My teen just finished writing a novel - now what?

[Misty]

My 15yr old daughter just finished writing a novel that she has been working on for two years.. She is editing it now, which will probably take a few more weeks.. This is a brilliant child who is creatively gifted.. so I know the novel is good before even reading it (she's been talking about it for two years so I feel like I have read it!).  She says it's more words than the first Harry Potter book so it's a good size book.. She doesn't want to self publish.  She wants to submit to publishers.  She and I both have great editing skills so I don't think we will need professional editing before submitting.  Has anyone been through this process?  I'm nervous about somehow screwing this up for her.. Should she reveal her age when she submits it?  I have no idea how to do this!  Thanks for any feedback or guidance you can offer.. 

 

[Runningmom80]

I have my BA in creative writing, I remember having it drilled into my head that the very first step to getting published is getting a literary agent.

[Misty]

Ahh.. A literary agent.. Didn't even think of that!  Thank you!

 

Also, wanted to add.. I did read the first couple of chapters about a year ago and it reads as if an adult had written it.. Her vocabulary is extremely advanced and her creativity is extraordinary.. So the writing definitely does not reveal her age from what I have read so far.  I have no idea if publishers would be put off by her age or not!  Any advice on that?

[M&M]

You can contact my friend's daughter Rachel Coker. She is a recent home school graduate who has published two books with Zondervan publishing. She speaks at homeschool conferences on how she was able to get published. Having an agent was very important.

 

http://www.rachelcoker.com/

 

Here is her first book

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_13?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=interrupted+rachel+coker&sprefix=Interrupted+r%2Caps%2C215&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ainterrupted+rachel+coker

[Misty]

You can contact my friend's daughter Rachel Coker. She is a recent home school graduate who has published two books with Zondervan publishing. She speaks at homeschool conferences on how she was able to get published. Having an agent was very important.

 

http://www.rachelcoker.com/

 

Here is her first book

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_13?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=interrupted+rachel+coker&sprefix=Interrupted+r%2Caps%2C215&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ainterrupted+rachel+coker

Awesome! Thank you!  This is very helpful!

[Lanny]

Wow. Congrats to your DD on completing her project! Recently, I seriously contemplated writing a non fiction book, about Retirement in Colombia. I spent quite a bit of time looking into this, but eventually dropped the idea, because of the cost of hiring a professional (experienced) Editor, to correct my Grammar and Sentence Structure.

What I was going to do was "Publish" as an ebook, directly on Amazon, for their Kindles, and also via Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/) to have it published to Apple and other companies.

If you and your DD investigate this, thoroughly, I suspect that you will find that it is not only much faster and easier, to "Publish" it as an eBook, but that you will probably make a lot more money (assuming that it sells), than you would, if it were Published by a traditional Publisher, which almost positively would first require that your DD get an Agent, who was successful at getting her a Publishing Contract.

My belief was that with the information available in several free eBooks for Kindle, distributed by SmashWords, that I could have successfully "Formatted", my eBook, for Kindle, and also for Smashwords. The "Cover", was going to be done by a woman in Texas, with a lot of experience, for $50. As I wrote at the top of this, my big problem was the cost of hiring a professional Editor.

Much GL to your DD with her Novel!

[KateHW]

Before trying to go the "traditional" publishing route I highly recommend your daughter educate herself on agents, publishers, and contracts. Read Kristine Kathryn Rusch's and Dean Wesley Smith's articles on the subject. 

 

http://kriswrites.com/business-rusch-publishing-articles/

 

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=860

 

Good luck to your daughter!

[letsplaymath]

Before trying to go the "traditional" publishing route I highly recommend your daughter educate herself on agents, publishers, and contracts. Read Kristine Kathryn Rusch's and Dean Wesley Smith's articles on the subject. 

 

http://kriswrites.com/business-rusch-publishing-articles/

 

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=860

 

Good luck to your daughter!

 

:iagree:  These two blogs are vitally important reading for anyone interested in a writing career.

[Misty]

Thank you for the feedback!  I've been reading through those blogs and WOW!  We just might be doing self-publishing after all.  Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[wingedradical]

I know of many popular books that started as self-published.

 

Also, there was a young man at the AZ homeschool convention this year who had self-published a wonderful book about wildlife in the Sonoran Desert. He did the photography and the writing and both were absolutely fantastic. The book binding, etc looked exactly like something you'd find in a bookstore. They were very well done.  I think I paid $23, which for a book with all the information and beautiful color photography was not bad. He wasn't seeking to break into writing, though. He was using the proceeds to finance a mission trip to the Amazon. I was truly impressed with the quality and glad to help with his trip, too.

 

Let us know when your daughter's book is published, however she decides to do it.