This wonderful post was published while I was on vacation in Mexico. I didn't have the internet access that I had hoped for. That was probably a good thing. We had a great time, but I did have access to what i needed to give Morgan Rath credit for her work. She did the research for this column as part of senior thesis project at Arizona State University. Great work Morgan. We hope to hear more from her as she leaves the university.
I wasn’t sure what to expect as I began my senior thesis project back in September 2015. I did know what my topic would be though: a visual and rhetorical analysis of how young adult novels were marketed. I have always been a fan of young adult novels, and with a background in public relations and marketing, this was the logical and most appealing topic selection for me. Plus, I figured it would give me something unique to discuss in job interviews, a thought that is on the mind of any college senior.
With the topic nailed down, I embarked on an eight-month journey into the world of visual and rhetorical analysis as it pertains to young adult novels. I wanted to know what visual and rhetorical elements marketers were using to draw in the young adult crowd. Rhetorically, I used the concepts of logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos. Visually, I utilized the principles outlined by Dr. Frank Serafini in his novel Reading the Visual. I applied these criteria to the Big Five publishing houses’ (Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan, and HarperCollins) young adult web platforms. For example, Epic Reads is the interactive web platform created by HarperCollins to push out it’s YA titles. I also applied the visual and rhetorical analysis strategies to the respective web platform’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
With the topic nailed down, I embarked on an eight-month journey into the world of visual and rhetorical analysis as it pertains to young adult novels. I wanted to know what visual and rhetorical elements marketers were using to draw in the young adult crowd. Rhetorically, I used the concepts of logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos. Visually, I utilized the principles outlined by Dr. Frank Serafini in his novel Reading the Visual. I applied these criteria to the Big Five publishing houses’ (Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan, and HarperCollins) young adult web platforms. For example, Epic Reads is the interactive web platform created by HarperCollins to push out it’s YA titles. I also applied the visual and rhetorical analysis strategies to the respective web platform’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Finally, I selected five books to analyze from each of these sites based on their homepage placement: the book that was placed closest to the top of the page, furthest to the left, and the largest. Based on that, my five novels were Morrighan: A Remnant Chronicles Novella by Mary E. Pearson, Other Broken Things by C. Desir, A Gatlin Wedding by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit, and Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. I examined the cover design, jacket copy, and the novel’s Goodreads page, as well.
I was instantly shocked to find that two out of three of my selected novels were novellas, which are available exclusively as e-books and are shorter, companion novels to a series. The fact that in two cases, these were the books selected to be front and center on the homepage was quite interesting. E-book sales have hit a rough patch, as of late, making way for audiobooks to emerge as the latest trend. But it seems that in the young adult world, e-books are still experiencing a moment. While I was initially shocked at the finding, it does make sense, considering that Generation Z, known for being very tech savvy, is the target audience for these YA marketers right now, or at least I had assumed.
Pertaining to the visual analysis, there was never an actual person depicted on the cover of my chosen novels. Instead, cover designs included objects and stick figures. My rationale for this: Using objects instead of human cover models allows a larger portion of the YA audience to relate and picture his or herself as the main character.
Pertaining to the visual analysis, there was never an actual person depicted on the cover of my chosen novels. Instead, cover designs included objects and stick figures. My rationale for this: Using objects instead of human cover models allows a larger portion of the YA audience to relate and picture his or herself as the main character.
The rhetorical side of my analysis is where I discovered my most interesting findings. Pathos was the standout rhetorical technique implemented by publishers. While there were a variety of emotions tapped into, nostalgia and female empowerment were utilized most frequently. While it can be argued that stand-alone novels are the latest tend in young adult literature, four out of five of my novels were part of a series. Phrases such as “the gang is back” (Gatlin Wedding) and "the story continues” (Glass Sword) were very common.
Even more interesting, phrases playing up on feelings of female empowerment were used quite frequently in social media posts, as well as website and jacket copy or text. There was a lot of emphasis on the female protagonist within each novel and her conquest to survive, protect her family, etc. This observation caused me to wonder: Why is the emphasis on female readers? To the best of my knowledge, there are males who read YA, but they are obviously not the targets on these platforms. Since they are not the targets here, where are publishers connecting with this male audience?
Even more interesting, phrases playing up on feelings of female empowerment were used quite frequently in social media posts, as well as website and jacket copy or text. There was a lot of emphasis on the female protagonist within each novel and her conquest to survive, protect her family, etc. This observation caused me to wonder: Why is the emphasis on female readers? To the best of my knowledge, there are males who read YA, but they are obviously not the targets on these platforms. Since they are not the targets here, where are publishers connecting with this male audience?
My study brings up a lot of interesting questions pertaining to gender and audience when it comes to YA novels. While I made some interesting discoveries, there is so much more to look into. How do young adult males select books to read? In addition, at the start of this study, I assumed that Generation Z was the target audience; however, people 18 and up actually account for 80 percent of YA book sales. So, is Generation Z even the target audience for these marketers anymore?
Now here I am, eight months later with a lot of new revelations, but even more questions spinning in my mind. I find myself confused but more eager than ever to enter the publishing industry and begin my search for answers. It is an exciting field that I know will teach me something new about young adult novels and marketing strategies everyday. So while I am officially a college graduate, I don’t think it is time for me to give up my title of student quite yet…
Now here I am, eight months later with a lot of new revelations, but even more questions spinning in my mind. I find myself confused but more eager than ever to enter the publishing industry and begin my search for answers. It is an exciting field that I know will teach me something new about young adult novels and marketing strategies everyday. So while I am officially a college graduate, I don’t think it is time for me to give up my title of student quite yet…
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