The following “tip sheet” is meant to provide the author with a general sense of what BSB is looking for in Young Adult fiction manuscripts. These criteria are not meant to be absolutes – guidelines are just that – a jumping off place for an approach to a work.

Soliloquy Fiction

BSB seeks appealing, compelling stories of 40-70,000 words in any fiction genre that:

• Showcase a distinctive author voice
• Invite the reader to think and draw her/his own conclusions
• Target a readership aged 13-25 with contemporary tastes
• Feature an engaging protagonist or protagonists aged 13-17
• Are told from the point of view of that protagonist, in third person or first person
• Are unapologetically affirming of LGBT identity (although main characters do not need to self-identify as LGBTQ, the themes of diversity/inclusiveness must be focal)
• Hold a mirror to the intense emotional and psychological experience of being a young person, delving into questions of identity, gender, sexuality, self-esteem, peer relationships, ethics, and life issues
• Examine social issues, challenge stereotypes and move beyond them, and present LGBT themes within the context of the universal human experience
• Are heartfelt, moving, strongly written, dramatic, and unique

SOME DO AND DON'TS

Do respect your reader as an equal who shares many of the same hopes, desires, ambitions, frailties, fears and needs that you do.

Everything is not about being LGBT, or coming out, although these themes may be central in a story. Embrace a larger canvas.

U.S. settings are preferred but we will consider international settings.

Humor is a plus, but we are not looking for slapstick or superficiality.

Complex plots and language are fine, but don’t be pretentious.

Endings don’t have to be “happy” and neat and tidy.

We are not grabbed by works that are self-consciously LGBT and “politically correct.” Avoid preachy content, bland detachment, stereotypes, and saccharine characters who must be good simply because they are LGBT. It’s okay to include a well-dimensionalized LGBT antagonist provided your story is affirming of LGBT identity.

Don’t dumb down your content, patronize your reader, ram an idea down the throat of your reader, inject your own value judgments, ascribe unrealistically adult behaviors and views to your protagonists, or present completely unbelievable storylines.

 

CONTENT PARAMETERS

SEX: Examining and exploring sexuality are a big part of growing up, and BSB does not impose disingenuous parameters that pretend teens are non-sexual. That said, highly explicit or gratuitous sexual content is not suitable for BSB Soliloquy. Defining “explicit” and “gratuitous” is inherently subjective -- context is everything. Sexual content that is integral to your story, character-consistent, well-crafted, and age-appropriate may be allowed.

In addition to asserting the usual good taste considerations, BSB notes the following as unacceptable in YA works we publish:

· Age-inappropriate sexual relationships

· A focus on adult sexual behavior

· Sexual content that is about sex more than it’s about your characters

· Sexualizing pre-pubescent children

 

VIOLENCE: In any work of fiction, violence is a powerful element with innate drama – an author seldom needs to wallow in gory detail to make her/his point. Avoid gratuitous violent content, including violence toward animals. Be mindful of your audience, your genre, and the demands of your story. There is no need to defang your vampires – just use common sense and read quality Young Adult fiction to see where the lines are drawn.

 

LANGUAGE: Keep your text generally free of obscenities. We know teens may be prone to obscenity use, especially in private, so there may be swearing in dialogue, but remember “authentic” is not always interesting. No one wants to read line after line of realistic teen chatter such as: “You know, we uh…like…uh…my mom she’s like…uh… so hostile. And uh.. fuck uh …and you know it’s like so old…I’m so like over him…” The same holds true for repetitive use of coarse language.

 

THEMES: YA fiction often pushes boundaries and plays hardball on ethics and society; BSB Soliloquy titles are no exception. We’re interested in meaningful, universal themes of family, relationships, rites of passage, and personal identity, as well as the LGBT-specific experience. Sensibility should be contemporary to edgy. Among the specific themes we may find interesting are:

• Accepting Difference
• Accidents and Adjustments
• Acts of courage
• Animals and the Environment
• Beauty – what it really means
• Breaking Silence – the courage of speaking out
• Crime, Suicide, Violence and the consequences
• Dating and love
• Emotional Problems Confronted
• Empowerment
• Families, Traditional and Redefined
• Friends Forever?
• Guilty or Innocent?
• Heroes: What Does It Mean To Be a Hero?
• Insiders and Outsiders
• Jealousy / Envy
• Lessons
• Myths retold
• Older People in our lives
• Otherness and isolation
• Parents
• Responsibility – stepping up
• School
• Sexual Identity and sexual desire
• Survival
• Teammates – working together
• War and disaster

GENRE: All genres are considered subject to the specific parameters for BSB Soliloquy: general fiction, mystery, fantasy, speculative and sci fi, dystopian. We are not actively seeking historical YA.