I wrote a book and I'm looking for a way to get it published and on the market. I'm only 15 so I don't know if this will hold me back from that. Do you know any companies or anything that can make this happen? A company that will want to read the book and tell me if they want to do business with me? I've looked a lot into self publishing, but I'm not sure that that is what I want. I'm not looking to get a book for myself, I'm looking for someone who can get my book on the market and sold or at least help me try to be successful in this. Any help is very very much appriciated.

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Your age should not be a factor in whether or not your book will recieve an offer. You will just need to make sure your parents or legal guardian are involved in the process with you, because you are not old enough to sign contracts. They will need to do this for you. There are two types of publishing, traditional and self-publishing. If you choose to go with self-publishing, I would recommend http://www.lulu.com as a great site. They don't pretend to be anything they are not, and have excellent service. All the decisions will be in your hands. However, going with a company like this is a difficult road and it is not considered a publishing credential if you look to go traditional down the road. Here is some other information about the downside of self-publishers (also known as vanity presses): http://www.sfwa.org/beware/vanitypublishers.html As far as novels go, different publishers specialize in different things, and fiction is a broad world. You have to try and sell your material to companies that produce similar works (ie, don't try and sell a fantasy novel to a romance publisher). So do your homework. Take a look at the most recent "Writer's Market"... or even better, try the "Guide to Literary Agents". I absolutely suggest getting an agent instead of approaching publishers directly. I'm assuming you are not a contract attorney, so you will need someone to look over any offers and to guide you through the publishing world. No publisher or agent should charge you any money up front! That is the sign of a scam! They make money by selling your book. Agents work on a commission (generally 15% of the amount of money the publishers pay you). Make sure that you follow their exact submission specifications. You can't send them your book, but you should be sending them a query letter (Nicholas Sparks has a good example on his website). Don't copyright your book first, it looks amateur and would cause them trouble down the line when you do the revisions they ask for. Do not bind it into a book if and when they ask to see it, send loose pages. These are easier for them to deal with. Here are some websites that can help. Read them thoroughly and research, research, research! Pay special attention to Miss Snark, because her archives can answer any question you ever have about publishing: http://www.nicholassparks.com/WritersCorner/Agent.html http://www.publishersmarketplace.com http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/ http://www.agentquery.com http://www.misssnark.blogspot.com http://www.squidoo.com/booksonbooks And be warned of the people on this list: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.html Good luck!

You need an agent. However they may not touch your book due to your age. You would have to have a parent, involved.

I'm going to tell you what I tell everyone: It's a long and involved process to get a book published, but it's well worth it if you can get your manuscript published. You can go through the current Writer's Market to get an idea of how to get your book published. You can also try the Literary Market Place for names of publishers. If you want, you can always self publish, or go with places like a vanity press, where publishing one's book is far easier than trying to publish with the bigger houses. However, despite my mention of this, I strongly advise AGAINST using vanity presses or self publishing. No reputable publishing house would consider it a "published" book, and despite having a published work, the heart of the operation is your wallet. You're going to have to pay for everything, as well as doing all the work (marketing, publicity, selling the books to bookstores). The best way, I believe, would be to go through traditional publishing houses to get your book published. The thing I tell people is to take a look at the books that is most like the book you are writing, then go to the copyright pages and make note of the publisher's information. You can review their submissions guidelines on their websites, but just to warn you, most of the major houses do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. I'd strongly suggest getting an agent (you'll have to pay them a fee), but when and if a house solicits for manuscripts, literary agencies--like Writers House, Sterling Lord Literistics, and Pippin--are the ones they turn to (these are the agencies we get manuscripts from all the time). Be prepared for what houses/agencies will ask for. You should, of course, check the submissions guidelines, but most of them ask for the first three chapters, a synopsis, and a cover and/or a query letter. You'll have to include a SASE with your submission so that the house can mail you a response. (You should not expect to get your submission returned to you.) Expect some lag time between the time you send something out till the time you hear from a house. Editors are swamped, and submissions are usually read by editorial assistants who pull out the ones that they think their bosses may like. If an editor likes what you've sent them, they'll ask for the full manuscript (if it's a long ms), and if they like THAT and decide to acquire your text, then you get to the good stuff, like signing a contract and figuring out your rights (as in rights for media, offering your book the UK, etc.). If you decide NOT to go with an agent, then I'd suggest you have a lawyer who specializes in these types of things to review your contract for you. After that, everything sort of takes care of itself. Your editor will edit your book and you and s/he will go back and forth with the manuscript until it's ready for submission to Managing Editorial. Managing editors will handle getting your book copyedited, which you'll review. Designers will typeset your book, and you'll see first-pass pages/galleys (it'll look more like a book at this stage). You'll most likely only see two rounds of interior passes, and after that, you'll get your samples of the book! You may get a chance to review the jacket for input, but this doesn't always happen. The lead time for a hardcover book is 9 months to 1 year; for paperback, it can be as short as 5 to 6 months. I would encourage you to try paperback imprints, which DO publish original works. It's a good way in, and paperback editors are far more forgiving than hardcover ones. Once you build yourself up in paperback, you can switch to hardcover, like one of my authors did. The money isn't fabulous for paperback authors, but the potential to move to hardcover is great, if the manuscript is right. One of my authors published only through paperback, then one day wrote the right book, and--ta-dah!--she was a National Book Award finalist. I strongly suggest you have someone edit your manuscript prior to submission. You can try a high school English teacher or an English professor at a local university (you may be at the mercy of the schedule to the latter and may have to pay a small fee for their time). You can also try a freelance editor, however, they may be a little expensive as they often charge by the hour and I've seen rates go from $25 to $40 an hour. Make sure you have your spelling checked (grammar fixes would be helpful but not necessary; that's what the copyeditor is for!). Most, if not all, of the major houses use The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, as a reference for grammar and style usages; Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, for spellings. Because of your age, you should definitely try going through an agent (you should anyway because of that whole not-accepting-unsolicited-manuscripts thing). Your contract and negotiations will probably be handled and signed by your legal guardian. However, don't let your age discourage you from trying! I hope this helps, and best of luck to you!

