Pleae help and get 10 points with this VERY easy question!!!?

Question

Ok. I'm 11 years old and I'm writing a book. I know it's the kind of book that you know will get published. But what are publishers looking for? Like, what if they're in a bad mood that day? I'll be crushed if they deny it. Are any of you people a publisher? Or know a publisher? My book is really good! It's a short novel! Well, almost the lenght of a regular novel but about 20 or 30 pages short. So anyway, PLEASE HELP!!!

Don't worry. My book will appeal to all people young and old. It has everything to make it. It's about a teenage rich girl. Who is having a lot of problems at home. So decides to run away to another country to meet her pen-pal. The moral of the story is that you can't run away from your problems. Because your problems will just follow you. : )

Answer 1

Did you know that over twenty publishing houses turned down Gone With the Wind before it was published?

I am not going to pussyfoot around the truth here-- if you are going to be crushed by one rejection, then this is not the line of work for you. Every published writer has recieved rejection letters. Some of the most famous ones recieved hundreds over the course of their career.

Yes, sometimes editors are in bad moods when they read query letters. Sometimes their lines are full and they don't have the space to print your book as well. Sometimes they just won't like your story-- not because it isn't good, but because it isn't their taste.

You are very young, and have a lot to learn about the field. Publishing is a business. It is not personal. If someone rejects a story, it is not because they don't like you or they don't think you have any talent. It is simply because their agency or publishing house is not the right place for that story.

Learn to write a query letter. Learn why you should have an agent. Edit your story over and over again until it is the best that you can make it. Learn how publishing works.

Here are four websites that can help you understand the publishing process. Read them thoroughly (especially Miss Snark-- love her!) and research, research, research! These can help you determine if the agent or publisher is legit or not:
http://misssnark.blogspot.com/
http://www.agentquery.com/
http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
http://www.publishersmarketplace.com

Take a look at a copy of "Writer's Market" as well. Besides listings of publishers and agents, it has a huge amount of helpful information on how to submit work.

Read all that you can, and grow. Good luck and many successes to you!

Answer 2

Hon, this is NOT an easy question. Not in the least. No matter how good your book is, you must develop a thick skin. Rejection notices are inevitable - for everyone. James Patterson got like 60 of them before he sold a book, I think Hemingway got 70. This is part of publishing - getting rejection notices.

First of all get a copy of Writers Market 2007 and get your parents involved with learning how to use it. Remember that if eventually you do sell a book, your parents will have to be involved and sign contracts.

Knowing publishers isnt the answer. Lots of people know publishers. The problem is finding a publisher and matching them up with the author.

First of all, in order to get through to a major publisher, you will need an agent. Large publishers dont take unsolicited manuscripts. Nor do agents, they only take query letters.

Many small publishers will take query letters, but you must be able to weed through a whole lot of frauds - and at 11, you are just not old enough to do that yourself.

If you go to Resolved Questions here and type in keywords publishing or publisher you will get many great responses to your question. Print them out and sit down with your folks and read them over. It is very important. Have them buy the book.

Then start toughening up, because nothing in life is perfect and rejections are a part of a writers' life. It isnt personal, it just means that publisher isnt currently seeking material in the genre you write, or they are overstocked with books they have purchased and arent looking at the moment. Having your parents involved will help you deal with the rejection. And if you work hard, you may get lucky and sell it. Pax - C.

Answer 3

Well, there are so many things that a publisher will look for. Of course, they want a well written, flowing book. Good character and plot development are essential. Unfortunately, one of the key aspects a publisher is going to look at is its sell-ability. Is it going to make money? Is it something that people are buying right now? Does it reach its intended audience? Please don't be afraid of rejection... it wont just probably happen, it WILL happen. But that is part of being a writer. J.K. Rowling was turned down for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone numerous times... and look what happened! Those publishers are kicking themselves for missing out on such a wonder. What would have happened if Mrs. Rowling had been discouraged and quit after the first rejection? Or worse, if she was so afraid of rejection she never submitted it? A real important key is to look into other books that would fit into your genre and age-group. Who published those books? That would be one of the first places I tried, because they are already in that market, know how to sell your kind of book, and obviously handle that type of book. Many times an author will not look at this sort of thing and send their manuscript to publishers that are just not interested in what they are offering. Another step would be to look at submitting excerpts of your work to magazines and literary magazines that specialize in your genre. It is a great way to get started, and may lead to a serial (and eventual publishing of the work as a whole). I really hope this helps in any way. Keep a chin up, be optimistic (even if a few rejection letters head your way), and most importantly, keep writing! Good luck!

