Just as artists explore other genres or forms of art, authors also dabble in new literary territories. Generally, when a new author starts their publishing journey, they must decide whether to go “young adult” or “adult.” That is, they must decide whether to write for young adult or adult audiences. A YA romance is vastly different from adult romance. YA contemporary fiction is not the same as new adult fiction. As a voracious reader, you would definitely tell the difference.

Although it’s possible for an author to write for both, usually only those that already have a solid history of work can manage to pull it off successfully. First-time authors don’t usually have this privilege because publishers don’t like to risk confusing readers. What if the author’s YA fanbase stumbles upon the adult (and steamy) book of the author? The experience can be jarring, messing up their unestablished branding. Thus, most authors in their early careers are advised to focus on one audience. Some writers get creative by using pen names for each genre or audience they want to write in, allowing them to easily switch between different writing styles. But the general consensus is that writers should build a strong foundation in one genre or audience first before trying out another one, or that they should make a transition or crossover to a closely related genre (for instance, from middle grade to YA, not YA to medical nonfiction all of a sudden).

Writing for a different audience is vital for career longevity and creative freedom. Here are eight YA authors who made the switch to adult audiences:

From Top Boy and Sex Education to The Other Black Girl

July 28 – September 2, 2023

June 2 – August 30, 2023

August is coming to its end—a blessing or a curse, depending who you ask. Here’s what the Review’s staff and friends are doing these days, before we all go (metaphorically) back to school.

Summer Streets, August 26: It is the last weekend of New York’s Summer Streets, so take advantage now, runners, bikers, and amblers. Huge stretches of the city will be shut down between 7 A.M. and 1 P.M. this Saturday in Brooklyn and the Bronx; vendors will be hawking wares like coconut water, ice cream, and Coca-Cola. Our web editor, Sophie Haigney, will be jogging merrily along the car-free expanse of Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

New York Liberty vs. Las Vegas Aces at Barclays Center, August 28: Our assistant editor Oriana Ullman encourages everyone to turn out for the tail end of the WNBA season, one of summer’s great sporting pleasures. “This is the last matchup of the year between the league’s two superteams,” Oriana tells us. “The Liberty just beat the Aces in the Commissioner’s Cup, but go to get another preview of what the Finals showdown will probably be.” (The playoffs begin September 13.)

The U.S. Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, August 28–September 10: Our managing editor, Kelley Deane McKinney, recommends going on opening day, when there will be matches happening on twenty-two courts. A day pass will get you access to twenty-one of them. She advises anyone attending to skip the main court, Arthur Ashe: “The stadium is too big for tennis and the good seats are all corporate boxes full of people who don’t know or care about the games and chat loudly the whole time,” she says. “Real heads know that Louis Armstrong is the better show court, only seating fourteen thousand.” A tip: sections one and two get the most shade during the day, but every seat has a great view! You can skip the signature cocktail, the Honey Deuce, which features tennis ball–shaped honeydew pieces floating in spiked raspberry lemonade “for, like, twenty-two dollars. This year I bet it’s twenty-five.”

How And Just Like That series two inspired conflicted emotions in viewers

July 1 – August 27, 2023

July 29 – August 26, 2023

I began writing this essay while putting off writing another one. My apartment is full of books I haven’t read, and others I read so long ago that I barely remember what’s in them. When I’m writing something, I’m often tempted to pick one up that has nothing to do with my subject. I’ve always wanted to read this, I think, idly flipping through, my eyes fixing on a stray phrase or two. Maybe it will give me a new idea.

In this moment of mild delusion, I’m distracted. I’ve always wanted to write an essay about distraction, I think. Add it to the laundry list of incomplete ideas I continue to nurse because some part of me suspects they will never come to fruition, and so will never have to be endured by readers. These are things you can keep in the drawer of your mind, glittering with unrealized potential. In the top row of my bedroom bookshelf is a copy of Flaubert’s final novel, Bouvard and Pécuchet. Something about it seems appropriate, though I’m not sure exactly what. I pluck it down.

***

There’s nothing quite like Ally McCoist doing co-comms at Ibrox. Today Marcus, Jim, Vish and Pete are here not only to reflect on that but ask the important question: Does Luuk de Jong remind you of Terminator?

Elsewhere, we try to decide whether Pep Guardiola will ask a fan to manage Man City while he recovers from back surgery and Jim starts beef with a child...

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