Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Publishers think teenagers don't want to read about sex, says young adult author Darren Shan

The writer says that while sex is taboo, gory violence is absolutely fine

Liam O'Brien
Friday 27 September 2013 11:30 BST
Comments
Author Darren Shan on the South Bank
Author Darren Shan on the South Bank (Teri Pengilley 2013)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Horror author Darren Shan has claimed that publishers of books for young adults have a no-sex policy, believing it will turn off teenage readers.

The writer behind Cirque du Freak and the Zom-B series has sold 25 million books worldwide, and is renowned for treating his young readers to gory, violent scenes.

"You can have heads ripped open and sacrifice," he said. "The only time you get in trouble with the publishers is if there's kissing."

He said there was a perception that teenage boys in particular would prefer to read chaste, sexless works: "Sex is a no-go. Apparently boys don't want to read about sex. It's ridiculous.

"We should be more concerned about violence than exposing teenagers to sex. Teenagers making out is perfectly natural, but killing each other…"

In fact, when Darren Shan was first trying to get his books published in the late 90s, he was told that teenage boys wouldn't read regardless of the content.

"I'll never forget a meeting with one publisher where they said we don't publish books for teenage boys; teenage boys don't read," he said.

"Well, publish books they want to read and they will. It's not that they get to a certain age and go, 'I'm not reading any more'."

Shan's specialty is violence, which young readers lap up in their droves.

"One of the books in my previous series [Demonata: Lord Loss] has one of my most shocking openings: a boy finds that his dad's been decapitated, his mum's been ripped to pieces and his sister's been bitten in half and a demon is using her carcass as a hand puppet," he said.

However, the author maintained that the scene was justified in the context of the story, saying: "It's traumatic, but then I explore the consequences. He doesn't just go, 'Oh well, too bad'. You can't be morally ambiguous in the way you can in adult books."

Click here to read the full interview

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in