Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US
Most guidelines for writers for young people concerning book lengths and target age groups found online and taught in creative writing courses are, understandably, geared towards the UK and US markets. But for those authors who are based elsewhere and aim to write for their home market – as in my c...
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| Language: | English |
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Elen Caldecott & Lucy Cuthew
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Leaf Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/view/96 |
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| _version_ | 1850151100022259712 |
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| author | Kristien Potgieter |
| author_facet | Kristien Potgieter |
| author_sort | Kristien Potgieter |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Most guidelines for writers for young people concerning book lengths and target age groups found online and taught in creative writing courses are, understandably, geared towards the UK and US markets. But for those authors who are based elsewhere and aim to write for their home market – as in my case, South Africa – categories such as picturebooks, Middle Grade fiction and Young Adult fiction will have different book lengths and target ages associated with them. In South Africa, for example, picturebooks are often read by children as old as eight and nine years old. This has clear implications for the author, who must try to keep the target age of the reader in mind when writing.
In this presentation, I will make use of a few recent examples of South African books for young people, ranging from chapter books to Young Adult novels, and including my own recently published Middle Grade novel, to discuss some regional differences in age groups and target book lengths. I contextualise these differences partly as a result of South Africa’s literacy levels and the country’s multilingualism.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ac5694574e5e412697caed943132da4d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2753-6920 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elen Caldecott & Lucy Cuthew |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Leaf Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-ac5694574e5e412697caed943132da4d2025-08-20T02:26:23ZengElen Caldecott & Lucy CuthewLeaf Journal2753-69202023-12-011210.58091/X5QV-N563Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and USKristien Potgieter Most guidelines for writers for young people concerning book lengths and target age groups found online and taught in creative writing courses are, understandably, geared towards the UK and US markets. But for those authors who are based elsewhere and aim to write for their home market – as in my case, South Africa – categories such as picturebooks, Middle Grade fiction and Young Adult fiction will have different book lengths and target ages associated with them. In South Africa, for example, picturebooks are often read by children as old as eight and nine years old. This has clear implications for the author, who must try to keep the target age of the reader in mind when writing. In this presentation, I will make use of a few recent examples of South African books for young people, ranging from chapter books to Young Adult novels, and including my own recently published Middle Grade novel, to discuss some regional differences in age groups and target book lengths. I contextualise these differences partly as a result of South Africa’s literacy levels and the country’s multilingualism. https://ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/view/96beyond the anglospherechildren's publishing |
| spellingShingle | Kristien Potgieter Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US Leaf Journal beyond the anglosphere children's publishing |
| title | Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US |
| title_full | Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US |
| title_fullStr | Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US |
| title_full_unstemmed | Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US |
| title_short | Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US |
| title_sort | book lengths and target age groups writing for young people in regions outside the uk and us |
| topic | beyond the anglosphere children's publishing |
| url | https://ojs.library.lancs.ac.uk/lj/article/view/96 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kristienpotgieter booklengthsandtargetagegroupswritingforyoungpeopleinregionsoutsidetheukandus |