How old were you when you published your first novel?

dyljos · Jan 22, 2007

I always thought I'd be around twenty five or so, and then life distracted me... now approaching 29 and still no novel written.

It's a bit like willing yourself to go to sleep on christmas eve as a kid..the more you will it to happen the more difficult it gets!!

How about all of you? How old were you, or how old do you aim to be?

IrishScribbler · Jan 22, 2007

I'm 23, and working on my first novel....once I'm able to write full time (starting July 1st! I'm counting down!), things will move quickly on my end, I believe.

I'm not setting any expectations of age for publication. I just want to share the story.

alaskamatt17 · Jan 22, 2007

I had hoped to be published by 18, then by 21. At this rate, 25 sounds like a good age to me.

Unfortunately for me, I started right off with personalized rejection letters and have never progressed beyond that point. It seems like I'm one of those people just on the verge of being publishable, but without the necessary panache to make my stories really jive.

victoriastrauss · Jan 22, 2007

I was twenty-seven.

- Victoria

Sheryl Nantus · Jan 22, 2007

I'm 42, hitting 43 this year with my first novel.

I like to think of an aging thang, like a good wine.

or cheese.

hmm... Brie... sharp cheddar...

*wanders off, muttering to herself*

Gabriel · Jan 22, 2007

I want to be published by the time I'm 23. . .that sounds achievable enough.

PeeDee · Jan 22, 2007

I always intended to have a novel published by the time I hit eighteen. Barring that, twenty-one.

These days, I'll just be glad to write something worth publishing that's novel length.

MidnightMuse · Jan 22, 2007

I'll be happy if I do it once before I die.

ChunkyC · Jan 22, 2007

Me too. Just once let me have the experience of seeing my name on the spine of a book in my local store.

I'm 51 and have been seriously trying to get published for about 5 years or so. I've written two novels, am currently working on two others, still no sale.

farfromfearless · Jan 22, 2007

I'm 28 this year - I'm hoping to publish one before I die, which according to some psychics at a recent carnie, should be between 30 and 45. I better lay off the Doritos.

Edward G · Jan 22, 2007

I'm old.

This post matters a great deal to me, and I will be following it closely. I am working on my first novel, and I'm 42. I'll be 43 in September, and I intend to have it ready to submit before that birthday. I will begin working on my second novel's rough draft as soon as I start the revision of my first one.

But I'm old for a first time novelist, or am I? I 've lived an extremely varied life. I've had several careers and jobs; I've lived all over the world; I've graduated from college (B.Sc. Liberal Arts), and I've lived all over the United States as well. I've been married a couple of times, and one of them has actually worked out very well. I have an adult daughter who is married and living in Cypress with her husband and two children (our grandchildren). I didn't know her as a child, but we came together a couple of years ago and started a relationship. It's been very bitter-sweet.

I've written and published non-fiction before now. I've been involved in many different hobbies and sports. My wife and I get bored easily, so we travel around all the time and participate in lots of different activities. My wife and I are also both staunch animal rights activists and deeply committed to the HSUS and whatever local Humane Society we are living by. We are also both very athletic: we jog several days a week and have for over eight years.

I think I know why so many young writers write fantasy, because they just don't have a lot of real life to draw from. I have so much suffering and joy and experience to draw on, that I'm never at a loss. I'm old, but I don't know how I could have done it well at an earlier age. By the time I'm 60, I'll have probably 30 manuscripts finished. One of them will hit.

You can see my picture, I don't look too bad for my age, so my mug can go on a dust jacket, but here's what worries me: Is there some kind of ageism that exists in publishing? Will editors consider works from older writers?

Was it more important to be young in the past when an editor might want to "groom" an author. Today, I'd be surprised if that kind of loyalty exists.

PeeDee · Jan 22, 2007

GordonJerome said:
I think I know why so many young writers write fantasy, because they just don't have a lot of real life to draw from. I have so much suffering and joy and experience to draw on, that I'm never at a loss. I'm old, but I don't know how I could have done it well at an earlier age. By the time I'm 60, I'll have probably 30 manuscripts finished. One of them will hit.

By the time I was twenty, I had been in and out of the country a half a dozen times, I lived in the Carribean through a couple of hurricanes (Hugo; Andrew; they were good ones) I lived in Columbia and in most of the continental United States.

I write fantasy.

Provrb1810meggy · Jan 22, 2007

Well, GordonJerome, when you submit you never say how old you are, and once they're in love with your writing, if they somehow find out your age, it isn't like they'll not send you an offer because of it.

I hope to be a published novelist by 18.

farfromfearless · Jan 22, 2007

GordonJerome said:
I think I know why so many young writers write fantasy, because they just don't have a lot of real life to draw from. I have so much suffering and joy and experience to draw on, that I'm never at a loss.

Please don't speak for me, in fact, please don't speak for the majority of the writers here who lean towards Fantasy or SF. The fact is that you don't know what many of our backgrounds are and to be quite blunt: many of us here are might very well be far more experienced in life and worldly than thou.

