Countdown continues...day five

FIVE WRITING QUESTIONS I GET ALL THE TIME

1...How old do you have to be to have your book published?

I get this question almost weekly from all of you young writers who are worried that no one in the publishing industry will take you seriously. Well, I have one name for you: S.E. Hinton.

Yep. The author of THE OUTSIDERS wrote that book when she was a teenager. Did that stop her? No.

The only thing people in the publishing business care about is the quality of your book--they won't treat you any better or worse if you're a teenager. What does that mean? Your book has to be good! Do that, and you'll be far ahead of the pack.



2...Where do you get your ideas?

Ideas are everywhere--all the time. I've chronicled the complete "stories behind the stories" on the pages of this website dedicated to my books. CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE came to me while I was cooking spaghetti. I got the idea of the Gallagher Girls while watching TV.

The key, I think, is always being open to ideas and then learning how to think constructively about them to figure out which ones you should use and which should be tossed back.


3...How long does it take to write a book?

To my knowledge, there's no specific answer to that question. Personally, I've done it as quickly as a few months and I've also had books that have taken more than a year.

No two writers are the same, so the best thing is to just commit to a project and stick it out however long it takes to finish.


4...How do you get a book published and how much does it cost?

Okay. Listen up, folks and listen well. If you're paying to have your book published you're doing what's called "self publishing." There are a few reasons why some people choose to do this, but it's not really the avenue that most of you are really wanting, I'm willing to bet.

My publisher pays me to publish my book--not the other way around. And that's the way it is for almost every author that you've ever heard of.

Now for the larger question of how do you get a book published.

First things first, you have to write a really great book. Not just a "finished" book. Not an okay book. Not a "my mom says it's good" book. Nope. It's got to be a truly amazing book in every way and people who don't already know and love you have to agree.

Next step: you should start researching literary agents. These are the people who take your book to publishing houses and negotiate deals on your behalf.

You can find out about agents in many ways.

--research your favorite authors and find out who their agents are then visit those agents' websites.

--sign up for pulisher's lunch and lunch weekly--two industry e-newsletters that you can find at www.publishersmarketplace.com. Lunch Weekly lists publishing deals and the agents who are making them happen.

--While you're at publishersmarketplace.com, you might sign up for their service that allows you to research a database of publishing deals.

--And finally you can go to agentquery.com and research there as well.

Then you should research the agents that you're interested in and follow their submission guidelines to the letter.

A lot of people think there's a trick to getting a literary agent. And that's true. The trick is writing a really, spectacularly good book. If you can do that you'll have agents fighting over you. I swear.



5...what's the best part about being a writer?

That's an easy one. You guys. You're the best part.




Day five, people!


--Ally