Published: What Every Aspiring Young Writer Wants To Be

At least, that was always my opinion.  And I still get excited at the prospect of seeing my writing in print, even though it’s already happened three times, soon to be five. 

               

Pluses of Publication

Having your writing published at a younger age has its pluses – for one thing, you feel accomplished in something even though you aren’t an adult yet.  Also, if it’s accepted by the right magazine or contest, you can get money along with it.  And who wouldn’t like that?  Most importantly, though, it gets you started as a writer and helps you to learn at an earlier age the processes that writers go through to get published.  Admittedly, it doesn’t really help you with the agent part that always worries/scares me the most, but it helps with a lot.  For instance, it helps you to edit your work with better quality and sooner because you have to or an editor is going to say, “Why are they sending this to me, they didn’t even work their hardest on it!”  Back it goes, right into the SASE and back to you with a form letter of rejection.  It also helps you to learn to follow directions, because what editors say they want in their submission guidelines is WHAT THEY WANT.  And you have to give it to them.  And of course, when you write and submit in the future, it’s always good to have those past credits to be able to present. 

               

So…Why Not?

So why not try to get published?  There are so many opportunities it is really astounding.  When I was in fifth grade, I was into writing already and I looked up where I could send some writing.  I found a place and wrote a true story about something that happened at camp the past summer, and sent it in to Guide Magazine.  I forgot all about it until sometime later when I arrived home to a thick envelope sitting on the table with my name on it.  They had accepted it!  The first thing I ever submitted, and it was accepted!  However, it doesn’t always work that way.  The next three or more pieces I submitted were not accepted, but that’s the way it’s going to be.  You just have to try and try again or you won’t get anywhere with your writing. 

               

Keep It Organized

When I began submitting more and more writing, I needed a way to keep it organized so I wouldn’t end up with simultaneous submissions.  So now I put everything in an Excel spreadsheet – when I submitted it, the title, to what magazine, expected reply date, date it arrived, whether or not it was accepted, rights, payment, and when published.  It works great.  I put in every little thing, even if it’s just for a contest, and in the Accepted/Rejection column, I fill it in with Accepted, Rejected or No Response, and then I color-code it was well – red for rejection, yellow for no response, and green for accepted.  When I open it up and look at it, it is mostly red or yellow, with about five green slots – but those five make up for all the red and yellow.

How Do You Start?

Basically, look up magazines that kids/teens can contribute to.  There are many, although some are more prestigious then others.  Any search engine will find you tons of links, and I even have two pages on this blog, one for magazines and another for contests.  So just get out there and start looking.  Once you find something that either 1) fits something you already wrote or 2) could fit something that you might write, read the directions, EVERY SINGLE ONE, and follow them TO THE LETTER! 

Last Step:  Never Give Up!

Start writing, start submitting, and most of all – enjoy it.  Don’t get discouraged.  And never give up, because if you like writing enough you will continue to write and one day I bet you will write something that someone will be thrilled to publish.