How can I publish a book?

Question

I'm 14 years old, and I'm writing the first book of a trilogy I have planned. Any help is appreciated.

Here's the prologue of Book I.
[All names are removed]


Red Square was peculiarly empty on that frosty night, giving the cold streets the epitome of silence. The man in the black trench coat walked swiftly, not taking more care to make himself unnoticed. He was, after all, about to break into St. Basil’s Cathedral. What little people were in the Square that black night most likely did not notice him, for they were kept busy trying to keep themselves warm. He stopped in a cluster of trees at the foot of the Church. The monolithic icon was a marvel of architecture. He breathed in deeply and continued along the side of the church. The man paused, and withdrew an ancient codex from the folds of his coat. He flipped through the tattered pages until he came to the one he needed. There, on paper, was the architectural layout of St. Basil’s Cathedral. He spoke a string of Russian words, with perfect inflection even though he was Italian through and through. To any onlookers it might seem as if he was speaking to no one, but only he heard the choppy response to his words through an old COM link in his ear. The man nodded, then began to feel along the side wall of the Cathedral, registering every nook and cranny. Then he found it. With a twisting motion of his arm, a small groove with a keyhole shaped indent was revealed. He produced the needed key from his coat, and fit it into the indent. With a groan, the door that had most likely not been known about by Postnik Yakovlev himself opened. The man stepped into darkness, suddenly lit by the blaze of his flashlight. He walked forward cautiously. Millennia old burial caskets were fixed in the walls of this narrow passageway. The dark tunnel widened out to form a sort of antechamber with several passages. Once again the man pulled out the codex and flipped several pages past the Cathedral layout. Now here was a picture of the tunnel network, elaborately depicted. He walked through the northwest tunnel, hopeful that the codex writer’s ‘visions’ were accurate, and indeed they were. He reached a dome shaped chamber with a podium in the middle. Upon it was resting a curious device shaped like a cylinder upon which several spinning mechanisms containing letters and numbers were. He walked over and took it in his hands. From what was observable, this was only half of it. The letters and numbers spun around the cylinder, allowing the user to make words and sequences. Suddenly a rattled voice spoke from the darkness. “He brought you here, didn’t he?” it said.
The man spun about to face the dim outline of the old man. “He showed me actually. And I can only assume two things from our meeting,” he said. The old man chuckled. “What might that be?” the man with the trench coat’s face was set in a grim smirk. “You are an Immortal. Angel or Demon, whatever you may be, you are here to guard this,” he lifted the device and waved it. “Or,” he continued. “You sealed a deal with him,” The man chuckled once again. “Being an Immortal sounds right,” he asked himself. “But I think the exact causes of my existence are yet unknown.” The man with the trench coat began to walk away with the device in hand. “Stop.” The old man said. The Italian spun about again, this time with a .9 mm in his hand ready to shoot. “You cannot take that,” the old man said. The Italian laughed. “Immortal?” he asked. Suddenly the chamber erupted in flash of light, and the gunshot echoed along the chamber walls. The old man slumped against the chamber wall, and breathed his last ragged breath. The Italian walked away with the device, his face set in stone. “I think not.”

What do you think?
(Sorry about the absence of paragraphs)

Answer 1

Join a Writer's Group. Most community colleges have them and generally even teens could join. Learn to critique others and be critiqued. Learn to rewrite, rewrite and rewrite.



Since you are writing fantasy, attend a science fiction convention. Many of them have writing tracks and published authors will give you tips. Sometimes publishers or editors attend them as well.



Then get Writer's Market. Read how to submit a book. Follow the submission policy to the letter.



Remember that Gone With The Wind was rejected 41 times before publisher 42 picked it up.



A publisher is more likely to be interested in you if you have published a short story first. The link will show you some places.



Good luck.

Answer 2

Here is an article on that subject exactly. Enjoy. You'll be happy to know that the author has been writing since he was 9 and the novel he has out now he wrote when he was 17.



http://bookpublishing.suite101.com/article.cfm/becoming_a_published_author

Answer 3

That sounds great, Especially for a 14-year-old :)

I'd love to read it when it's published!





Try looking up a reputable Publishing Company on google and getting their address so you can send them your manuscript? Sorry, Don't know much about publishers either (Writing a novel too!)



Good luck getting published! :)

- Avi

Answer 4

I think you write much better than 99% of people your age. I'm fifteen and am also working on a trilogy/series (I haven't decided what it is yet) and have seen alot of different people's writings from our age group.

It's usually horrible.

Keep pushing on and don't let anyone tell you to give up!



Also....

I'm looking for someone to give me an extra opinion on the first bit (although it is hideously unrevised) of my novel...if you'd like to read it, e-mail me! ([e-mail]) I'd like to read more of yours.