Fountain of Knowledge

Hi Sara Anne,

It's good to see young writers who are serious when it comes to their writing. Well, what I've come to know so far, agents and publishers want the same thing before you submit a novel to them. They want you to have you book finished and ready for print. Why? Because if you win them over with the first three chapters, they will want to see the rest. And they will consider it unprofessional if you submitted pieces to an unfinished novel. The only ones who can submit pieces to an unfinished novels, are published authors who have sold many pieces through them and they know their going to finished the book ASAP. Okay why do some authors have agents? Well an agents job is to get your work sold by presenting them to publishers. Many Publishers do not accept novels directly from new writers, and here's where an agent comes in. An Agent is the one who will work his/her butt to get your baby in the hands of a publishing house that will get your work published even world wide. Yes, with an agent comes so down sides. You will have to share your earnings with that agent for his hard work to get your work noticed. If you're writing a sequel or series they will breath down your neck to get it down faster, because the faster you finish it, the more faster you both get paid. But the good side of having an agent is that most of the times they know plenty of publishing houses to show your work to. And if they accept to represent your book, it's because they believe in its potential. Now there are many authors who choose to self-publish. Here is when you have to invest in its printing process and you have to work hard in your own publicity. The good side of self-publishing is that more money goes into your pocket with each sale that is made and you write in your own pace. But the downside is some self-publish authors don't sale as much as they would like because they're new. Avid readers really don't like buying from self-publishers because they fear their $5.99-$14.99 or even whatever amount they pay will be a waste if the book is not to their expectations. That's why its not easy choosing which way you as the author want to go when publishing your work. So do some research and ensure that in the end, whatever you chose to do, its the route you feel comfortable with.

About submitting short stories, there are magazines that accept them. Some pay, while others offer to print your story and if readers demand more of your tales, you will get paid to become one of the magazine's writers. This second group of magazines are the ones that are starting out and are looking for new authors. I personally have submitted work to a similar magazine that is starting out and I've had the privilege to see my work in print. I feel comfortable, because I'm building a database of fans so when I finished polishing my novels, more of my books will sale. The editor and agent of that magazine is John Raab. The magazine is called suspense magazine. They are also taking out a new line of magazines one called: Romantic Lore and another for Horror, Fantasy and Sci-fi. If your interested just check out the site of www.suspensemagazine.com and email the editor.

Once again Sara Ann, I'm not here to tell you who to seek out and what you should do. You need to really think about what you want and decide for yourself what you're going to do. I hope I was helpful in anyway. Take care and good luck with your writing endeavors.

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