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Getting my writing out there
I am a British teenage girl and I love writing comedy. I have published some of my material in the school magazine and recieved a lot of praise for it, with someone who works on television actually telling me it was high enough standard to be on TV. I regularly post Myspace blogs with things I have written and people are always telling me that they enjoy it. I plan to pursue a career in journalism but as I am still young and still in school, that is a long way off yet.
Is there anyway I can get my material out to a wider audience/published somewhere?
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Consider submissions to national magazines. You might want to start with youth-oriented ones as they're most likely to accept works from youth. I'm not sure what magazines are popular in Britain, but I have no doubt that they exist.
If you have specific interests, for example, if you're a knitter, you might be able to submit to magazines or other publications dedicated to these subjects.
One thing you should be aware of is that although the internet is a great way to get readers, you should be careful about what you put online. Anytime you publish something on the internet (and publishing is defined as making it viewable to the general public), you lose first publishing rights. Most publishing companies only want first rights--in other words, they want to know that the people reading it will be reading what they publish and earning them money. Putting things online can be great for exposure, and I'm not recommending that you refrain from doing so, but it's an important piece of knowledge that isn't as common as it should be.
If you write longer works, you could even consider polishing them and submitting them to major publishers.
One site that might help you is Preditors and Editors ([Link](Mouse over link to see full location)). It's oriented toward the United States, I believe, but it could be useful nonetheless. It contains sensible advice on things to look for--and things to avoid.
Best of luck.
-Daimeera, 20/female
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Depending on what it is you write - I think there may be a number of things you can do. You seem to have confidence in your work which is always a great thing and from the praise you have had it's obviously good material. As I said though, depending on what it is there's a number of things you can do - you can try approaching a publisher to see if they might be interested in your material. There's absolutely hundreds to choose from here in the UK (I researched them a couple of years back for someone who had wanted to publish their own material in a book). Publishers are generally the best way to go as they will then pick up all the costs of publishing your material but if you have the money and don't want the hassle of a middle-man then you can always try printers who will print your book/comic etc for you but as I said - it can get pricey. The other option, and I think it might work pretty well for you, is to run your own web site where you can publish all your material. Although myspace is good it's very limited as well on what you can do and how much you can customize it - also, and the most important, myspace works on the principles of people going to your profile if they know you. For example, I don't know you nor can I search on myspace for you if I'm specifically looking for your comedy material. With your own web site you would be able to do this. The start up costs to owning your own domain name and space would be about £30 or so (depending on the name you choose and what company you go with - mine costs me about £28 I think) but it would all be yours to do with as you please. :] Another alternative to consider would be the services of one of the advicenators - theymos. He is available to make free web sites for anyone who requests one and his computer knowledge is top-notch. I would suggest as a start to havin a chat with him if you want to have your own web site to publish your material on and see what he can design up for you. :] Here's his column: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Good luck and if you do set up your own web site (or if you don't mind me and whoever else might be reading this to look on your myspace page) do let me know the link, I'm curious to have a look at your writings. :]
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Hey. First of all, good job for trying to pursure your dream of being a writer. I myself love to write but always find myself abandoning a story about half way through. Anways, if you want other people to read your writing, the internet is the best way to start. For one thing you can publish it on here and have people give you feedback. If you send me something I'll comment on it! Also there is youtube, if you have the time to set up a video with the words. Other sites such as buddy4u, buddyprofile, etc are good because any users can look at them and leave you comments. I think the best way to go is myspace. So many people get discovered on myspace and I don't see why you couldn't be one of them.
As for getting it published, send it into a publishing company. If you look at any books you have at home or at school, you'll notice the addresses of publishing companies. Sometimes you can even find the email addresses of authors and you could send something to them and if they like it, they could let their "people" lets say know about you. Whatever you do, don't give up on it. Sometimes people are going to critize you or say no, but thats just part of the process. Good luck to you on your writing. I'd love to read something for you and comment on it if you ever want to drop one in my inbox. Good luck ! ♥ fabulous
by the way, what type of writing do you do? If it's poetry, then www.poetry.com has a lot of contests.
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Well the world wide internet is a great place, just like you said, you have had success on u-tube. But to be really taken seriously, by people who would actually pay you, and people who have the power to make you famous....I would suggest that you need some education behind you.
Can you plan on attending college? Can you take a "creative writing course" Here is the US they offer creative writing courses in all the major cities. And the people who run the courses always know the "ins and outs" of getting published or read. YOu can also take a creative writing course on line. look for one that will let you specialize in comedy. Google "creative writing" or comedy writing or even 'getting published". Be careful though, try not to get ripped off. You should be able to submit a story to any site or magazine that accepts stories, at no cost to you except for your time and postage.
A good idea is to submit a story line and screen play to a popular television show. If they like it, they may perform it. Send it registered mail so that you will get credit for it. Of course it is possible to get famous without going to school, but that is not the route that most writers take. For most of them it takes years to get 'discovered'. Good luck to you, and can you give us a link to one of your comedy's on u-tube?
I'd love to read some of it.
Michele
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