I for one prefer fantasy not for my lack of experience but because my experience works to develop alternate realities where I am free to explore questions I've wanted to ask. I've lived all over south-east Asia as a missionary with my family and over a good part of North America. My age is quite irrelevant, despite that I have a considerable wealth of experience to draw upon for my work.

I hope my fellow AW's here will forgive me for saying this but I'm actually quite disgusted with your "holier than thou", "more learned than thou", "more humble than thou" tone in your postings. For a Christian who expounds on the virtues of faith and godliness, you're a prime candidate for front row tickets to an all-you-can-eat humble pie contest. Eat some. Eat lots.

DeadlyAccurate · Jan 22, 2007

If you count my d20 adventures, 31. Otherwise, maybe this year (well, more realistically, the actual publication would be next year at the earliest, but the sale might come this year).

Edward G · Jan 22, 2007

PeeDee said:
By the time I was twenty, I had been in and out of the country a half a dozen times, I lived in the Carribean through a couple of hurricanes (Hugo; Andrew; they were good ones) I lived in Columbia and in most of the continental United States.

I write fantasy.

And If I go by your earlier post, you're about twenty, right?

The Lady · Jan 22, 2007

GordonJerome said:
I think I know why so many young writers write fantasy, because they just don't have a lot of real life to draw from. I have so much suffering and joy and experience to draw on, that I'm never at a loss. I'm old, but I don't know how I could have done it well at an earlier age.quote]

Where did you get this notion from?

Check out successful fantasy writers. Most of them are middle aged. Some of them are damn old. Most everyone of them, being members of the human race, have suffered copious quantities.

Believe me, the portion of suffering allocated to your fellow human beings has not been diminished by you taking on board an extra big portion.

And another thing, a lot of fantasy is very spiritualy and mystically inspired. Not all of it, mind you. There is the leather clad bikini maidens elements and there too. But then there's borderline porn contemporary novels. So that about evens it up.

The above comment is typical of people who don't read fantasy but strangely feel free to comment on it, as if they've immersed themselves in it for the last decade or so.

dyljos · Jan 22, 2007

farfromfearless said:
For a Christian who expounds on the virtues of faith and godliness, you're a prime candidate for front row tickets to an all-you-can-eat humble pie contest. Eat some. Eat lots.

At least he seems quite modest though!! :roll:

Alan Yee · Jan 22, 2007

Wrong. Pete's in his early thirties, I think (that damn Pete didn't officially put it in his profile).

My age is unimportant, but there's a certain demographic of young people, writers and non-writers included, who deal with real-life stuff that most people never have to worry about in their lives. Believe me, there's lots of them out there. They're just not always easy to spot. Most of them indulge in something that they're very good at; many of these people later become artists and writers, or have a hobby.

Just something to think about when making generalizations about young writers (and of course, you don't have to tell me again: I'm an exception to most of these things).

Toothpaste · Jan 22, 2007

This thread interests me because I really don't see the point of the question. Yes it is always good to set goals for yourself, but I find if you set such specific goals, published by 23, 33, 83 whatever, if for some reason you past that deadline you will feel nothing but regret. I'm an actress (as I mention far too frequently I think) and I worry about my age all the time. But this is for a very concrete reason, women in the acting world get fewer and fewer roles as they get older mainly due to their appearance.

I don't mean that we shouldn't push ourselves and have expectations, but with writing, there is so much more leeway when it comes to age. I rather enjoy that fact.

CaroGirl · Jan 22, 2007

Age is just a number. I hope to get a novel published when my work is good and ready to be published. And I also hope that's before I die.

nevada · Jan 22, 2007

F.X. Toole, author of Million Dollar Baby, contained in the book called Rope Burns, publishes his first book at the age of 70. Lots of time for everyone still.

TrainofThought · Jan 22, 2007

GordonJerome said:
This post matters a great deal to me, and I will be following it closely. I am working on my first novel, and I'm 42. I'll be 43 in September, and I intend to have it ready to submit before that birthday.

Wow! I was expecting you to say I'm 80.

I reached other goals before deciding to write a novel, so I haven’t put a time limit on it. :Shrug:

Fifty-five sounds like a good age to publish. Actually 45 sounds better. Yeah, I'll go with 45 and if that doesn't work, before I'm in a nursing home.

The Lady · Jan 22, 2007

nevada said:
F.X. Toole, author of Million Dollar Baby, contained in the book called Rope Burns, publishes his first book at the age of 70. Lots of time for everyone still.

Unless you're a fantasy writer. Then you've got to do it while you're young and still know nothing. Apparently.

Oh, I know, let it go.

OK, I will.

Talking to myself.

icerose · Jan 22, 2007

My first book came out when I was 19, but it doesn't count.

Going up for round three, I hope to get it accepted before I hit twenty five, that's the end of October, but I somehow doubt it will happen before then.

I'll be happy with feature sold or book sold, either works.

How old were you when you published your first novel?

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