Young Writers Society

I am 15 years old, and have never been more ready to publish. My novel is complete, edited, I've gotten feedback...I have been doing the research and have my list of agents, but will they deny me because of my age? I'm kinda scared ^^;;;;

Anyone have any experience with this?

lxtmidnight wrote:I am 15 years old, and have never been more ready to publish. My novel is complete, edited, I've gotten feedback...I have been doing the research and have my list of agents, but will they deny me because of my age? I'm kinda scared ^^;;;;

Anyone have any experience with this?

I don't think they can discriminate based on age...so go ahead and give it a shot. Think about it like this: what do you honestly have to lose? They could deny you if you're older as well.

I second Krupp. Go for it! What's the worse that can happen? This might be my ridiculous half talking, but I've never minded rejection slips (assuming they're not form letters) - just knowing that someone took the time to read your work and felt it was worth a quick note is nice.

You might want to talk to Brad [Incandescence] as well, about certain methods of approach. I believe he has more experience in the realm of publication than do the majority of the rest of us. ^_^

I guess you guys are right...I might as well try if I want to find out XD
Thanks! =]

I think it does matter to a certain extent.

I think agents and publishers are reluctant to publish younger people as they are unreliable because of their age.

Most agents/pubishers are looking for someone who is writing constantly, who can write a novel on demand rather than waiting for inspiration to strike if you get what i mean. They want someone who will produce book after book after book, not just one book.

Older people tend to be more reliable in that aspect i think.

But then again, some younger writers do get published. Whether it's the novelty value of their age or whether the writing is actually good, i don't know. But it does happen.

Good luck with it.

Put it this way,

When you send a manuscript to a publisher, you do not have to put your age on, so why should you? You know it doesn't matter, and if the publisher liked it...?

The agent may be more picky because they would need to contact you, and may think you are 'immature' although let's face it, you know you aren't.

Good luck!

Well, one thing that should be considered is the minor working laws. I'm not entirely sure how it all goes together in the publishing world, but it might cause problems.


Certainly, go for it! I was a horrible writer at fifteen, but I don't know how you are. I have a friend who is fourteen, and I dare say she writes better than me. Go for it, but from experience, a year can do a lot for your writing. You might think you're ready now, and then realize a year later that you had learned so much in that year--how did you even think you could write? And this is me talking about myself, more than anything. Every year I improve in amazing ways. It might be true for you, too.

Don't be scared. I started looking for literary agents when I was 13 years old and didn't actually get one until I was 14. I didn't tell any of them my age because I was afraid of being rejected. But she accepted my manuscript and is helping me with publication right now. She only found out my age after about a month of working with me and then after that she was actually excited about having such a young author and said that it would come with a lot of publicity. When agents find younger people with a high maturity level and great work they don't often pass up on the opportunity. You might get a lot of rejection letters. Don't stop trying though, and if you feel the need go ahead and tell them how old you are. It's only more impressive in the end. I think the only real reason that they would deny you the opportunity is because they'll have to go through your parents for a lot of things. But my agent and my mother get along just fine. Just try it out, the worst thing that can happen is that they say no. And one of them has to say yes. Just be careful who you go to and do research on each agent. I messed up the first time and I was stuck in a contract for six months.

After that I emailed Tamora Pierce and asked her for some advice on agents and she gave me the website agentquery.com. It's incredibly helpful and gives you all the info you need on each agent and also tells you how to write and effective query letter.

Good luck!
~Rieda

Agents do tend to reject young authors. I can prove this with a real story:

There was a book(darn it, I forgot the title) about a girl in the civil war. A younger then 18 child sent in the manuscript, novel, ect. and was refused. He suspected that he was being descriminated against, so his mom sent it in under her name, and the same publisher loved it. It was published later.

That's the story of Scott 'O Dell, an amazing writer. Now, if you don't give your age, they won't have that negative first impression and love you if you're good. Reveal the age later, you get publicity. It's perfect.

I will also tell you for a fact that...oh, darn it, forgot his name...well, they guy who wrote "Star Wars" started work on it as a child. He actually did most of the writing as an adult, but you get the point. Go for it!

Star Wars = George Lucas

Anyway, even if you don't put your age, the maturity of the writing can sometimes show through. Then again, authors like Christopher Paolini are proof that you don't necessarily have to be good to get published as a teen. So if you are as talented as the majority of us are, then I would say that you have as good a chance as any adult as long as you don't reveal your age until they decide they want to work with it. Or in some cases, they may want it anyway because it will give them something extra to market.

On the other hand, there are great downsides to publishing before you finish high school. There are books like The Outsiders, that I think really had to be written by a teenager to have the perspective it did, but most books can be written by adults just as well, whether it's about teens or not. When you publish as a teen, they may use is at a marketing tool long after you publish your first book. I had the chance to meet an author who published a book he had written at your age, and almost twenty years later, his books still use it in the About the Author. He hates that.

I don't think there should be an age limit for talent

There isn't. There are people as young as 13/14 who are published authors. I think it might actually work in your favor. Good luck.

I personally wouldn't put my age if I were only fifteen.

I'm sure publishers don't discriminate purposefully because of age, but if you see that someone is thirteen or fourteen or whatever you're probably less likely to request their novel despite the strength of the writing; yes, there are some young writers out there that have been published, but for most they're not yet at the stage where they can keep up the quality throughout a whole novel.

Even if a publisher/agent likes your sample chapters, then perhaps they will subconsciously have doubts about whether the rest of the novel will be as good if they know you're very young.

Just put you're a 'young writer'. That can be anything from teenagers to your twenties, and they can make their judgement purely on the quality and potential of your novel. If they do later ask for more details about you, they'll by that point have already been sucked in.

When writing query letters you're not supposed to put your age, but you ARE supposed to list any qualifications you have. So if you've taken college classes in high school, mention that. If you sometimes write sports articles for your local paper, mention that also. If you've been writing since you were two, mention that. List as many credentials as you possibly can, and if you have a good, original plot, why would they refuse you?