How to get my story edited/published?

-Hello(: I'm currently writing a story and I'm wondering, I'm underage will an editor or publisher accept my story? I am currently 15 years old and many of my teachers have told me that I have a gift of writing. Is it possible to get my story edited and published once it's finished and how will I know if they are reliable or scams? Thank you(:How to Publish a Story

Many young writers and authors these days will ask the question 鈥淗ow much does it cost to get published?" The answer? Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Of course, there is vanity publishing, but that isn鈥檛 ideal.



So, what鈥檚 the difference between 鈥渧anity publishing鈥?and the other type?

Vanity publishing is where you do everything yourself. You get the books printed, you design the cover, you bind them, and you sell them. Some may think that sounds appealing, but there is one major flaw to this: Very few book shops will accept your story, so if you have dreams of seeing your book underneath the 鈥淣ew Releases鈥?sign in a bookshop, steer away from vanity publishing. Obviously, publishing with the large companies such as Harper Collins etc won鈥檛 cost you a penny. If you find a publisher who claims to be a 鈥渕ain-stream鈥?publisher yet they demand money, walk away.

Before you start thinking about getting published, ask yourself if your book is really ready for that. There are times when you are seven years old and draw a wonderful picture, you think it鈥檚 the best piece of art ever but then you look at it when you are older and it turns out it isn鈥檛 that good. It鈥檚 the same with writing a story. Your mum, dad, or teacher might have said it was good, but not necessarily good enough to be published. Make sure it is 100% ready. If you are young and just wrote a book, don鈥檛 rush to get it published. Put it away, then a few months later take it out to edit it. You need to be harsh on yourself, edit it until it is perfect.

Now you鈥檝e got your book ready, here is how to format it ready for the world of publishing:



* 2-inch margin

* Double line-spacing

* Times New Roman font size 12

* Print on one side of the paper.

* Make sure the pages are numbered. Be careful if you have parts of your story on different Word Documents鈥?When you click 鈥渘umber pages鈥?it won鈥檛 carry on from the last number on your other word document. In other words, it will start as 1 on each new document. If you don鈥檛 want this happening, put all of your story into the same Word Document, save it, then number it.

* On the header, beside the page number, have something which will identify your story such as your name or the title.

* When you fix your book together, whatever you do DO NOT glue, staple, or otherwise permanently fix the pages together. Use either a paper clip or an elastic band.



What you will need to do next is find an agent. Yup, an agent. Sorry to tell you, but not many publishers will accept work straight off unpublished authors (That鈥檚 what no unsolicited mss mean under many publishers these days). What you need to do is pick up either the Writers Handbook 2011 (http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Handbook-2鈥?/a> or the Writers Market 2011 (http://www.amazon.com/2011-Writers-Marke鈥?/a> In those books you will find a long, long list of agents, publishers, and editors. Read their requirements carefully. Some of them might want to see the whole thing, others might only want a short snippet, others might just want a sypnosis. Do not just dive in head-first without knowing what they require.

Last of all, if you get rejected don鈥檛 be disheartened. Rowling was even rejected when she tried to publish Harry Potter鈥?It didn鈥檛 stop her. :)get some of ur friends to edit of the age that ur aiming ur story for. And/or hire an editor before u try to get published. Once its compltly polished and good, then u have to get an agent. Google publishing agents and find one u like. U will know if its a scam if they ask for money in advance. U never never ever pay anyone to publish ur story. However, if u do get published they will take a percent of ur earnings. Now once u find an agent u like u will (more then likly, depends on the agent) have to send them a query letter, if u dont know what that is, go here: http://www.charlottedillon.com/query.htm鈥?/a>

Then u pray like crazy they pick ur story and letter. If they do then u will probably have to then send like the first 4 chapters or so, if not all (again, depends) then theyll see if theu like ur story, if they do theyll contact u and pass ur story around to publishers. Once a publisher wants to publish u then just ride it from there. There will still b a lot to do, but they will talk to u and ull figure it out. Please note that u have to get an agent. U cant contact a publisher, trust me ive tried. The only publishers u can are unrated once that will get u nowhere. If u want ur book to b read by quiet a few people get an agent, the agent will contact the big publishers and will try there best to get u published. Good luck, hope i helped!!! :)|||Beautiful Nightmare said pretty much what I wanted to say.



When editing you should first edit it yourself. Wait a month after you're done writing (don't look at your work), then edit it with a fresher mind.



But http://wickededits.wordpress.com/ will edit the first ten pages free. You could use their advice for other words.|||My teacher told me I had a gift too. I spent the next several weeks laboring on an essay about the story of Oedipus...this is what I got.





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