All good advice. Also - don't staple your ms., put a big rubber band around it. One inch margins, 12-point serifed font (like Times New Roman), double spaced. Indent new paragraphs, start the first page of a new chapter halfway down the page. Print on one side of the paper. I can't remember what else Noah Lukeman (The First Five Pages - pick it up - st. martin's press.) said about basic ms. formatting, but I'd number the pages too. Send out CLEAN copies only, and only when specifically requested by the agent. Good luck!

I'm assuming this is a novel. If it's not, self publication MAY be good for you, depending on whether you have a web presence or whether you think your non-fiction book only has a small audience. If it is a novel, consider these things: First: This isn't your first draft, correct? You're going to want to revise your first draft at least a couple of times because there are going to be continuity errors, dull spots, etc. I'm on I don't know what revision number with my current work-in-progress, but that's just me and this particular story. Second: Your age will only be a "handicap" in that 18 is the legal age of adulthood in the U.S. That means that any contracts that need to be signed (with an agent or a publisher) will have to be signed by a parent or legal guardian. This in no way means that teenagers can't get published; anyone who tells you that is full of it. It's just that those below 18 need that parental/guaridan signature on contracts. Third: Self publishing a novel and having it sell more than just a few copies is very, very hard to do. Why? Unless you have some sort of online presence - like a popular blog, for instance - not a heck of a lot of people are going to know you and your book exist. Contrary to what's been said on some Internet sites (especially touted by shady literary agents), first-time novelists DO get published by big and small publishers all the time, and they DO receive marketing monies. As first-timers are an unknown quantity, they obviously won't receive the same amount of monies as a J. K. Rowling or a Janet Evanovitch. But the publisher wants your book to sell because they want to make some dough, too. :-) Fourth: The best thing you can do for yourself and your book is to do research. It might take a couple of weeks or a month or a little longer, but in the end, it's worth it. Why? You won't be taken in by shady agents. You won't be separated from your (or your parents') hard-earned money by a vanity press. You won't lose the rights to your book for many years by a vanity press posing as a "traditional publisher." As for the research, you can look at my blog in the source list, as I talk about agents and publishers and what-not. There's another great, general source in the list as well - it's where I received *my* education on the publishing world (and it's a weird, wacky world, let me tell you ;-)). So, to summarize: *Make sure your book is in the best shape it possibly can be (that includes formatting it correctly). *Your parents or legal guardian will have to sign any contracts that are emailed or snailmailed to you. *Self publishing a novel is a tough sell; consider a place like Lulu.com or Cafepress.com for the best, most cost effective deals if you insist on going that route. *Research, research, and research! You put in the time and effort to write your story, so why shouldn't you invest similar time and effort into getting it published? And, whatever you do, DON'T click on Google ads for publishers or agents. Agents and publishers are flooded with tons of queries and manuscripts on a daily basis; the ones who have to advertise are the ones who want to take your money - either up front or by sneaky means (like paid critiques and the like). Good luck!