I’ve been thinking what to write about on this blog. I mean, there’s already so many out there – what on earth have I got to say that thousands of others haven’t said already?
I’ve also been pondering who might read it. I write books for teens, so hopefully some of you would fall into the catch-all category of ‘young adult’. But then I read an interesting statistic a few months back, that over half of YA books are bought by fully-fledged adults – ie. people over the age of 18. And of these adults, most are in the 30-44 age bracket, accounting for 28 per cent of YA sales.
So they’re buying books for other teenagers, right? Well, no. Apparently not. When asked by industry gurus Bowker Market Research, 78 per cent said they were buying these books for themselves. Interesting.
These are US statistics, but there’s no reason to believe the picture is any different this side of the pond. So, I suppose I can safely assume that over half of my potential book and blog readers – not counting any chickens here – will be adults. Hmmm…
So, here’s what I’ve decided. I’ll offer a mix. Maybe a few recurring themes. News about the books, obviously – but not too much, because I don’t want to bore the pyjamas off you. Some writing stuff, though there’s so much fantastic advice out there I don’t see the point in adding to it unnecessarily. The odd book review. Things I wish I’d known at 13 – because… well, just because. And expect random silliness, things of interest, and terriers. Lots of terriers.
So let’s kick off with my Gratuitous Terrier Picture of the Month:
