I am 13. How do I publish a book?

Question

Hi, thanks for taking the time to read this. I am 13 and I am in the middle of writing a book. When its complete I hope to publish it, but I don't know how or where to go.

This isn't my first book/story I've written. I've gotten many A+'s on stories I've written for school. So I'm pretty sure they will enjoy it.

Ok, if you asked to read it I'm sorry but I can't email it over the net, moms orders. LOOK FOR A STORY CALLED FINAL FANTASY (Not based on the game in anyway)

*sigh* I'll make a copy of it on my website :] www.my-zone.moonfruit.com

And now mym om told me I can't put it on my website because someone might copy it and publish it as their own.

Answer 1

GOOD for YOU!!! Writing a book at 13 years old is quite an accomplishment! And? YES!! listen to your mom! Do NOT post any of your stories on the internet because you do not have a copyright of any of them. The first step is to get your work copyrighted. Have your mom look it up on Google search or AskJeeves.com and type in "where to look for copyrighters" in your state. For a small fee they will copyright your stories so no one can steal them. Another thing that a friend of mine told me that's even easier and costs nothing but a stamp is to mail your stories to yourself so that you can prove they were written by you. (but a copyrighter I feel is the best way to go).
Once you've completed your book, gotten your copy right, go online looking for publishers. Especially Children's publishers.
I too started writing at a young age but back then we didn't have the internet to find out how to go about doing something. I made the huge mistake of sending my story in a "contest" to a well known magnazine and they stole my story!(this was before I knew about copyrighters). It was the story of my meeting my birth mother for the first time. I was crushed.
If you're writing your story on the computer, always make back up copies as well. Save your work everytime you type, and print out what you've already typed out. YOU MUST KEEP A COPY so that if there's any question as to who it really belongs to, you have proof. Plus too, if your computer ever crashes and you loose what's on your computer, you've got a copy on a disk or cd so you can go from there.
Good luck and happy writing!

Answer 2

Anybody can publish a book. You can take it to a printers and print it out yourself. If you want to sell it you can sell it yourself or sell it through some system museum or local bookstore depending upon the type of book. If you want to copy right it then look up copyrights which you have to pay for it. If you want it published by a publisher then you have to send your book to editors of book companies. Get in line for that. Also if you want you can pay alot of money to have some company print it out for you which I do not think is the avenue to go. There are many many people who want to publish books. You can also do e books which can be sold electronically in some systems online but read the little itty bitty printing. Or you can publish online at your own web site or even a free website. Basically by answering your question I am published right here as a writer. What exactly is your objective and interest and desire because one of the most interesting tales I have ever watched as a movie was about the author of the Valley of the Dolls. I would begin there. No my objective was not to be published but simply to answer a few quewstions as I have an extensive education and hate to see it wasted in just my head floating around that was just an example but you are published now online with your question. The question is what do you want to say and what do you want to accomplish with what you have to say? I just felt like helping someone today. Hope this helps you.

Answer 3

what an accomplishment at 13!. When you are done the manuscript it would be a good idea to send it to an editor first. They will fix grammer, sentance structure, spelling, etc. When that is done and the necessary changes have been made. You will need to find a publisher. Since i have never had anything published like a book (i've published poetry but not in a book format) you may want to try the yellow pages. Try somewhere small and send to as many as you can. Be prepared to have it sent back. Keep trying and hopefully you can achieve your goal

Answer 4

First, you have to finish it. Anyone can start a book and get to the middle. The ability to FINISH a book is what makes an author.
Secondly, your book won't be very good. But your next one will be better and you will have learned a thousand things about writing just by writing your book.
When you finally are ready to publish, the library has copies of Writers Digest Magazine....
One last warning. do NOT under any circumstances try to self publish! If no one is willing to pay to publish it, no one will be willing to pay to read it.

Answer 5

All you have to do is find a list of publishers and send the manuscript around to them. You might look on the inside page of books that you like and find the names of possible publishers. Be prepared to get a lot of rejection letters if you use this method. The better way is to get an agent, but that is difficult for an unknown author.

Answer 6

You would most likely need to ghost write it. As in send it to publishers but hide the fact that you are so young. A few people have published at young ages (like the author of Erogorn(spelling?)), but normally publishers aren't interested in reading something from someone of your age. Who knows though, good luck. What is it about anyway? Send me an email if you want. I love reading :)

Answer 7

The method people have been using all these years (on paper in book form) is nice, but it is a longer process and more expensive than ebook publishing. If you search (and learn) the various aspects of ebook publishing, it will probably be much quicker and easier. Anyone can then just download your book (ebook). And you can always publish your work later in print. Good luck!!

Answer 8

Hmmm.. interesting
A book written by a 13 year old?
I have no idea what steps you have to do to publish it though...
But I'll be very interested in reading it =)

Answer 9

Approach any major publishers and see what happens. it's good you've started at 13. I'm into my 40s and still haven't got down to writing my story. keep up the writing spirit.

Answer 10

Mail the manuscript to publishers. I believe there are books about getting publish that would be more assistance in this matter.

However, if you aren't looking to get paid, you can publish it yourself online.