2024-10-17 11:24:00
Books provide many emotions and heart palpitations – and above all they are one thing: success. “New Adult” plays a central role at the Frankfurt Book Fair. But what exactly is behind it?
Frankfurt/Main.
Young people who read with enthusiasm? Real books? In times of digitalization and social media, many believed that young audiences would be lost in the literary market. But currently the opposite is true. Young readers, or rather young readers, represent a great glimmer of hope for the sector, not despite, but thanks to Instagram, Tiktok and Co.
“We observe the strongest growth rates among young people between 12 and 29 years old, and especially among young women,” says the director of Germany’s largest bookshop Thalia, Ingo Kretzschmar.
“Whereas previously the older target group was considered the safe bank of the book market, today young readers are reviving the book trade,” Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, director of the German Book Trade Association, said last summer .
“New Adult” is the name of the trend. These are “exciting, romantic and gripping books, with a lot of feeling and a good dose of heart-pounding”, is how publisher Piper (everlove) describes them. And dtv says these are the “best stories about growing up”, full of romance and big feelings.
Book fair for the first time with a pavilion for “New Adults”
At the Frankfurt Book Fair an entire pavilion was dedicated specifically to the “New Adult Area”. “We adopt new market developments,” explains book fair director Juergen Boos. In the “New Adult Area” the fair has “more of the character of a conference”. It involves signing or taking selfies with the authors. But not only heart-breaking literature is offered in the room, but also fantasy or “romance”, a mixture of both.
“”New Adult” bridges the gap between youth literature – i.e. young adult – and adult literature. The main group is between 18 and 25 years old,” explains program director Simon Decot from Bastei Lübbe. “A real impetus came during the Corona period. Because the target group was at home a lot, read a lot and at the same time #Booktok became a huge topic.” Using the hashtag #Booktok, readers, publishers, and authors share reading tips and more on Tiktok.
The “Maxton Hall” series brings an acceleration to the growth of publishers
A huge success for the publisher was the film adaptation “Maxton Hall” on Amazon Prime Video based on the “Save me” series by Mona Kasten. In its opening week, the German series reached number one in the Prime Video charts in more than 120 countries.
It tells the college love story between the arrogant son of millionaire James Beaufort and the intelligent and simple Ruby Bell.
“Save me” was published by Lyx, a publishing imprint owned by Bastei Lübbe that focuses entirely on “New Adult”. And while “Maxton Hall – The World Between Us” premiered on the streaming service in early May, Lyx sales jumped 72% in the spring quarter.
The Lyx Publishing stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Image: Boris Roessler/dpa
The Lyx Publishing stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Image: Boris Roessler/dpa
Of course Lyx will also have a large stand at the fair. This is decorated in pastel pink and with flowers and candles. In addition to books, you can find all kinds of objects there, such as bracelets, postcards and key rings. After the stand was literally stormed last year, the public will be offered free tickets for a specific time slot on the opening weekend of the fair. The same thing happens with book signings by authors in the “New Adult Area”.
Greater accessibility through social media
The author “DC Odesza” is also represented with her stand in the area. He publishes mainly through self-publishing and with his rather obscure books does not quite fall into the classic genre. “Social media plays an extremely important role,” says the blonde woman. “This allows for a much stronger connection with readers and a direct exchange. There is a new accessibility.” At the same time, privacy is important to her, which is why she publishes under a pseudonym and does not want her real name to be published. Like Lyx, DC Odesza also organized a party for its fan community on the sidelines of the book fair, “which was immediately sold out”.
“Social media is very important because ultimately the genre could only become so strong because the target group had a space to exchange ideas and express their wishes,” says Simon Decot from Bastei Lübbe. Many have also started writing on their own. “To a certain extent, this is a kind of self-empowerment for the target group.” And: “The enthusiasm for the book among young readers is something that can only make our hearts soar in the industry.”
Can you make the leap to other literary segments?
And what do you say about the criticism that “New Adult” is more superficial literature?: “I have a lot of trouble when you try to tell readers what they should read or disregard their reading needs.” The publisher noted that the interest of young readers is also growing in other literary segments.
Schmidt-Friderichs from the Börsenverein sees it the same way: “New Adult”, “Young Adult” and “Romantasy” get many young people reading. And the great thing is that from this literature they also turn to the classics. “This means they also transition into more feature-style reading.” As for the content of “New Adult,” he says, “Let me answer autobiographically. Not everything I read from 15 to 25 would still amaze me today.” (dpa)
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