Places to Publish

Before you enter a contest or try to publish, read this article from The Atlantic:

I'm a bit wary of writing competitions (see above article from The Atlantic), but here are a few widely recognized writing competitions for teens:

And one contest for poetry:

- A good way to find out what's going on in the industry
- Also includes a list of contests in the back of each issue.
  - While there are good reasons to enter contests and pay the entry fee, I'd encourage you not to pay money for contests at this stage in your writing life.

Sample list of online and print journals (normally, you don't need to pay money to submit to journals). Also, here's another list.

I suggest if you're interested in submitting your work that you look at a variety of journals, especially ones you yourself like to read.
- Online journals are now considered just as respectable as print journals.
Usually, authors work their way up... Also, many of my favorite stories have appeared in relatively unknown journals, which tend to publish edgier work by less well known writers.

Please note that you should include a brief query letter when you submit stories.

This link is to an excellent site on How to write a good query letter.
I'd strongly suggest you also include your age when you submit to magazines (your age should work in your favor).

If you want to publish a novel, then you need to figure out what genre you're writing in and research literary agents.

Here's a link to Publisher's Marketplace, which has lists of top-selling agents.
- Publishers Marketplace
- See the sample list of agents from Publishers Marketplace below.
- I don't recommend that you contact agents until you have a very polished manuscript, but this link is meant to give you a sense of how the business works.