I recently spent some quality browsing-time in my local San Jose, California Barnes & Noble store, and was surprised to see a staffer taking down one of the Harlequin endcaps (permanently) and unshelving romances onto a cart.
"What gives?" I asked them. Turns out they were making room to add a Teen section. I returned to the bookstore today, and it appears that they have (at least somewhat) reduced the size of the Romance, Science Fiction, and Graphic Novel sections to make way for the Teen section.
Only one Harlequin/Silhouette endcap remained. I found the rest of the category paperbacks summarily squished onto the bottom rack of the first shelf in.
Now, as someone in their 30's, I frankly would never set foot in a "Teen" section unless I was purchasing a gift for a kid. Specificaly, a "tween-aged kid" rather than a "teen," because my cool teenage nieces and nephews DO NOT shop in "Teen" sections. Instead, like me a generation before, my nieces and nephews went straight from kids' books to various genres of adult literature.
As a kid, I remember being captivated by Judy Blume books like "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret?".......and later sorely disappointed by her YA works like "Forever." So, I skipped most of the slim YA offerings in favor of Austen, Bronte, and the terrific Harlequin and Silhouette books that came out every month.
In examing the new "Teen" section, I was actually pretty impressed with a number of the selections. They had everything from romance to paranormals to serious National Book Award-winning fiction.
Interestingly, I recall that B&N previously had a small Teen section back in the Children's Books area. I am assuming that the corporate decision to expand the Teen section and sandwich it by Romance & Sci/Fi is to appeal to teenagers who do not want to shop next to rampaging grade-schoolers.
If it works, it's a clever marketing ploy for that generation.....and also gets them closer to the next-stage pop culture books.
However, I must be honest -- not one person (other than me) went to shop in the Teen section during my two visits -- while a TON of people picked up books in the Romance and SciFi sections.
I'm curious to hear back from people --
1. Are the major book chains in your area adding expanded Teen sections?
2. Are people actually buying books aimed at teens (which seems like a relatively small market segment)?
3. Is the addition of a larger Teen section at the expense of the Romance and Sci-Fi sections?
"It's perfectly normal to love both Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe..." -- (Me!)
They did....
They did the same thing at my books a million. They squished the romance section a little, but what really paid the price was the mystery section.
Laughter is an instant vacation- Milton Berle
Books a Million
At Books a Million, are you seeing a lot of foot traffic at the Teen Section?
I guess the main reason I'm so surprised about the rise of Teen sections is that I'm from a huge Irish family and have a TON of young relatives.
Also, several of my friends had their kids when they were much younger (mine's only a toddler) and they're now all in their teens....
So I know a reasonable number of teenagers, and NONE of them seem to read YA.
"It's perfectly normal to love both Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe..." -- (Me!)
My girls were reading sci-fi
My girls were reading sci-fi from the age of 10 for the eldest and 8 for the youngest. They both totally skipped in YA books unless it was an assignment for school. Chain stores are all doing the same thing here--expanding the teen, squeezing out what my dh and I read.
Nancy
Nancy,
My nieces and nephews were exactly the same -- all skipped YA books in favor of adult genre literature (mainly sci-fi, but my niece does read some romance).
I think you've hit upon an interesting point about reading YA for school assignments.....I'm wondering if that could be enough to merit the large chains expanding their sections.
I got so annoyed by this that I emailed my nieces and nephews this evening -- a couple have confirmed their lack of interest in "Teen" reading.
Bring back the full-sized Romance, Sci-Fi, and Mystery sections, I say!
"It's perfectly normal to love both Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe..." -- (Me!)
D**th to marketing
D**th to marketing departments everywhere! LOL They make decisions based on money, when I wish they would make decisions based on heart. But then, I don't feel the need for a gazillion kinds of breakfast cereals either.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
Teen books worthy of mention
On the other hand, there are some new teen paranormal series coming out that I love as an adult and I think cross age boundaries. I'm thinking of the new House of Night series by P.C. Cast and her daughter Kristin... and then there is all the press about Twlight... which is still on my TBR list..
I assume that the increased emphasis on Teen literature has prompted some of these new series to be published. (Or have I got the cart before the horse and their popularity are prompting the bookstores to MAKE the new teen sections)
Crystal
100,000 Books Blog: crystalrclass
I actually think the teen section is a great idea.
