Publishing help!

The fact that you're asking these questions tells me that you haven't taken the time to educate yourself about the publishing industry and the process of manuscript submission. Step back from submitting for a little while, and do some reading (and not online, where misinformation abounds). There are many books you can find in your local bookstore that will give you insight into the process (both the Dummies and Idiots lines have decent how-to-get-published books); they'll answer not just the questions you've asked here, but the questions you don't yet know you ought to ask.

Don't skip this step--it's a bit tedious at the outset but it will save you lots of time and grief in the long run.

- Victoria

Hopefull writer said:

I have a peice of writing which I want to attemp publication with. It's young fiction. I was woundering where I start. Do I just go through the many lists of publishers I have till I find ones specialising in fiction or youth fiction and send it off? And do I send the whole 9614 words off or a sinopsis and if so what exactly is a sinopsis and how do I go about writing one?

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I second Victoria's remarks to the letter. However, in your research it's very important that you focus specifically on the young fiction sector of the market, which may be very different from the world of adult fiction. In the field of adult fiction, you basically need to go through the laborious process of finding a good agent to market to major publishers. However, there are many publishers (or divisions of larger publishers) in the young fiction sector that take direct submissions -- that is, you are not submitting through an agent. Before submitting, you especially need to find out if they allow direct submissions or not. Then, you need to hone your package carefully to put your best foot forward.