My biggest concern with aspiring authors – and here I’m addressing adults as much as teens – is that the writer tends to move too quickly. “I’ve written a book; how do I get it published?” misses a critical – if not THE critical – step in this entire creative process, which is: “I’ve written a book; now how do I make it the very best book it can possibly be?” I happen to believe that a great manuscript will make its own way to publication. Really. Think about it: would a publishing house ever say, “Oh, we just read this book and we’d love to print it but the writer’s a nobody so we won’t. Ha ha.” Every published author was a nobody once. Publishers love finding great new voices. How else would they stay in business?

The problem is that no publisher or literary agent will take the time to say, “your manuscript is halfway there, now you need to do THIS.” They have no experience with you – what faith do they have that you can make your book twice as good? Nor have they the time or resources for that sort of undertaking. So your job is to make the book twice as good on your own, because the closer it is to perfect, the more likely it is that an editor or an agent will take you on.

Beg your readers – friends, family, teachers, postmen – for criticism. They didn’t understand the villain’s motivation? They must speak up about it. They think the end of Chapter Five is unrealistic? Holler it out! So many readers belittle their own reactions: “I didn’t get it so I must be dumb, I must have missed something.” Odds are that the writer – you – missed something instead. So fix it. Search out writers’ groups; start your own. Some writing professionals will critique for pay, but first make sure they’re legit and that your story is worth spending money on. The further you can get it before that paid critic sees it, the further they’ll take it from there.

Also check out How do I become a writer? >>