I write YA novels myself, and I often hear writers say that they don’t know which category their own novel falls into. 

This is an important distinction to make. Literary agents are sticklers for making sure stories are classified correctly, and you can’t sell your book if you’re marketing it as something it’s not.

Here are four key aspects to look at that can help you determine whether a story — either yours or somebody else’s — is more accurately classified as young adult or middle grade.

1. Check the word count

How long should your story be? Word count is important when it comes to figuring out what type of book you’re writing. 

Most middle-grade books run between 30,000 and 50,000 words since they’re geared for kids on a lower reading level (normally eight- to 12-year-olds). Young adult books are generally 50,000 to 75,000 words and meant for 13- to 18-year-olds (although both MG and YA books can be longer if they’re fantasy).

However, as Writer’s Digest points out, these aren’t hard-and-fast rules. Think about the Harry Potter books, for example, which are technically middle grade: the first book in the series was 77,000 words, while Deathly Hallows got all the way up to 200,000.

That’s why you can’t use word count alone to determine who a book is geared for. Let’s look at other factors you should consider, too.

2. Check the prose level

A 10-year-old is on a different reading level than a 17-year-old, so the prose needs to be adjusted accordingly. 

Middle-grade books are written in simple, clear language; however, they can’t sound dumbed-down, which is why the middle-grade voice is so hard to nail. 

Here’s an example of a passage from Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry:

“The Phantom pricked her ears. She whirled around and almost collided with Watch Eyes in her haste to find the band. She wanted the Pied Piper for protection. Behind her trotted the foal, all shining and clean with its newness.”

Middle grade books are made up of simple sentences that are easy to read. In YA, the prose is more emotional; sentences run on, winding their way across the page, showing emotion — or they stop. Abruptly. 

It’s all about creating an experience for the reader and authentically showing the character’s voice. 

Take this example from Divergent by Veronica Roth:

“He leans his face close to mine and wraps his fingers around my chin. His hand smells like metal. When was the last time he held a gun, or a knife? My skin tingles at the point of contact, like he’s transmitting electricity through his skin. 

‘My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press,’ he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break. My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe.”

See how this writing style is different? The sentences are longer, dragging on to create a sense of tension, sounding more lyrical rather than cut-and-dry.

Here’s one more tip about prose and voice: Keep in mind that middle-grade books are very often written in third-person, while the trend for YA is first-person. 

3. Check the character

In YA, the protagonist typically leaves home while in MG they’re connected to home.

To put this another way, in a middle grade book the protagonist will discover who they are in relation to home. The plot is very centered around the main character’s family and hometown. 

By YA, however, the protagonist is ready to strike out on their own — to go somewhere new and discover who they are in relation to the world.

The age of the protagonist plays a part, too, since the main character’s age typically matches the age of the readers. 

Generally, a middle grade book has a main character that’s 9-12 years old, while in YA the protagonist can be anywhere from 14-18. (Claire Legrand, who writes both MG and YA books, recommends avoiding writing a 13-year-old main character as publishers aren’t sure what to do with that.) If the main character is in college, the book would most likely be considered new adult instead of young adult.

4. Check the content

Violence, language and sex — how much of these components does your manuscript have? 

Let’s look at these one-by-one and figure out where the line is drawn.

Violence

When it comes to violence, less is more for middle grade. When MG books do have violence, it tends to be of a magical nature, such as the fantastical monsters who play a part in the popular Percy Jackson book series. This type of violence feels more distant than violence that happens in the real world. 

YA books are more open to violence and gore; in Six of Crows, for instance, Leigh Bardugo’s character Kaz Brekker calmly plucks out a prisoner’s eye and tosses it overboard into the ocean. Real-world violence such as abuse and other traumatic experiences is also much more common in YA (example: A List of Cages by Robin Roe).

Language

Language in middle-grade books doesn’t go far beyond “damn,” whereas young adult books play a little looser with four-letter words. And many MG and YA books alike use a made-up system of swearing if they’re set in a different world; James Dashner’s Maze Runner series has its own terms, such as “klunk” for “crap” and “slinthead” as a derogatory term. 

Words like this can serve a twofold purpose — to help the fantasy or dystopian world feel more real, and to water down a story for younger readers.

Romance

Finally, as far as romance, middle-grade books are very chaste; characters might hold hands or even kiss. Young adult books, however, push this further — think of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, where the scenes between Clary and Jace get downright steamy.

In a nutshell, middle grade books are generally PG, while young adult books can be rated PG-13.

