I recently finished reading The Young Adult Writer’s Journey by Janet Schrader-Post and Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds. It is a book written for authors who would like to write young adult books. I thought the book was useful and well-written, although I don’t exactly think that this book contains a lot of information that you wouldn’t find elsewhere.
The newer you are to young adult literature, the more helpful I think this book will be to you. It goes into The Hero’s Journey, what teenager’s lives are like, and general things to keep in mind when writing young adult books. There’s also information about marketing your book (because you are going to need to market your book, whether you self-publish or go the traditional route with an agent).
There’s a lot of information here that is pretty basic, especially if you have been doing your research for a while (and I recommend that). One of the biggest recommendations that I have if you’re going to write YA books is to read YA books. The authors of this book don’t place a lot of emphasis on that, but it really helps you get a feel for the books that people are actually reading these days. YA is a rapidly shifting genre, and if you read a lot of YA books and read this book, then you might think that there’s a little bit in this book that’s slightly outdated.
While The Young Adult Writer’s Journey does have some good information about story arcs, promotion, and the like, I wouldn’t stop my learning with just this book. Get on book Twitter. See what actual teen book readers are saying about Young Adult books. Read actual YA books. While this is a quick read that you might want to use for reference now and again, it is by no means complete, nor does it represent the latest in YA.