I'm writing a novel and a have a few questions?? 10 points to anyone who actually helps me???

I'm 17 and have been writing a novel since your age. Here's my suggestions:

In Microsoft Word, make the font Times New Roman and size 12. Also ensure the margins are 1 inch by 1 inch on the top and sides. This is the most common and acceptable format for a document you intend to send to a literary company.

2 or 3 pages a chapter? That sounds short. My shortest chapter is 6 pages and my longest is 21 with the average falling between 11 and 14 pages, and that's with the size 12, Times New Roman format I listed above. Maybe my chapters are long, I don't really know.

If you want to know for sure, you can go to the "File" menu on Word, then click "Page Setup". Below where it says "orientation" and has the options of 'landscape' or 'portrait' it should have something that says "multiple pages" with a selection box. It'll be set to "normal" but if you click down you can choose "book fold" which re-formats your document into the average size of a paperback novel. This will help you tell how many pages your book may have, but remember books come in all shapes and sizes.

Also, don't worry about chapter size so much right now. If a chapter needs to be short it can be. And don't make it long by padding it too much. Write how you think it should be and let it go, don't cut to shorten a chapter or pad to add - that only can hurt you.

Now, it doesn't cost anything except postage to send your book to a potential editor. Just make sure you've got a legitimate one who won't steal your story or money.

A good way to tell is by their track record. Read what the editor has worked on before. If the editor has only done stuff you've never heard of and that's obscure, you best avoid it. Also, make sure the editor is in the genre you're book is. If the editor has only done fantasy, your book about rape has no place there. Look for an editor who has done books about drama or teenage issues.

Most editors tell you their submission guidelines on their site. All you have to do is follow them. Usually they'll want a synopsis of your book as well as a "query letter". Query letters just answer questions the editor would ask:

"Why is this book special?"

"Why would anyone want to read this?"

etc.

Don't apologize for being young or inexperienced. More and more authors are young, and if you're a first time author of course you won't have any experience. Every published author was in that position when they started - apologizing for it is unnecessary.

Here's the submission guidelines for the editor I'm trying to work with:

http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/submission.asp

As you can see, he wants a synopsis, query letter, and two chapters from my book. That won't cost me anything to send him except for postage.

You should be wary of editors who ask you to pay them to read your stuff, half the time it's a scam.

The editor I'm working with prefers you be without an agent so don't worry, not having an agent right now doesn't mean you won't be published.

If you write strongly and from the heart, if you follow an editor's guidelines and if you keep at it - you can be published.

Just keep writing, search for a legit editor, and don't worry so much as length. Tell the story you want to tell and use as much or little length as you need to to tell it.

If you'd like more help, email me.

Also, a book about a rape victim - provocative, I like it! :)

1- How long is a decent chapter. on microsoft office word i have each page on size 11 single spaced. And i have about 2 or 3 pages a chapter how many would that be when you actually put it into book form?

It would depend on how long the book is going to be. Consider each chapter to essentially be a "scene" or a series of connected scenes.

2- When I finish, if i wanted to get this published would it cost me money to get an agent to help me or could i pay them afterwards if the book gets published

You will find that you don't pay the agent, the agent pays you. If someone decides to carry your book, they will skim their pay off the profits of the book before you begin to see your royalties. The going rates for book deals are between 10-15%. If your agent is taking a cut, picture him getting half or more of that, especially if this is your first novel.

You might want to consider the SOP route and publish the book yourself. That will cost you the publishing of the book itself and is the way a lot of books go, when they can't find a publisher who wants to carry the book. Some publishers will not talk to you unless you have an agent, I've heard, but I don't believe it.

Good luck with it.

Book are normally around 50,000 words... as long as you have that, the length of a chapter does not matter. (Some authors like short 1 page chapters and others have 75 page ones, so its up to you) [In book for 2-3 pages in word would be somewhere between 4 and 10 pages depending on the font, spacing, size of the book, margines, etc.

As far as worrying about agents, I would first just worry about finish the book and edit it.... a lot. Some authors spend over a year just editing their work. You want to make sure you send a sample of your top quality work to agents and publishers. Once the book is done, the rest is the easy part.

hope this helped some.... Good luck!

Hey - I'm 16, and I've always wanted to be able to create some amazing book that'll blow people's minds. We share a dream. Here's the best advice I can give you:

Write your story. You've already started it; continue it. Right now, don't worry about how long your chapters are or how it will look in book-form (partially because you'll never know if it will make it to book-form...sorry for the skepticism.).

Create something tremendous, and age won't matter.

Agents cost money...you should really have your parents help out if you want one. They will ask for a cut book-profits, but I don't know how much (lousy help I am). You can send the story into publishers yourself, but it may take some time. A lot of time.

If you get yourself a publisher, they'll tell you how to fix up your story, how to make it better, prettier, la, la, la.

For now, just write! Have a blast, and good luck!

I think you should have chapters around 20-30 pages. I'm not sure about the agent question, I heard you mail a copy to a publishing company and they look at it. I hope it does well! If it does get out, tell me the title and I'll so get it!!

question 1. well it depends on the size of the book...you can get the book to be big, lig big title page and stuff..or you can make your book small...

quesiton 2. http://www.publaw.com/book.html