Young Writers Society

Has anyone considered sending off to a publisher, has anyone sent or has anyone been published?

Not have I considered it, but I intend to be published. However, before you can be published by a mainstream publisher, you need a literary agent.

However, if you wish to be published in a magazine or self publish, then you don't need a literary agent.

If you'd like to self publish then I suggest www.lulu.com - most self publishers charge money for their services, but lulu don't. However, you won't make much money (you may not even make any at all) from self publishing. If you wish to make money from writing fiction, then you really need a literary agent to get your writing published by a mainstream publisher.

Not always. There are some in Canada that will accept work directly from authors without an agent. I think there are also some English ones too. They are small, but you can earn money from them.

no i havn't but i'm thinking of writing a book which i havn't started yet

I met a not-well-known author in the library last year and he is like my agent now, he reviews my work and helps me to get my ideas down on paper, I owe him a lot and I've read some of the works he has published and I am thinking of getting a book of short stories published before any of my other works just to see how things go.

Thats great, but would LitAgents want to take on a 15 year old?

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what the agent is interested in, and if they think you have developed your skills enough. There are teenagers who have published books. The thing to do is to start publishing in magazines and journals. If you've got a list of small publications, agents and book publishers will take you more seriously. There are also cases where an agent read a story in a journal etc, and contacted the author because s/he wanted to represent that author.

Young authors are all the craze right now. Although 15 may be a little young.

Meh. Gordon Korman wrote the first book he published when he was twelve.

I've also heard of a boy who wrote a book at the age of nine, he got his Mum to type it while he recited, he is writing a sequel to the boy but I've forgotten his name Toby something.

I'd say the best thing would be to get short shorties published in a newspaper/magazine or join a writing group.

Possibley that may be the way to go. What sort of word count are these mags looking for. My short stories tend to drift into longer ones.

It varies from magazine to magazine. Check their websites for info.

Here's a good site which lists magazines that publish short stories:

http://www.jbwb.co.uk/markets.html

Make sure you check out the magazine's website (if they have one) before submitting a story, to check their specifications.

Thanks again.