Answer 4

Publishers are looking for books that will sell enough copies to make money. In some cases they will need to feel it will make a certain amount of money to be worth the effort. Before you start submitting manuscripts to publishers, you need to protect yourself from it being stolen. Try to find a way to get it copyrighted if you can.

But realistically, at eleven years old, you may have a hard time getting them to even look at it. I know right now it seems great, but not many your age can truly write a great book. If you don't get published, don't give up. Listen to people that read it. Don't get hurt or crushed if they don't like it, just listen and learn from it. If they don't like something, try to decide if they just have different tastes, or if there is room for improvement.

I wrote a book myself some years ago, I was really proud of it. I found a copy of it recently, and read it again. It was not as good as I remembered, so I'm trying to re-write it.

I'd love to read it one day, Good luck.

Answer 5

Now a lot of people have told you that you should get an agent, and there are a lot of good reasons for getting an agent, but they don't tell you getting an agent is as hard as or harder than getting a publisher. Also, there are as many unscrupulous people who call themselves agents as who call themselves publisher, possibly more.
There is a very good book called "How to be Your Own Literary Agent" which might help you. Certainly it will help you learn about the publishing industry.
Do not copyright your work before you send it in. Until you publish the work the copyright belongs to you. If you worry that someone may steal it you can put a Xerox of it in a sealed envelope and send it to yourself by registered mail. Never open it, but put it somewhere safe. If your work is ever stolen, you'll be able to prove when it was written and that it was yours.

Answer 6

At that age, you might not get a book published. I've written tons of stories, and only three have not been changed since they were written because they're good. So wait a few years, get more practice. And it's good to be confident, but don't be overconfident, because you'll be totally crushed if your story is rejected. Wait until you have more experience with it. Maybe you could keep working on your book until you get to high school or college. My counselor says that to write a book, you usually need a major on English if it's fiction. Go with what she says. She turns out to be right 99% of the time.

Answer 7

Publishers look for proper grammar and punctuation; they also look at the premise of the story and read through it to see how much studying you did to make your story as accurate as possible (unless, of course, it's science fiction, or something like that). They look at how you've phrased everything in your story, because books won't sell if the story is boring or if you're over-explaining things. You have to write the book from the perspective of the reader, as well as the writer. When you read something you've written, you have to ask yourself if you're talking down to the reader... if you've put in enough detail... if you've used your best grammar to adeptly explain everything without repeating yourself. It takes a lot of studying and time, reading and re-reading, asking people for critiques... and a whole lot more.

But, don't let anyone tell you it's impossible... because it is. Being a published author may bring you a lot of fame, but you have to remember above everything else that without the reader, you're just someone with a story to tell, with no one to listen. Take your time and make sure your book is everything it can be before you try publishing it. Also, try getting small things published first, to get your name out there early, because I KNOW that's something publisher's look for, is previous successes in the industry. Good luck on your book.

Answer 8

Firstly, that's very good! I am writing a book myself and I'm 10. I think the publishers are looking for books like Harry Potter and Bridge to Terabithia. I would find all the John Newbary Medal books, read, them, and then you will get hints of what they are looking for. Look for those new books, like Just Juice (by Karen Hesse). That's not an honor book but it's really good and it's one of those new books. So, check out those Newbary books and I hope your book is published! : )

Answer 9

ok, the first step is wait 2 months, then go back and reread it when you completely forget it. This way you can make sure its not terrible and you werent baseing your belif that it was great on how hard you worked on it.

Then you need to edit it as much as needed to make sure its as good as you can make it, also have a friend or family member read it.

send it to publishers that tend to pulbish books like yours using other books similars publishing pages

Answer 10

That's so cool! I'm writing a book too, and mine is now... almost one hundred pages long. Really, I couldn't care less about what the publishers want, but I think it depends on what type of book it is.
Good luck!