This NYT article has some great insights into the publishing world and the young-adult dystopian market in particular. While the publishing industry is an integral part of our culture, it is also a business and profits are a consideration rather than literary merit when titles are chosen for production. The desire for having timely publications in the market, however, means that the quality of books available to buyers is compromised. Added to that is the celebrity appeal of young authors that comes with relative inexperience. The best of literature, this article argues, is written by older people who have had the time to hone their craft without the pressure of being dissected by people on very public platforms such as in Amazon reviews. The current culture in publishing creates an environment in which young authors are under tremendous stress to produce blockbuster successes. It is also an environment in which authors are treated as dispensable. Do you agree? Do you find the "Divergent" series offensive? This "Riff" by Michelle Dean is quite thought provoking.
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