The Next Step: Publishing

Publishing is a hard thing. There are thousands of authors and thousands of manuscripts out there in slush piles, desperate editors and agents sifting through queries, flipping through sample chapters, typing quickly, "thank you for considering us, but I don't believe your material is for me." But the publishing world isn't all that dark, there's always light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe you'll find somebody who will fall in love with your work, maybe you'll find somebody who is willing to help you. Here are a few main roles in the publishing business. Literary agents. A literary agent will represent you, handle the publicity, try to advertise your book, negotiate with editors about money, maybe help you polish your manuscript to perfection before sending it to an editor. Be careful, though. There are plenty of authors who are desperate for a literary agent, and when finally one accepts his or her manuscript, they immediately say yes. Observe an agent's background. Before being an agent, did they have anything to do with publishing? Were they editors or agents somewhere else? Were they librarians? Before saying yes to any literary agent, google their name along with scam or vanity. If there are several negative comments from people who have had experience with this literary agency, don't send a submission or accept their offer. A good website that tells you about good literary agents is Preditors and Editors. There's information about contests, editors, publishing houses, and more. Here is a list of some literary agencies I can trust. Folio Literary Management Adams Literary Ethan Ellenberg  Janklow and Nesbit Associates Laura Rennert Scott Waxman Dystel and Goderich Now, a literary agent isn't absolutely necessary. If you find a good agent, then you should say yes, but don't spend too much on literary agents. If more than 15 literary agents say no, then give it up and go straight to editors. But be prepared for a long wait - most literary agents agents answer in 3 weeks or more. Some answer in more than 8 weeks, so be patient. While you wait for their answers, it's a good idea to review your work again and email some authors or friends and family members to critique and view your work. Your school librarian is a good idea too. But be warned - literary agents will take a percentage of the money you get. If an editor says yes, then the agent will take some of the money you get, the way you pay for their services. Some will take 15%, others will take 25%, others will take 50%, or half of the money. Here is a link to a list that has an extensive number of literary agencies. http://www.literaryrambles.com/ There are also a few ways to learn some more, join other people, and get help. CANSCAIP, a Canadian organization for young writers which has a manuscript editing service. I think being a member of CANSCAIP would be around 45 CAD dollars, but I'm not sure. Here's the link to CANSCAIP. http://www.canscaip.org/ Another Canadian group would be the Society of Children's Book Writers. The fee to be a member is 85 dollars. Here is the link.  Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators You can also go to your local library and perhaps begin to talk with the librarians, who should have good information about publishing. Writer's Digest could also help, and it has a bunch of writing contests, which can help you. If you win any contests, then it will help you, for you will have recognition. If you won a contest at Writer's Digest, it could help you a lot, because it is an important magazine. However, contests can be just games and for fun. We're still kids, and publishing can make us grow up early, so don't forget to play, have fun, and still act like a kid. Now, getting back to the subject, befriending an editor assistant can help you too. Editor assistants can help convince a stubborn editor to help publish work. Agents also have assistants, so you can contact them too. However, editor and agent assistants will not always show their emails, so you can look in LinkedIn (if you have an account, or you can borrow your parent's), and see their contact information. Here are some editor assistants. Rachel Stout, assistant to Jane Dystel at Dystel and Goderich Literary Agency. Here is the link to the page, if it can help you. www.dystel.com I'm afraid I don't know many assistants, but I know that HarperCollins and Random House has quite a few as well.