what can I send my story t

Question:

I am a teenage author, working on a fiction book. Who/what can I send my story too to get exposure/feedback?

My grandma says to send it to a publisher or someplace, but I don't know who to send it to. It's not finished but I want to know if my story has any merit and if it could possibly have a chance of being published. Your answers are greatly appreciated.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Unfortunately your Grandma and most of the people who replied to you are incorrect.

1) You cannot send a publisher an incomplete manuscript and ask them what they think of it. First of all, major publishers do not accept unsolicited submissions - not even finished ones. You must go through an A List agent. To do that, you must finish your manuscript, have it edited, then send a query and a proposal to an agent who will in turn pitch it to editors at publishing houses. Many people neglect the editing part, but it is very important. A sloppy, unedited manuscript will feed some agent's paper shredder for lunch. An editor can cost between 4 - 5 dollars per page based on 250 words per page up to a top rate editor who will cost 20 thousand dollars and up plus points of your royalties. That is YOUR expense. If your book is worth it, have it edited.

2) DO NOT POST YOUR WORK ONLINE IF YOU WISH TO SELL IT. I put that in capital letters because I cannot stress it enough. Due to the internet and the ease of plagiarism, publishers these days will NOT even look at work previously posted online. Many of these writers sites even have little fine print giving them the rights to anything you post on their site. I got caught that way once myself. Publishing is a business. Publishers are out there to make money. They are not going to pay a lawyer to work on determining chain of ownership for a book or fight in court when another publisher puts out a book just like it because somebody plagiarized your story online. KEEP YOUR WORK OFF THE INTERNET.

Join a writers' group or take a class in a local college. Find a mentor. But the fact is, a book is only as good as its ending and nobody is going to be able to tell you anything until it is finished.

When you are done, purchase a copy of Writers Market 2007 and study it carefully. Or spend time at the library in the reference section with Literary Marketplace. It costs 300 bucks so save the money and use the library's copy.

LIke all authors you have to learn two things 1) how to advocate for yourself and 2) how to handle rejection. Gone With the Wind was rejected 50 times. That was over 50 years ago. Expect 4 times the number of rejections now. Pax - C