Want to publish some day, but...

A teen goes about the publishing process the same way as an adult. You finish your novel, edit it until it is the best you can do, write a kick-ass query letter, and send out until you get a bite.

The difference comes into play when you need to sign contracts. Because you are a minor, your parent or guardian will have to be involved.

Yep. So finish the MS, do some edits, get some crits, do some edits, and see what....

Publishing for teens (as far as I can tell) is the same as for adults, but you will need your parents to co-sign agency or publishing contracts (this means exactly what it sounds like– they will have to sign their name next to yours). An agent may also want to talk to your parents before taking you on (mine did, and I was 16 at the time (well, you know, two weeks ago)). It’s pretty much up to you when you want to disclose your age (I said I was a teen in my query, others haven't told their agents until they were discussing representation).

I agree with what everyone has said. FINISH it, EDIT it.....EDIT it somewhere, and then EDIT again. lol and when you are done, begint he publication process. Write an amazing Query letter. Research well known publishers/agents ( please not PA or we will all gag ) and then submit submit and wait wait. Some may not publish you because you are so young, and cannot enter in to a legal conrtact until you are 18. I am not positive however, if they have your parent or guardian sign for you or not. But hey! your not quite there yet, so finish the book before you do anything else!

There is a fantastic book called, "YOUR FIRST NOVEL," By Laura Whitcomb, and Anne Rittenberg. Its great, I think you could benefit from it!

Take a break and learn the business side of the craft. The more you know, the less chance you'll get ripped off by the sharks in the publishing tank.

Happily, it ain't rocket science!

You will find books on writing and publishing in the 808 section of your library.

Books you want that your library doesn't have can be loaned to you via the Interlibrary Loan program!

Otherwise, finish something, send it in, be working on your next book so your head doesn't explode during the wait.

DO NOT be impatient. It took me two years to sell my first novel -- and I was on the FAST track!

If you do get an agent or an offer from a legit publisher, your parents will have to sign or co-sign the contract with you.

Where to find a legit publisher?

Go to a bookstore, locate books similar to your own, take note of who published them and the name of the writer and website addies.

The publisher website will have submission guidelines.

The authors' websites may mention their literary agent--who will also have guidelines on a website.

RUN AWAY from any "agent" or "publisher" that asks you for money. They will be scammers. A legit agent gets paid when she sells your book. A legit publisher pays YOU.

STAY AWAY from Publish America. They're a scam. Think of them as the creepy guy who hangs around playgrounds trying to hand out candy.

Selling your book is like putting in a job application, you go through a process to get to your goal. Sometimes you'll be perfect for the job, sometimes not, but you don't give up.

A safe place to check out publishers and agents:

Preditors and Editors

And learn Yog's Law. Never EVER pay to get published.

Get Strunk and White's ELEMENTS OF STYLE. It will be your lifelong friend. EVERY writer has a copy within reach of their desk.

Good luck!

Age isn't everything. Trust me, I'm 17 (almost 18) and people are often surprised to hear that--they think I'm 25.

This site has been the best thing my writing has ever seen. I also printed A LOT of tips from published Christian authors from christianbook.com (you go to the fiction section and somewhere in there there's a list of great articles, or at least there was, a year ago, no guarantees now).

I bet there's at least a few teens who write better than adults, not that there's any reason for us to get cocky, but hey, if a person actually manages to finish a manuscript, who cares whether they're 10, 14, 25, 50 or 80?

Oh, and I almost got caught up into the PublishAmerica scam. I submitted my first manuscript to them (thinking they were legit), and they were going to 'buy' it (whatever that means in their case). Fortunately, I had a funny feeling about the whole idea, and turned down their offer before they mailed me a contract.

The good thing about that, (besides the fact I'm not stuck in a contract with a bunch of scammers) is that I did a complete overhaul on my novel last year. I had thought it was finished, and opened it up to do some basic fine-tuning (check my punctuation, etc), so I could submit it elsewhere and discovered that it was actually a bunch of crap. My sentences were choppy, and my sub-plots were, well, boring. I smoothed it out, replaced most of the sub-plots, added others, tightened the main plot, and am now very happy with this novel.

...Now I'm working on improving the narrative in my short stories. Everyone who reads them says I use too much dialogue. I guess that's because I feel the story has to be short, and neglect to 'tell the story' so to speak. My short stories usually read like scripts.

Good luck, PM me if you ever want to talk about writing with someone close(er) to your age.

Kacy

just go about it the same way as an adult. Write a query, send it to agents, etc. I wouldn't mention that you are 14 until an agent expresses interest, because it doesn't matter at all. I think the only difference is that you will need a parent to co-sign your contract.

You should also contact member Shady Lane, because she's published and is under 18 years old.

It's-Magic! said:

Thanks for your help.

Long live teenagers' interest in writing novels! (although it is limited to me at my school...)

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Yes, long live us teenagers with our intrests in writing novels! Well, yes school is a bitch when it comes to wanting to work on you novel. I should know that very well.

Like everyone else has said, publishing and all of that is the same with us teens and adults. The only difference is that we need our parents permission.

From one fourteen year old to another.



~Sam

Mythical Tiger said:

Yes, long live us teenagers with our intrests in writing novels! Well, yes school is a bitch when it comes to wanting to work on you novel. I should know that very well.

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I tip my hat to teen writers (sigh, has it really been six years since I've been a teen? ) because when I was a teenager my writing was quite bad, but I see a lot of teen talent on these forums.