Not in Sweet Valley anymore

The masterminds behind some of the most popular books for adolescent girls are a couple of thirtysomething men who work in an office building full of white, Ikea-esque furniture.

But don’t underestimate these guys. They are experts on teen crazes, and they hire young, female editors to develop ideas that jive with what a girl wants.

Alloy Entertainment Inc., a division of marketing and advertising giant Alloy, has developed a slew of hot book series – including “Gossip Girl,” “The A-List,” “The Clique” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” which was made into a hit movie – as well as TV’s “Roswell.”

Known as 17th Street Productions, the company created the “Sweet Valley High” teen books popular in the 1980s, but has come a long way since the days of those California twins, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield.

Three of its books are in the top 10 of The New York Times list of best sellers for children’s books, and “Traveling Pants” is the No. 1 series.

Alloy Entertainment operates more like the romance novel industry than a traditional trade publisher. It has a staff in New York of about 10 editors who diligently research what’s hot in the teen world – what girls are wearing, the music they like, the TV shows they Tivo.

The hook common in many of the novels is a gaggle of rich, bratty, powerful schoolgirls. It’s like an episodic reading of Paris Hilton and her friends, and who can resist a little peek into how the privileged live?

Others strive to be more in the Judy Blume vein, focusing on strong friendships and life lessons. Either way, teens are devouring the books.

“They feel fresh today, but the themes girls face in the books are enduring themes,” said company president Leslie Morgenstein.

Staff members are in charge of everything about the book, from creating ideas to finding writers for the books, crafting proposals for publishers and creating the sleek cover art. The company then sells the book, but keeps all the other rights. As many as 50 are published each year and distributed among the major publishing houses.

Alloy’s methods may seem a bit unorthodox, especially to budding authors peddling a carefully crafted labor of love. Write a book that isn’t your idea? That seems totally uncool.

But for many of Alloy’s authors, it is a chance to do something they’d never do.

Lisi Harrison, author of “The Clique” series, was working at MTV when she was approached by Alloy to create books about wealthy, junior-high queen bees.

“Always being a closeted wannabe author, I jumped at the opportunity,” she said. “I never would have changed the course of my life had that not happened. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for young authors.”

Harrison used 12 years worth of experiences at MTV as fodder for her books, which have made multiple best-seller lists. Publisher Little, Brown decided to buy eight books, and she was able to quit her job and write full time.

“Once I was on board, they left me to my own devices,” she says of Alloy. “It’s very much my book.”

Other successful series, such as “Traveling Pants” and “Gossip Girl,” are written by former Alloy employees.

“Gossip Girl” author Cecily von Ziegesar’s experiences at a New York prep school help her create the vicious, back-stabbing and juicy lives of the characters in her novels.

“They just sort of flow out of me. It’s very easy to recapture your teenage years,” said von Ziegesar, who is working on book eight of an 11-book series.

Since the company has found a niche in the teen publishing market, Alloy is branching out to conquer movies and television.

Alloy produced the new “Traveling Pants” film, based on Ann Brashares’ book. The film made more than $23 million in its first two weeks at the box office.

“We were pretty hands-off. It was our first attempt at producing a film,” Morgenstein said. “Since ‘Traveling Pants,’ we have become very involved, very hands-on in the development (of films) alone or with partners, and in television as well.”

The company has developed at least a dozen pilots for major networks and has about 10 feature films in development.

Parent company Alloy owns Delia’s clothing store, several magazines and a Web site devoted to teens. Company CEO Matt Diamond says Alloy reaches 85 percent of 10- to 20-year-olds through its Web site, or through advertising in college newspapers or media boards placed in schools or malls.

That’s pretty helpful when promoting a new book or film.

“Everything we do in our company, we are now able to feed it into the marketing machine,” Diamond says. “That means ads for books and the ‘Traveling Pants’ films are placed in Delia’s catalogs and in stores, and Web sites are built off the main site to create a buzz.

“We know what teens want. And we know how to use what we have here to get it to them.”