With these tools in hand, you can self-evaluate your manuscript and determine whether it’s middle grade or young adult — and then you can feel confident in your decision as you send it off to publishers.

Photo via Dotshock/ Shutterstock 

You send dozens of email pitches to prospective clients but hear nothing but crickets — or at least, that’s what often happens to me.

Recently, though, I had a mindset shift. I’m not just a writer; I’m a business owner.

I’m selling my services. And if you’ve ever been on a company’s email list, you probably know that they follow up with a vengeance, time after time after time. Does it work? 50% of sales happen after the fifth follow-up, so that’s a yes.

Here’s why following up on your pitches is so important for freelance writers, and the best ways to do it with success.

Don’t be afraid to follow up

Too many freelance writers are afraid to follow up. They think it makes them seem pushy or annoying and they’ll never get a client from a follow-up email, so why bother?

I used to have the same fears — that is, until I started getting clients from follow-up messages.

Think about your inbox. It’s crowded, you’re busy and sometimes things fall through the cracks. If you delete a message without reading it (and without fully realizing what it is), would you be mad if the sender emails you again a few weeks later?

Of course not — especially not if they’re offering something of value.

Remember, the person on the other side of the computer is just that: a person. If you follow up after an appropriate amount of time and do it with respect and kindness, they should have no problem with your email.

Do follow up correctly

How long should you wait before following up on a piece of marketing? Use five business days as a bare minimum; people are busy, and they don’t have time to dig their way to the bottom of their inbox each day.

If you’re approaching or returning from a holiday, give people even more grace. And remember, life circumstances can strike at any time, making email even less of a priority.

There’s a little controversy about how many times to follow up with any one client. I know some writers who don’t follow up at all. I know others who keep following up for years. I fall somewhere in-between.

I used to send two follow-up emails to each prospect — one a week after my initial point of contact via LOI (letter of introduction), and one more two to three weeks after that first follow-up.

Eventually I realized that I was getting lots of responses to the first follow-up email, but zero responses to the second. So I decided to let prospects go after just one follow-up message. And with job applications, I rarely follow up at all.

Experiment and figure out what works for you.

You also may want to make sure your emails are getting opened. Use a tool such as Hubspot Sales or Streak, which is a Gmail add-on, to see if your initial email was opened. If it wasn’t, you might have the wrong email address, or your message may have landed in the recipient’s spam folder. Whatever the case, you don’t want to waste your time sending emails into a black hole.

Finally, change your mindset about following up. You’re not just asking for work — you’re cultivating a relationship. Consider sending your point of contact an article that made you think of them or wishing them a happy holiday during the appropriate times of year.

Craft your follow-up message carefully

A good follow-up email has three primary components:

• A compliment to the company
• A reminder that you’re available
• A timely hook to bring it all together.

For instance:

Subject: Congrats on ABC award!

Hi [first name],

Congratulations on winning ABC award for XYZ initiative. That’s pretty cool — this must be such an exciting time for you!

I wanted to reach back out and send you an article I recently had published about [relevant topic]. With your new XYZ initiative to [do something similar], I thought you might find it interesting.

Meanwhile, I’m looking at my calendar for the next few months and was wondering if you could use any help producing content with the holiday rush coming up? I’d love to hop on a call and discuss your needs. Are you still focusing on blogging as a big part of your content marketing strategy?

Thanks,

[your name]

Yes, following up really works

But does this method really work? Yes, absolutely!

I keep a handwritten log of all my marketing efforts — sending LOI’s to companies, applying to jobs from job boards and pitching article ideas to magazines. My log for LOI’s (it’s very basic) has four columns: company, date sent, date of follow-up and the response.

When I flip back through my notes, one trend stands out — often, I got a response from the company after I sent a follow-up message. Sometimes they said no, sometimes they asked for clips of my work, sometimes they said to check back in a few months. And other times, I won big.

That’s what happened when I sent an LOI to the marketing manager of a leading digital marketing agency in my state. Over a week passed and I hadn’t heard anything, so I sent her a quick note just to make sure she’d received my message.

She responded and said she’d been on vacation and had missed my email; she was impressed with my experience and wanted to know if I could write a blog post for the agency’s website? (I could!)

That turned into a steady stream of work equaling $1,000 a month for the next few months.

Thanks to that freelance position, I became very well-versed in digital marketing and gained many new clips to add to my new portfolio. In that case, following up was 100% worth it — and if you begin following up with your prospects, you could win big, too.

Photo via Nong Mars / Shutterstock