Literature trend – “New Adult” – Young readers inspire the book industry – Culture

Frankfurt/Main (dpa) – Young people who read enthusiastically? Real books? In times of digitalization and social media, many believed that young audiences would be lost to the literary market. But currently the opposite is the case. Young readers – or my young readers – are a great glimmer of hope for the industry – not despite, but because of Instagram, Tiktok and Co.

“We are observing the strongest growth rates among young people between the ages of 12 and 29, and especially among young women,” says the head of Germany’s largest bookseller Thalia, Ingo Kretzschmar.

“While the older target group was previously considered the safe bank of the book market, young readers are currently boosting the book business,” said Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, head of the German Book Trade Association, back in the summer.

The trend is called “New Adult”. The publisher Piper (everlove) describes them as “exciting, romantic and tingling books with a lot of feeling and a good portion of heart-pounding emotions”. And dtv says it’s about “the best stories about growing up” full of romance and great feelings.

Book fair for the first time with a hall for “New Adults”

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, an entire hall was set aside specifically for the “New Adult Area”. “We are taking up new developments in the market,” explained book fair director Jürgen Boos. In the “New Adult Area” the trade fair has “more of the character of a convention”. It’s about signing or taking selfies with the authors. But it’s not just heartbreak literature, also fantasy or a “romance”, a mixture of both, that is offered in the hall.

““New Adult” closes a gap between youth literature – i.e. young adult – and adult literature. “The core group is between 18 and 25 years old,” explains program director Simon Decot from Bastei Lübbe. “A real boost 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.

“Maxton Hall” series brings publisher growth spurt

An enormous success for the publisher was the “Maxton Hall” film adaptation on Amazon Prime Video based on the “Save me” series by Mona Kasten. In its opening week, the German series landed at number one in the Prime Video charts in more than 120 countries.

It tells the college love story of the arrogant millionaire’s son James Beaufort and the down-to-earth, clever Ruby Bell.

“Save me” was published by Lyx, a publishing brand owned by Bastei Lübbe that focused entirely on “New Adult”. And while “Maxton Hall – The World Between Us” premiered on the streaming service at the beginning of May, sales at Lyx shot up 72 percent in the spring quarter.

Of course, Lyx will also have a large stand at the trade fair. This is decorated in pastel pink and with flowers and candles. In addition to books, there is all sorts of merch there such as bracelets, postcards and key rings. After the stand was regularly overrun last year, free tickets for a specific time slot will be offered on the weekend when the fair opens to the public. It is similar with the authors’ book signings in the “New Adult Area”.

More accessibility through social media

The author “DC Odesza” is also represented with her own stand at the area. She publishes mostly through self-publishing and, with her rather dark books, is not quite part of the classic genre. “Social media plays an extremely important role,” says the blonde woman. “This enables a much stronger connection to the readership and direct exchange.” There is a new approachability.” At the same time, however, privacy is important to her, which is why she publishes under a pseudonym and will not see her real name published. Like Lyx, DC Odesza also organized a party for their 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 formulate their wishes,” says Simon Decot from Bastei Lübbe. Many had also started writing themselves. “To a certain extent, this is a kind of self-empowerment for the target group.” And: “The enthusiasm for the book medium among young readers is something that can only warm our hearts in the industry.”

Can you make the jump to other literary segments?

And what does he say to the criticism that “New Adult” is more of a shallow literature?: “I find it very difficult when you try to tell readers what they should read or look down on their reading needs.” The publisher I have noticed that the interest of young readers is also increasing in other literary segments.

Schmidt-Friderichs from the Börsenverein sees it similarly: “New Adult”, “Young Adult” and “Romantasy” get a lot of young people to read. And the great thing is that from this literature they also turn to classics. “That means they also jump into more feature-style reading.” As for the content of “New Adult,” she says: “Let me answer autobiographically. Not everything I read between the ages of 15 and 25 would still blow me away today.”

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