Another Response to "Why Wait?"

Last week and this week I'm passing on reader responses I received when I asked if anyone had advice for a twelve-year-old novelist, Diana, who wants to publish.

I published Barbara's response last week.  A self-published writer, she suggested that if Diana wants to self publish she will need to have a team in place to help with editing, book designing, etc.  She also suggested that, precisely because Diana is twelve, such people might emerge, willing to help.

Here is another perspective:

Hi Marion,

You raise great questions. I think it’s especially wise to consider anew our responses to these sorts of inquiries, given that changing technology has opened up all sorts of avenues for writers–kid or adult–to get their work read. It’s much easier in 2013 to find an audience for one’s work than it was fifty or twenty-five or even ten years ago. I think I would direct Diana to a website like kidpub.com, where young writers share their stories (many of them novels) and have a path to publication, if they want it. The site publishes some of these books and sells them in their online bookstore (and on Amazon, I think). I don’t know much about this site in particular (just did a quick search); there are lots of sites where kids can share and build stories, among them figment.com, scribblitt.com and storybird.com. Maybe one of your other readers has an opinion of these or knows of others?

But there’s something else here that niggles at me, some point that might serve Diana better in the long run. I think it’s that writing and publication are two separate things. We tend to look to publication as a big, fat seal of approval on our work, but the truth is that there are many factors that determine whether a story–even a beautifully written story–gets published. Writers write first and foremost for the love (and occasional misery) of creation. I think I’d tell Diana to learn to love the ‘making’ more than anything else, because there will be many times in her life as a writer when that is all she has to sustain her.

Thanks for the thought provoking post!

Jane

And thank you, Jane.  I had no idea the kinds of sites you list existed, and I'm glad to know they do.  What an exciting opportunity they offer for committed young writers!

And I agree wholeheartedly with the last part of Jane's message.  In fact, I had already said much the same thing to Diana, that loving the writing she is doing is the real point, not publication.  And writing because she loves to write will always be accessible to her, whether she is publishing or not. 

Next week I'll say a bit more about the tension between writing and publishing . . . for writers of any age.