To hide or not to hide?

Well, if you've had your short published, then mentioning your age should make them imperssed. I mean, you're 17 and you've published a short! I'm seventeen and I haven't published a short...so that makes you a good step above me.

I say, you don't got no reason to hide.

I think there was a thread on this earlier...maybe last week.

Once upon a time, I was a 17 year old author. I'm not certain that mentioning your name is even necessary until you get to any contract negotiation point.

We've got a lot of threads on this...I'm sixteen, have published my first novel, and I'm currently looking for an agent, so I have the same problem. I even started a thread on this, awhile back, and there's been a more recent one since then.

I usually just say, "I'm young, so I understand teenagers blah blah blah" without naming a specific age. Leave them to think I'm in my twenties or something.

Of course, that really only helps if you're writing YA.

I've started to include my age, because one agent didn't want to work with me when they found out my age. Now I think it's best to be upfront about it right away.

I would check out the agent's blog, if they have one, to see if they have any preferences. Many have answered the question. For example, I knew Kristin Nelson didn't like young writers putting their age in queries, so I took it out when querying her.

I read an interview with an author I like (Libba Bray) that most agents don't look down on young writers--they are actually more than willing to publish good, articulate, interesting work by young authors, because well...not only does it grab people's attention (think Christopher Paolini), but if they work well with you, they can have many productive years working as your agent. It's a good place for them to be.

There were a couple of threads on this. Actually, someone asked this question to Nathan Bransford on the "Ask The Agent" forum.

Nathan Bransford said:

Definitely mention it -- your novel will be judged on its own merits, but I always appreciate knowing.

Click to expand...

Here's a link to the forum.

I think the conclusion we came to on the other forum was send out a couple of letters to agents where you say your age, and if they don't do well, try some where you don't. I guess it depends.

Here's the other thread with this discussion (or, one of the other threads).

I agree with everyone else-- mention it. It's good to be upfront, and chances are it will only help you.

Good luck, Madison!

It's probably a good idea to mention it to avoid getting in too deep with agents who would reject you by age alone. Just don't make a big deal out of it. Mention it in passing.

I respectfully disagree

I don't think this is a question of hiding your age. It isn't relevant to your story. It's like mentioning you enjoy eating pizza.

I wouldn't put it in a query letter. Some agents may like the idea of finding a literary prodigy. The more likely result, in my opinion, is that after learning your age, they'll automatically assume you haven't studied the craft long enough. And this assumption will color their judgment before they read a word of your manuscript.

If agents like your writing and want to work with you, THEN you can tell them how old you are. Revealing your age in the query letter has a slight chance of helping you, and a BIG chance of making an agent think you're an amateur.

A fresh young voice who can relate to teens is a good marketing angle, but ONLY if they think your writing is worth marketing in the first place. Give them writing they can sell, then worry about capitalizing on your youth.

NiennaC said:

There were a couple of threads on this. Actually, someone asked this question to Nathan Bransford on the "Ask The Agent" forum.

Here's a link to the forum.

I think the conclusion we came to on the other forum was send out a couple of letters to agents where you say your age, and if they don't do well, try some where you don't. I guess it depends.

Here's the other thread with this discussion (or, one of the other threads).

Click to expand...

With all due respect to Nathan Bransford, I think you should take his advice with a grain of salt. It may be perfectly true that he would prefer to know, but you have to ask yourself why.

Finding a publishable novel in slushpile is rare. Finding a publishable novel written my a teenager is even rarer. It could simply be a very effective weeding criteria. Good for the agent, perhaps, but is it good for you?

I would not mention it in a query letter. The query letter is not the place to sell the novel. The query letter is for piquing the agent's interest and getting him to ask for a partial (or hopefully the whole manuscript). You don't want to include ANY sort of exclusion criteria. Many agents have interns to screen query letters, and their job is not to find good books; it's to exclude as many submissions as possible. Even those who don't use interns are looking for quick ways to reduce the slushpile.

But once you have a request to submit (partial or whole), that might be a good time to mention it in the cover letter. At that point, they won't reject it out of hand because of your age, and it might just become a selling point. The agent also won't feel like you tried to hide something from him as he might if you waited until he asks you to sign with him.

BTW, this advice holds true for job hunting as well. Just substitute HR employee for intern, resume for query letter, and interview for manuscript submission.

If you wrote a book about 17-year olds, and want the agents to know you're an expert on 17-year olds, tell them you're 17.

You'll be 18 or 19 before that book comes out.

If you were 37, would you mention that? Or 43? Or 22?

This is only my opinion, take it or ignore it at your liesure

Hey, I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to again say that I think mentioning your age is a good idea. I recently got an agent, and I mentioned my age in my initial query. (Sorry if this sounds like I'm bragging!)

Of course, I also think that the age thing works better if you could pair it with some short story credits to show that you're not only young but you're serious too.