Is it possible to get a book published at my age??

Question

I am fourteen years old and I love to write. When i grow up I want to be an author. But I want to know if there are any possible ways to publish a book now. If so how?

Answer 1

Yes! there was a whole series published by a 15 year old that became fairly popular.. about vampires. can't recall names but she was 14 when she wrote them. with enough determination and dedication you can do it.. after you're well on your way, get in contact with an editor. I'm sure they'd be interested if you market well. Good luck!

Answer 2

Yes it is possible, but I must warn you that it will take a ton of work, a lot of time, a lot of help from your family and a lot of rejection along the way. Be prepared for the publishing of your book to literally consume your life. Dont expect to have much time for friends or anything else. That is the honest truth. It is not easy and it does not happen overnight - not for kids and not for adults either. It's a seven day a week job and you will have to give up a lot to achieve your goals. Only about 5% of authors make a living at it. Most hold other jobs or have other ways to support themselves and their families.

At your age, realize that your parents will have to be involved in the process. You cannot legally sign any contracts for yourself. Your parents will have to guide you.

You will see a lot of rejection letters, so develop a thick skin. Gone With the Wind was rejected something like 50 times. James Patterson got something like 71 rejection letters before he sold a book.

People here have suggested self publishing to you. I advise you against it - strongly. Self publishing is just another name for vanity publishing. Anyone can publish anything they want that way as long as they can pay for it. It does not make you a published author. The average self published book sells about 100 copies. Mostly to family and friends. Only NINE self published books in history have made the best seller list. One was The Celestine Prophecy. It was a very remarkable book - which is why it sold. I would say that there have been probably over a million books self published and NINE became successful. Not very good odds. You will spend tons of money writing letters to bookstores trying to get them to sell your book. You will spend a ton more on internet advertising. Promoting your book will take up all of your time and you wont be able to write anything else. All for 100 copies. If you write an agent and tell them you are a self published author, they will laugh at you. It is a total waste of time and money.

You need to learn to advocate for yourself. You must become an expert in what you are writing about as well as an expert in how to publish. Start with a copy of Writers Market - it is our Bible.

Then go to Resolved Questions here and print out a lot of answers and study them. There is a lot of great information and some totally useless information. Some of the information you have gotten was pretty misleading and downright bad. I am not steering you wrong.

Good luck. Pax - C

Answer 3

Age is not a barrier in the publishing industry, only talent matters.

Most reputable publishers will not speak with any writer (regardless of age) unless that writer has an agent representing them.

To find an agent, you send them a query letter: A a one page letter describing yourself and your book. Sometimes the agent will request you include the first few pages or chapters, but that is an individual preference.

There are several websites out there that will help you find an agent, my favorite is QueryTracker.net at http://www.querytracker.net/ . It is free and has a list of literary agents and also tools to help you keep track of who you already queried and who you haven't, plus more.

They do a good job of keeping the crooks off their lists, but it is still a good idea to double check at http://www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.h...

There are a lot of crooks out there. Never pay anyone to read or publish your book. A real agent will never ask for money except as a percentage of your royalties.

Keep in mind that finding an agent and getting published is not an easy process. Some people have to query hundreds of agents before they find one who will accept them (sadly, some never get accepted), but be persistent and keep trying.

You should also visit http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/,...... one of the largest forums for writers. They can be very helpful.

Good luck

Answer 4

It is definitely possible for you to publish a book at your age. Search online for some self-publishing companies, they do cost money, but I don't think you'll find a free way to do it. Also you could look online for a literary agent, these people can help you find editors and publishers and get your stuff on the market! Good luck with everything!

Answer 5

Possible, but HIGHLY unlikely. There is a chance of getting published, but only if your writing is brilliant and your story is marketable. Realistically, you probably aren't going to get published at 13. It just doesn't happen for most teenagers. Christopher Paolini only managed to get published because his parents owned the publishing company, and Paolini isn't exactly the paragon of good writing. Instead of worrying about publishing *now*, I would worry about improvement. Read anything you can get a hold of, write like there's no tomorrow, take lots of writing and English classes at school, improve your vocabulary, etc. Practice, practice, practice. There's plenty of time to publish later.

Answer 6

I am just like you! I am twelve years old, and I love to write as well. My ambition is to be a writer. Once I called a publishing company to ask if it was possible that someone my age could publish something, and the person was really interested. Then, he told me he would call me back. I waited and waited, but he never called me again.
I think it's possible, but I wouldn't count on it unless your writing is really, really special and stands out.
Sometimes I wish people would just ignore our age and just pretend we were like thirty or something. I don't want to, but usually the publishing companies think young people are uncapable of writing well, and I don't think that's fair. It's stereotyping. If I could lie about my age and not reveal it until the book was sure to be published, I would, but I would only do that if people wouldn't consider my book seriously becasue I was younger than them.
Good luck!
:)

Answer 7

The New York Times, reported that a young girl had her novel published by a major publisher, I think she was 12 years old.

She probably had connections.

Answer 8

You can publish a book at any age if the book is good and the editor feels there is a market for it. Write a book you yourself would like to read, polish it until it reads smoothly, let someone else read it who will give you constructive feedback, then look for a good agent to send it to, because you'll need an agent in most instances. Only a few editors at small presses look at unagented manuscripts.
Good luck!

Answer 9

Yeah! If they're really good and original they could be published right now. Amelia Atwater Rhodes wrote her first story at 13, and published a bunch more after that. Just keep writing and revising what you have, and when you think you're ready submit it to a publisher.

Answer 10

Hi! Omgosh...I'm thirteen! I LOVE to write, and I love to read. I would love to get published, but it's hard. First of all, you have to have financial backing from your parents. Secondly, many publishing companies won't even LOOK at you from your age. It'll be hard, but not impossible. Feel free to email me if u want a rating or a response. *I wrote a 120 page fanfiction for harry potter, so i know what it is to have work that i can't do anything with. i let my friends read it and feel good when they praise it*