What's a good publishing company for REALLY young and aspiring authors?I'm 17 by the way.?

I started writing a story/novel when I was in 8th grade. And now after several years of hard work, blood, sweat, and..... Massive amounts of sleep loss I have finally finished it. ^__^ But... I have little to no knowledge in publishing companies however. And I don't want to get scammed! Please help!!What's a good publishing company for REALLY young and aspiring authors?I'm 17 by the way.?
Seliny,



You'll need to get a copy of Writer's Market. In there you'll find literary agents you can query in order to get one of them interested in your work.



Here's what I give everyone who asks this question. I know it's a long list, but it can be accomplished if you put your mind to it and your best foot forward. This is the only way any agent or publisher will take you seriously. Believe me, there are no short cuts.



Read on:



Writing a book takes more than just sitting down and putting your idea into words. There are a lot of things that you have to consider.



Keep an eye out for spelling and grammar errors. When typing fast with fresh ideas in our heads, we tend to forget ourselves. Check and recheck your work. Editors are very expensive these days.



You’ll need to know how to write an effective ‘query letter’ to a literary agent. The letter will also include a synopsis that will hold the interest of the agent, and want to make him or her ask for the first three chapters of your work. Never send a manuscript to a publisher or literary agent without querying first.



You’ll need to know how to format your manuscript. This includes the fonts (size and type) that most agents, editors, and publishers want. These are usually Courier New and Times New Roman (12 pt). Short stories and novels are formatted differently. You will need to follow submission guidelines just as they are laid down for your submissions. Anything less will result in your manuscript sent back or destroyed unread.



You will need to know what Point of View (POV) is. Know how to write in First Person Point of View. You’ll need to know the can and can not of each.



Do you know how to write dialogue? How to format dialogue? This is very important and allows the author and his/her characters to communicate with the reader. Remember dialect as well. Dialect is how a person speaks. Your characters may be highly educated or dumber than dishwater. ‘Ain’t got none’ is highly acceptable when used properly by a character who is even less than street smart.



It’s a good idea to know some of the publishing laws. The use of names and places.



These include

o Delivery Of Satisfactory Copy

o Permission for Copyrighted Material

o Grant Of Rights

o Proofreading and Author's Corrections

o Advances and Royalties

o Author's Warranties and Indemnities

o Copies to Author

o Option Clause



Learn how to get a ‘word count of your work. Some novels have a prologue and an epilogue. You’ll need to know how to write them and why they’re used.



Know what the word ‘genre’ means. Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction; These are all genres.



One of the most important issues in manuscript submitting is the proper ‘page set up’ for your work. This includes margins, indents, and paragraphs. Most editors will want to see your manuscript double spaced. This allows the editor to use his/her proofreaders marks between the lines. Most margins will be one inch all around with a ragged right margin and an even left.



Are you prepared to do a lot of ‘research’ involving your work? Remember that many professionals such as, doctors, lawyers, nurses, public accountants, judges, architects, bricklayers, engineers, and police officers read, too.



Do you know what a sub-plot is? This is a plot that comes ‘under’ the main plot. The hero may be after the vampire, but the mob may be after the hero as well. This is a sub-plot.



Can you take rejection and constructive criticism? If you’re easily hurt in the feelings department, then writing may not be your forte. Critics will tear you apart or build you up. The best writers in the world “King, Patterson, Koontz, J.K. Rowling, and many others” have been torn up one side and down the other. You can’t please everyone.



If you decide to hire an editor, remember: Your manuscript will be double spaced, which means there will be twice as many pages. A 600 page novel could cost you around $1800.00, some even more depending on what the editor charges per page. Then there’s the hourly rate that some charge. Usually it’s within the range of $65.00. So, if they work on your book for 18 hours, that’s another $1170.00 + $1800.00 = $2970.00



These are the things you must know to work at your craft. Don’t let these things deter you from writing. There are books in libraries and bookstores that can teach you all of these things. Buying these books (if you want to be a serious writer) is the best thing to do. Why? Well, because you can use a yellow marker to highlight all the points of interest. Then you can use the front of the book to make page references to those markings in order to check back on them at a later date, when you need to.



You’ll need to get a copy of Writer’s Market for the current year. This has literary agents whom you can send out query letters to. Some of them allow email queries. They also have a website. Google: Writer’s Market.



I wish you the best of luck!
My suggestion would be to pick up a writers market and find an agent that will represent you. Check out books that are similar to yours and find out who the publishing company is. From there find out who the Agent is and send them a query letter to see if they'll represent you. Most publishing company's don't take unsolicited manuscripts.What's a good publishing company for REALLY young and aspiring authors?I'm 17 by the way.?
You can read some of the answers I've written in my profile if you want to know the specifics about submissions, but you should know that publishing houses don't accept unsolicited manuscripts. It may seem like a waste of money to you, but you should hire a literary agent. Publishing house rarely, if ever, accept unsolicited manuscripts nowadays. For example, I recently got a monthly editorial update about what manuscripts we've accepted, rejected, and received, and they were all submitted by agencies.



I CAN tell you the name of the top five publishers: Random House, HarperCollins, Simon %26amp; Schuster, Penguin, and Scholastic. You can also try Little, Brown %26amp; Co., Bloomsbury, FSG, Candlewick, Chronicle, and Hyperion. Some agencies I've heard of are Writers House (this is one of the biggest), Pippin Properties, Curtis Brown, and Sterling Lord Literistics (all of them are not cheap, but they represent most authors in children's).
Congrats on the book! I'm in 7th grade and am writing a story/novel like you, except I haven't finished it yet. I'm sorta in the same predicament as you. Sorry, I have no idea about publishing, but when(and i'm sure and hope that you do) get your book published you have to email me the title of your book and tell me where to get it! Ya, i don't even know what your book is about, but you sound really cool and I would buy and read your book. email or im me later plz i would luv to talk to you! good luckWhat's a good publishing company for REALLY young and aspiring authors?I'm 17 by the way.?
well, your in luck. Since Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon at 15 or 16 and Amelia Atwater-Rhodes started writing at like 14 or so, publishers are looking for teen authors because it's the latest trend. Oh - and don't forget Hinton wrote The Outsiders when she was just 16. Try Random House and Delacourt Press.
I would simply pick up a copy of Writer's Market 2008. It will answer just about all of your questions, including providing examples of good and bad query letters that you are to send into legit. publishers. Anyone can go through the process of trying to find a publisher - no matter what your age is. If your manuscript is 'buyable' the publisher will not care if they can make money off of your writing.



I could tell you one thing they would not want to hear is the numerous years you put into the novel and the work you went through and the loss of sleep. In fact, when WM provides an example of a bad query letter - they use similar statements you used in this question. So just an FYI incase you do contact a publisher.



The only possible disadvantage for aspiring writers under eighteen (or even under twenty five) they may not have any publishing credentials to their name - and that is something a publisher will take into consideration. So perhaps you could start small - submit short stories into magazines and/or contests.



Good luck.
Search through Yahoo search engine.Type 'book publishers' and hit the search button