Does anyone know a good publisher?

Question

I am looking for a publisher for my book, Crank High, and am get a few, but most cost a lot of money. I want a pulisher who will pay me, not have me pay them. My book is 40, 623 words in lenght and I have had nothing but praise from those who read it and don't or do know me! Most people accept my work, but others won't because of my age, which is 15.
My friends think I should get my book published, but I just need to find a publisher. Does anyone out there know a good publisher who would mind at least giving me their honest opinion of my book.

If anyone would like to just read it, email me with the subject: Book and I will send you the first three chapter (for security reasons). Please include an email address, because three chapters is a lot of words!

Answer 1

Money flows to the author. That's the name of the game, yes. But have you self-edited? Made sure that there are no spelling errors? There are several in your post along with serious grammar mistakes. Are you up to being edited, because editors are beasts. (I can say that because I'm one.)

There are many publishing resources on-line. Google publisher until you find one that is age appropriate and would be interested in the subject of your book.

Answer 2

OMG! one of my friends, Andrea McKerlie, was in a similar position as you. She published her book at 15, but it did cost her some money. She found a site called authorhouse.com where she paid about $300 to get it published, got copies for herself and family, and also now made it available for other people to order the book online from their site. Another one of my friends, has a family member working at a site called lulu.com, which is a higher price. Make sure, you contact Borders and Barnes and Noble so you can set up dates to do signings and book talks. YOU HAVE TO PUBLISIZE UR BOOK!! good luck...i would b interested in reading the first 3 chapters, i cant garuntee i will have anough time, but if i do, i would CERTAINLY LOVE to read it. my e-mail address is [e-mail]

Answer 3

Ok, let's be frank here for a second. First of all, your age is not a detriment. In fact, you are an incredible advantage because of your age. Think about all the sensational stories out there that you read of young authors, the fact of the matter is that your age would make great story so if your writing is good a publisher will definitely take that in consideration. I myself was a very similar situation, however I decided not to act on it because I needed to polish up my writing, you may want to consider doing the same. Give yourself an honest assessment of your work. And this is incredibly difficult to do but do you really feel your up to par? Think about this way, say that your book was placed on the shelf next to Stephen King. Do you think your book would even be picked up? Probably not even if you were a well-established writer. But just think, what if they did pick up your book? Do you think your writing could compete with the big dogs out there? It's not a matter of getting down on yourself for not being as good as other people because comparisons can often ruin a writer, but if you feel in your heart and your head that your book needs to be on the shelf right now, then by all means find a publisher. Just make sure that if your writing career continues your book you just wrote won't be a travesty that haunts you for the rest of your career.

Please, please, please... do not pay a dime for publishing. Simply put, the industry does not work that way. The only places that do are vanity publishers or print on-demand publishers. They know that their books are not going to sell very well, so to keep their overhead costs down they have you pay for them. If you want to be published within the only money you should be out will be the cost of printing a manuscript to send off.

Do yourself a favor, read the book "the complete idiot's guide to getting published". This resource will be invaluable to you as you search for first an agent and then the publisher. I understand that it's tempting to jump the gun and pay money to get published just to get your book out there, but if you ever want to be considered a real writer don't be stupid and don't do it. For some people self-publishing is perfect because they are not looking for fame and fortune or even the career, they are looking to put the books in the hands of their friends and family but that's about it. If you have dreams of this being anything more than that then forget it.

I must warn you about one particular publisher. Publish America is the devil and you should avoid them at all costs. For the love of God please do not even look at them, they will take your soul entrapping it in an abyss. If you look then you will see that they are not a traditional publisher like they claim. Trust me look on the Internet and you'll find plenty of bad things about them. Even look here on Yahoo answers and you will see in many terrible opinions about them.

Also go to the library and pick up the writer's market. Go to Barnes & Noble and pick up a magazine writer's digest. This will give you a lot of hints as to where the industry is headed and will provide useful advice in the form of articles. I would love to see a copy of your first three chapters. You can e-mail me [e-mail] or find me at my space www.myspace.com/dreamscapesaga.

Be very cautious though, I will give you very blunt answer of what I think of your work. This may sound cruel but please don't take it that way because you have to understand people you know or have direct contact with will often give you a skewed answer because they don't want her true feelings. I know that frustration all too well.

PS: I just hope you understand that your book will probably not be incredibly lengthy at just over 40,000 words. Most books have between 250 and 500 words per page. The lower is more common. However, most people reading your work will be about your age or younger, so they probably wouldn't pick up a very thick book anyway. I just hope you're realistic about the size you expected to be. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or need any advice.

-- K. W. Matthews

Answer 4

you may have a problem because of your age. You are not old enough to be held to a contract and all publishers will want a signed contract.

Try getting an agent and see what they say about the age thing. You may be able to have a guardian sign for you.