Interview With Forever Young Adult

I had the privilege of interviewing the editors-in-chief Sarah Pitre, Mandy Wan, Mandy Curtis, and Stephanie Johnston of Forever Young Adult, an online community for YA fans and a popular website featuring reviews of YA books. I was excited to learn more about how other book reviewers ran their organizations and grew their audiences. Forever Young Adult has created a unique space for readers to connect over their favorite YA novels, discover new reads, and enjoy detailed reviews.

How did you discover your love of reading?

Mandy Wan: Reading has always been part of my life, so I honestly can't remember. It probably started with Doraemon and Sailor Moon manga that my parents used to buy me from newsstands in Hong Kong, and then a steady diet of Baby-Sitters Little Sister and Sweet Valley Kids when I was learning English in Canada.

Stephanie: I know I learned to read when I was 5 because I used to tell my parents I would NOT learn to read on my own until then (no idea why that was my limit, lol). But I always loved reading even before then, and once I could do it on my own, I just never, ever stopped. I would read any series I could get my hands on, and in all genres. 

Mandy C: I've loved reading from a very young age; my parents were big readers and raised me to be as well. I read pretty much anything I could get my hands on during my youth, with an emphasis on fantasy and science fiction. I got into a lull in college where I didn't really read for fun, but got back into it—in a very serious way—during the Twilight heyday.

How did you discover book reviews and what inspired you to start reviewing books?

Mandy W.: In my first grown-up job, I discovered the joy of audiobooks as I devoured popular series like The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson. My search for future reads led me to Forever Young Adult, which I then started to read religiously. A few months later, FYA was looking for interns, so I applied and the rest is history!

Stephanie: I found Goodreads soon after it launched when I was in college and proceeded to add every book I could remember to it, and wrote short reviews for new books. I found the FYA blog during my first post-college job, which had a lot of downtime, because they had some look-backs on childhood favorites, which then led me to the more recently released reviews and I loved the conversational tone, the humor, and the style of review. I was a fan for a few years until they put out a request for new reviewers and decided to start formally writing reviews!

Mandy C.: A decade ago, I was heavily involved in the blogging world. I had a blog of my own and read a lot of them, too. I found FYA via the Choose Your Own Adventure posts (which were  a blast) and started attending the Austin Book Club. I asked Sarah after one meeting if they ever needed help writing for the site, and it just happened to be a time of major turnover, so I jumped right in. 

What inspired you to write about the specific genre of books that you review?

Stephanie: We all write for fun, and first and foremost, for ourselves! So the books we choose are really ones we’d be reading anyway. I’ve always read in a wide genre of books (fantasy, contemporary, mystery, horror, sci-fi, etc.) my whole life, so it’s really about when the mood strikes for a particular book (and hopefully that comes close to its release date!). 

Mandy C.: I've been reading genre (fantasy, scifi, dystopian) books since I was little and never got rid of that love. I adore getting lost in another world or an exciting adventure that takes place somewhere other (than Earth, typically). I've branched out some, but always seem to be drawn back to this first love.

What were the first steps you took to set up your blog?

Sarah: There are the tangible things you need for a blog--mainly, finding the online platform you want to use--but just as important is deciding on the branding and voice you want your site to have, as well as figuring out the audience you're trying to reach. I knew I wanted to connect with adults who had a passion for young adult literature, and an important step in doing that was to create the structure for our book reviews. Our reviews immediately tell people what we're about: we love books, but we also have the perspective of adults, and that can mean everything from rolling our eyes at certain teenage behavior to referencing cocktails.

How did you start promoting your blog and getting your first readers?

Sarah: I created social media accounts (back in 2009, this just meant Facebook and Twitter) and started following accounts of similar interests as well as authors I loved. I also asked friends (and the FYA team of writers that had joined me) to promote on their social accounts. I also got involved with book festivals and a local indie bookstore in town to moderate panels and basically network with authors and fellow book lovers.

How do you balance your time between professional responsibilities and reading (unless this is your full-time job)

Mandy W.: FYA is a passion project, and our philosophy has always been that blogging shouldn't stress us out. I unfortunately haven't been reading or writing as much as I once did, so I only like to commit to a post when I know I can finish it.

Stephanie: I wish reading and reviewing was a profitable full-time job! Reading is one of my favorite hobbies, so I prioritize time for it in my spare moments, and (shhh) sometimes I’ll still read when work is slow. Keeping a list of books I’ve gotten from publishers that I plan to review separate from our group list helps me plan ahead and keep on target (out of respect for getting free books from publishers, if we plan to review we do like to post the review somewhere around the publishing date. Life happens, but that’s the goal!). 

Mandy C.: Reading is my main hobby. I used to be able to do it a lot more, but since having my son a couple of years ago, I've far less free time in which to do it. But I read pretty much every night after he goes to bed. (My husband's a big video game guy, so we both have independent hobbies.) I still try to get to at least to one book review a week, but life sometimes gets in the way.

How do you plan and organize your content? Do you use a content calendar?

Mandy W.: We don't use a formal calendar, but there are certain annual features that we'll plan in advance, like our end of year coverage or our Grown-up Guide to Romance Novels in February.

For our book reviews, we share review requests that we receive among our reviewers, and whomever is interested will chime in. We keep track of everyone's review books in a giant spreadsheet.

Stephanie: As I mentioned above, I use my own Google Sheets excel sheet to keep track of my books to review (if I’ve read it or not, made the review, when to post, when it publishes, etc.). I like to be organized by nature and having something like that to reference helps me. We also use Canva for our images and social, and you can pre-schedule social posts to go up with their calendar, which is nice.

Mandy C.: We have a collaborative schedule on which we plan out about a month in advance, specifically our recurring posts like Stream It or Pro-Tips, or our current Friday Night Lights rewatch. I also have a personal spreadsheet on which I keep all of the books I've requested/received and info about them.

What’s one piece of advice you wish you had known before you started blogging? 

Mandy W.: I'm definitely more aware of my digital footprint now than I was back in 2012, so I sometimes wish I thought of using a pen name to blog. Not that I've encountered any major issues using my real name (thank goodness), but we as a society probably put far too much information about ourselves online lol.

Stephanie: Agree with Mandy W.! I do think having to formulate my thoughts (more than just “I loved that! So good!”) and thinking about others reading those thoughts has helped me become a stronger writer, as you try to make sure you’re getting your points across clearly and make sure you have something to actually say. Blogging also makes me research more things to fact-check myself so I don’t write something incorrect and then feel like an idiot, which is probably also a good general life lesson - never be afraid to say when you don’t know something!

Mandy C.: It helps to read reviews to learn about what you want to do and what you don't, but don't let that get into your head that one way is inherently better than yours. Be passionate! People love reading posts from people who are being honest and true.