, the primary difference between young adult and adult fiction is the age of the main characters. For a book to fall firmly into the 'young adult' category, it must have at least one teenage protagonist, usually aged in the upper teens - between 15 and 19 years old.

https://journeytokidlit.com/write-a-childrens-book-how-to-guide/
2. Your Target Reader & Word Count - Added in the Upper Righthand Corner. In the upper, right-hand corner you should include your target reader and word count when you format your children's manuscript-If you don't know who your book is for, read my article on the different age levels for children's books.

https://journeytokidlit.com/picture-book-or-early-reader-difference/
The difference between a picture book and an early reader. Hope this helps you with your story draft today. And if you'd like more help learning what it takes to write a truly wonderful children's book, take Kidlit Writing 101. Our introductory course into writing for kids! Sign-up here. More great articles to help you with your writing:

https://kidlit.com/rewriting-sentences/
Rewriting sentences with the goal of trimming and tightening is worth it. T he perceived difference to the reader (how quickly the pacing moves, how smoothly the descriptions read, how efficiently we get from scene to scene) will be worth much more than the actual number of words you've trimmed. And remember: it's more productive to think

https://writeforkids.org/blog/top-15-childrens-ya-book-review-sites/
What's being reviewed: Four reviewers (all moms) review al l genres of fiction for readers aged 9-18 with an eye toward helping parents choose books for their kids. Requires that books have a 10 digit ISBN number and be available on Amazon.com. At this time does not accept self-published books or short story collections, and e-books are subject to reviewer's discretion.

https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/61z0z1/what_do_you_think_marks_the_difference_between_ya/
Heh, I could kinda tell this was the case by your first paragraph. There are tons of YA fantasies saturated in world building, and the whole YA contemporary genre is specifically focused on characterization and less on plot. You should give more of them a try. You'll probably be surprised in a good way by what's out there.

https://kidlit.com/category/writing/
One of the biggest challenges I encounter in my editorial practice is picture books that show character change in a clumsy or overbearing way. Picture books, more than any other category of kidlit, are about character change, a moral, or a lesson.A strong takeaway is expected because we want our young readers to be eating a little bit of medicine (the moral) with their syrup (the story).

https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/9h9ek6/whats_the_differences_between_writing_for_kids/
The crucial difference between writing for adults and children is that there is no difference: no difference in depth of meaning, and no difference in sophistication or complexity. If you writing for kids rather than adults, you need a stronger handle on what's currently in the shops. A lot of people make the mistake of writing the sort of

https://kidlit.com/picture-book/
Why Picture Book Writing Style Matters. Children's books are a unique subset of publishing because you're dealing with many different age groups and reading levels. When you write a novel for adult readers, you don't really have to think about this stuff. It's presumed that most people will be pretty proficient readers, otherwise they

https://kidlit.com/resources-for-writers/
I love teaching and working with writers to support their dreams and goals. WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers is a comprehensive craft manual with dozens of excerpts from popular novels that are used as teaching tools, interviews with book editors and published authors