My teenage daughter loves to read but has trouble comprehending what she reads. Bless her heart--she tried to go straight to adult books but it would take her months to finish a book. So I had the bright idea of looking in the hopefully more appropriate teen section and bought her The Mediator series by Meg Cabot for her birthday. My sister bought her the 1-800-where-are-you series. She's really enjoying them and reads them at a more reasonable pace. And she doesn't feel so bad about how long it takes her to read anymore. She just needed something better suited for her reading level.
I also agree there are a lot of books out there that are great cross-overs. I don't hesitate to read a YA book if the blurb sounds good to me. And I think it's great that my daughter and I can "share" a book experience.
FWIW, I think the growing teen section is a marketing ploy to cash in more on the popularity of the YA books being made into movies and used for television ideas.
Shannon
Shannon
batmom72@yahoo.com
There has been a big concern
There has been a big concern in our area that teens were just not reading anymore. How much of this is a reaction to try to put books back in the hands of teens and young adults? I may (selfishly) not like losing shelf space for my favorite reads, but maybe it is needed.
Nancy
Fake Frenchie,
Fake Frenchie,
Bless your heart, and I tend to share your opinion of the marketing machine in general. ;-)
"It's perfectly normal to love both Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe..." -- (Me!)
Crystal, Shannon, and Nancy
Thank you for writing in on this -- I appreciate your viewpoints. It sounds like expanded Teen sections are springing up in a number of different chain bookstores.
Believe me, as a literacy volunteer, I am excited to see anything that will encourage young readers. I just was....SURPRISED to see traditionally popular genre sections reduced to make way for it.
To be fair, numbers rule at the major chain stores, so those genres must be selling at least slightly less in order to justify the change!!
Crystal, I will watch out for those paranormal YA titles -- my niece may be interested in them! Thank you!
"It's perfectly normal to love both Jane Austen and Edgar Allan Poe..." -- (Me!)
I love Teen Books..In between
Yes, I have seen an expansion at my local bookstore(Books a million). I am a true, die hard adult novel fan, because I have always read adult novels. But when it comes to Christopher Pike and Graphic novels I read those too.
I've seen people actually buying teen books...for their teens. When I worked at a bookstore last year, a few moms were with their teens buying "Gossip Girls" and some were buying Teen Christian fiction as well.
Although the teen section has expanded, it wasn't at the expense of other sections like Harlequin romances orSci/fi, they were shelved near them of course. I think if the market expands to get more teens reading, then some literature will be pushed back.
I love both Avatar novels and Jodi Picoult!
I never had any interest in
I never had any interest in books marketed to my age when I was a teen. I probably would like them more as an adult than I ever would have as a teen.
While it is good to have anything that encourages reading, and some teen books are great, really great, there is a part of me that feels hesitant to embrace this trend. When I see parents list what books their kids are reading as teens and esp. in schools, it seems to me reading levels are considerably lower than they were in my time. This is not good. Yes, I was a total nerd so I try to step back and outside myself knowng not every kid is like I was (and also knowin academic success is not necessarily the most important thing in life) and I know reading should be fun, esp. outside of school but I still have reservations. I think marketing to target groups by age, race and gender can seriously limit discovery and I do worry about marketing homogenizing and taking over all aspects of life, not just books. That being said, some marketing is good and since I buy many Harlequin books by subscription, I obviously find comfort in that kind of marketing 9but I do explore outside my preferred lines too.) I don't think there are any cut and dry answers.
I do not like seeing Romance and Sci-Fi lessened this way. As a person who is rapidly approaching 50, I am getting a bit sick and tired of seeing my demographic group shoved to the side for the young strictly due to marketing. Lots of young people love romance and Sci-Fi. When I do admission inerviews for my high school, one of the main interview questions is asking a candidate to tell what is their favorite book and talk about it. 98% of the time, i think kids choose sci-fi/fantasy or romance.
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
I have a younger cousin
She avidly reads the teen books. I love Emily dearly and she may be my favorite cousin because she's soooo artsy and creative. She always has a book in her hands (usually paranormal/fantasy). She's around 16. She's read Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and several others. She recommends books to me. I'm going to take her up on Twilight. :)
Laughter is an instant vacation- Milton Berle
Some time ago I read that
Some time ago I read that most tweens are the kiddos reading the teen books. It's the I-want-to-be-seen-as-older phenomenon. I don't mind encouraging young people to read, but I don't want to lose shelf space in a book store. Selfish? Yep, you bet it is.
Nancy