Trixie reports back from a fabulous seminar on ‘What Teens Want’ by the Spinebreakers team at Penguin / Puffin.

The London Book Fair took place this month which meant lots of publishing types descended upon the Big Smoke to chat about books. Not just what they’ve been reading lately, but the big stuff. The mullah. The deals. The behind-the-scenes IMPORTANT stuff.

The teen / young adult market in fiction has been getting pretty darn big lately. When the world is sinking into depression, this area of book sales is holding steady with the likes of Stephenie Meyer and co burning bright and exciting the hell out of the publishing world (credit crunch is just a breakfast cereal for children’s publishing, as it’s known).

So during the London Book Fair, the clever bunch at Penguin did what all publishers and agents should be doing: they asked teens what they want in book. And Trixie, aspiring writer and eMo Magazine journo, popped along for a ganders.

The editor, Danielle Innes, did a lovely little Powerpoint presentation about Spinebreakers, which has been set up by Puffin to allow teen readers to continue their journey after they’ve read a stonking good book with a chance to review, discuss, contribute and even write their own stuff.

Four teens from the Spinebreakers team also attended, all four very different – and all very interesting! They were: Conrad, Olivia, Ayesha and Malik

So what came through loud and clear?

Teens should work in marketing. They’d get paid a lot. And win awards and stuff. Olivia showed us some videos she’d created for her favourite books (which can all be found on Spinebreakers www.spinebreakers.co.uk) and they were awesome!

She also told us about a party she held based on the characters from Anna Godbersen’s Rumours. Some seriously clever marketing ideas.

There was a nice mixture of adult and teen books listed among their favourite books with the usual suspects – Rowling, Horowitz, Pullman and Blackman coming up (yet no mention of the likes of Meyer or Marr, interestingly).

There was also a nice splash of the ‘greats’ such as Orwell and Hemingway. In fact, Orwell came through strong and clear as a favourite with 1984 and Animal Farm being discussed with real vigour

Why do certain books take off?

The team weren’t so sure about this, I got the impression it’s some mysterious X factor. But one teen said that books featuring desirable objects – magical wands, a subtle knife – are a real hit. So that ‘wanting something you haven’t got’ factor played a part.

What they hated was clearer: being patronised and teenage cliches (”Love stories where boys fix all the girls’ problems” was how one put it). Teen and young adult novels seemed to be the biggest culprit when it comes to this so we need to be careful of this, fellow YA writers.

Where do they get their recommendations?

This was an interesting one when considering marketing. Parents were, surprisingly, important, not just for buying the books themselves but also recommending books. Review were also mentioned – specifically the Saturday Guardian. Word of mouth was incredibly important as well as the bookstores themselves.

When do they read?

At bedtime, mainly, to the detriment of their homework!

How do they choose a book?

Books are judged by their covers! Shiny interesting covers draw them in. And, of course, that all important first chapter. Titles were important too.

What they disliked was being mislead by a title or cover. It needs to do what it says on the tin, dang it!

And for the LOVE OF GOD, reduce the price of books!

What do you think? Get in touch with the eMo Magazine team. 

Check out www.spinebreakers.co.uk

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Life’s busy when you’re a bit of a bookworm. The burden needs to be shared. It’s needs to be nurtured and explored (okay, enough with the Radio 4 blurb, Trixie – ED). 

If you’re over 16 and are the type who likes to share your reading with others – maybe you run a bookclub or have an online blog or Facebook page where people get together to discuss the books they’re reading – then Penguin Books want to hear from you. 

Together with Orange , they are offering £1000 cash prize plus two tickets to the Orange Prize for Fiction awards ceremony as a reward to the person who can convince the judges that they have done the most to make reading social.

Two runners up will receive a set of Orange Prize for Fiction 2009 shortlisted books.

 Not bad hey?  

For more information, visit spinebreakers.co.uk

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Calling all emo boys in the UK! Vodaphone are looking to cast you for their new TV advert.

They’re looking for a male of  “Indian decent”, aged between 18-22.

If you’re interested, contact e-Mo Magazine, and we’ll put your name forward.

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Ahhh, Twitter - the social networking phenomenon that allows celebrities to slag each other off in a public forum.  And who said high-school was over?

The latest celeb tweet-attack was by NIN’s frontman, Trent Reznor, against former Soundgarden/Audioslave singer Chris Cornell.

In a post to his fans, Reznor said:

“You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable? Heard Chris Cornell’s record [Scream]? Jesus.”

Actually, that was kinda funny… sorry Chris.

Scream is being released on 23 March.

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My Chemical Romance has announced that it will be releasing ¡VENGANZA! – a collection of nine ‘never-seen-before live videos’ from their encore set of the Mexico City tour from October 2007.

The videos featured in ‘¡VENGANZA!’ are:

1. I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
2. Cemetery Drive
3. Thank You For The Venom
4. The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
5. The Ghost Of You
6. It’s Not A Fashion Statement It’s A Deathwish
7. Give ‘Em Hell Kid
8. You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison
9. Helena

The videos will come stored on a limited edition bullet-shaped USB drive,  which includes exclusive photos of the band from the show. You’ll also receive a custom-designed ‘¡VENGANZA!’ vest.

‘¡VENGANZA!’ will be released on 10 April 2009, and you can pre-order your copy now at the MCR online store.

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Ozzy’s better-half (not saying much) Sharon Osbourne is being sued by a contestant on the reality show Rock of Love: Charm School, after she allegedly attacked the contestant.

According to one of the skanks – sorry, contestants – on the show, Megan Hauserman, Sharon O tipped a glass of water over her, scratched her and tore out part of her hair-weave after Hauserman insulted Ozzy Osbourne.

Sharon O is being sued for battery, negligence and infliction of emotional distress – something the poor viewers of the Rock of Love are only too used to…

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Following reports that the Californian rockers are re-uniting, the band has announced that it will be the third act to headline this year’s Download Festival held between 12-14 June.

In an official statement the band said: “Faith No More has always stood out as some sort of unique beast; part dog, part cat – its music almost as schizophrenic as the personalities of its members.

“When it all worked, it worked really well, even if the chemistry was always volatile. Throughout our 17 years of existence, the mental and physical energy required to sustain this creature was considerable and relentless.

“Though amicable enough, when we finally split, we all followed paths seemingly destined to opposite ends of the universe. What’s changed is that this year, for the first time, we’ve all decided to sit down together and talk about it.

“And what we’ve discovered is that time has afforded us enough distance to look back on our years together through a clearer lens and made us realise that through all the hard work, the music still sounds good, and we are beginning to appreciate the fact that we might have actually done something right.”

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Chicago rockers The Jesus Lizards are reuniting for a one-off gig at the London Forum on 11 May.

The band, who were firm favourites of Kurt Cobain and regularly toured with Nirvana, split in 1999. Their record lable, Touch and Go, claims that this is a “fleeting reunion”, so catch them while you can.

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A handful of acts have been added to the bill for the Download festival, which is taking place between 12-14 June.

The acts are:
Anvil (hell yeah!)
Billy Talent
The Blackout
Buckcherry
Dream Theater

The bands will be joining headliners Def Leppard and Slipknot. A third headliner will be announced next week.

Bring Me the Horizon has announced that they will be touring the UK this October.

The dates are:
22 October – Glasgow, Barrowlands
23 October – Manchester, Academy
24 October – Birmingham, Academy
25 October – London, Roundhouse
26 October – Norwich, UEA

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