I'm only fourteen, so this isn't a "right-now" kind of a question, but I've always wanted to be a writer. I've been writing poetry mainly since I was 6, seriously since I was 11, I've been writing stories since I was about 8. I've always written more than the limits for school, and actually enjoy writing essays of any kind for school. Anyway, how would I become a published author? I know that it's really hard to break into, which is why I'm asking. So how would I break into the writing world?

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One thing more. If you get somone to read your story, don't accept any lip service from them for fear that they may be afraid of hurting your feelings. This does you absolutely no good. Get an honest opinion. 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!

I would suggest you read Writers Market 2008 and start learning about how the traditional publishing industry works. But please steer away from poetry. Poetry does not sell. Also, you can go to my profile. You will find I star all good Q and A regarding publishing and writing. Many successful authors have posted here to help newcomers. Take advantage of their answers. Print some out and study them if you'd like. Going through my profile makes it easier than weeding through all the Harry Potter and Twilight questions. Pax-C

Well, when I was your age I wrote a lot too, and now I'm a writer, paid for it. I think I knew at 14 I would be a writer. . . So I would say. . . . go to college. Major in English or Journalism. I majored in both. That will teach you to write well. And if you want to break into it, you have to write WELL, not just write a lot. (There is a lot of bad poetry out there! LOL) Meanwhile, get a book or two (when you are ready) about marketing your writing for magazines, or novels, or whatever you want to write. Read it thoroughly for advice on marketing a finished manuscript, building a reputation, finding an agent, etc. There are great books out there to help. It's a business, and you have to learn how to navigate it so you don't fall on your face. Finally, while you are young: 1- Pay attention in English class. Read your reading assignments. The more you read of good writers, the better you will get. 2 - Read, read, read. 3 - Keep writing and practicing. You get better with practice. 4 - Experience a lot of things. The more you know, the more you have to write about. . . 5 - Develop a thick skin. Learn to listen to criticism given honestly, without your pride getting in the way. A lot of people fail at writing because they want everyone to tell them they are great, more than they want to really improve. If someone is criticizing to help you improve (not just hurt you) - listen to them openly. It's a gift from them! Remember, false pride can prevent your becoming a real writer. 6 - Learn to spell and learn your grammar. Editors see "your" when it should say "you're" or "it's" when it should say "its" and just toss the manuscript into the trash. It says to them that you are not professional or bright, and they can't waste time on that - there are other people who CAN spell and editors will prefer those, every time! Keep in mind that editors get a lot of bad submissions and a few good ones in the pile. So if you make yourself into a good one, it isn't so hard to start selling what you write. ;) So . . . if after hearing all this, you still want to be a writer, print this out and put it inside your favorite book and take it out every six months or so for encouragement. Good luck.

I'm going to give you a link to a blog by professional literary agent Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and start reading the archives starting with his very first blog back in 2006. Read /each/ and /every/ blog that he has ever written. When you have read all of his blog posts read the archives of the other professional agent blogs that link through his site. If you do this you will know more about publishing than the average writer by the end of the summer. By the time you graduate high school you will be so highly informed that your chances of being published will be much greater than that of most aspiring writers. Talent is a huge part of being a professional writer, but talent can only get you so far. If you aren't informed and if you don't know exactly what agents and publishers expect then you're going to seriously decrease your chances of becoming a professional writer. Based on a lot of the responses and questions on here I can tell that a lot of writers are lazy. Not all, but some. A lot of writers think that once they finish writing a book that their job is nearly done. Wrong. You have to write phenomenal query letters, you have to research agents /very/ carefully, if you get signed by a publisher you'll need to make revisions, there's contracts to deal with, etc., etc. Only about 1 percent of writers that submit their work to agents and publishers actually get published. About 150,000 books are published every year. Do the math. Becoming a published author is extremely difficult. I have learned a lot about publishing in the last 6 months, but I have learned more from Nathan Bransford's blog in the last one or two months than in the rest of the six months. Curtis Brown, Ltd. (the literary agency that Bransford works for) represents authors like Ayn Rand and S.E. Hinton. They're big time authors in case you didn't know. Read his blog. Every single last post. Then move on to the other blogs that link through his site. Thirty to 60 days from now you won't have to come on here to ask anymore questions about writing and publishing. YOU will be the one giving advice and giving links to reputable sites to verify the info you learned from industry professionals. To learn more about the writing aspect I strongly recommend a nonfiction book called "On Writing" by Stephen King -- even if you don't like his fiction books. This books gives extremely great advice on writing. Buy it. It only costs 7.99. The information in this book will stay with you for as long as you plan to write. Good Luck.