Jennifer Hunt: Finding Your Inner YA

Jennifer Hunt is an Editorial Director at Little, Brown for Young Readers.

A little about Little, Brown:
-original publisher of Little Women and Catcher in the Rye
-do not believe in chasing trends
-a boutique publisher with a very focused list


Pillars of great YA writing:
-An authentic voice is the most important part of an YA book. It must be age appropriate. It must be character specific.
-Authentic Story: need to be able to make the evergreen topics fresh again and again.


Pillars of great YA writers

-They take their work seriously and are dedicated to excellence.
-They respect their audience.
-They are willing to hustle.


Q & A Time!

Too cool when an editor hands out books to those who ask a question. Much editor love for that!

So, of course, I had to ask:

Q: "You fall in love with a book. It has authentic voice and authentic story. Is there a particular thing you find yourself asking of your authors in the revision process?

A: Can you make it more layered? (In the sense of character, Jennifer does not like them to be thin. They are more authentic with many layers.)

POSTED BY JOLIE STEKLY