What are the honest chances…?
Publishers want to publish books that will make money. If your book will make money, they don’t mind if you’re twelve. From an agent’s point of view, there may be some disadvantages to taking on someone so young – agents make money from your success, remember, and there’s no guarantee what the next few years hold for you as you go through school and your interests develop. They prefer to take on people with potential for a long writing career. They might see your future as too uncertain. But you don’t know til you try, so there’s no harm giving it a go. From the author’s point of view, there are no financial risks, if you’re going for legitimate traditional publishers. Publishers pay you – you pay nothing (except a small percentage to your agent if they sell your book for you). You only have to pay if you self-publish, which anyone can do (but self-published books rarely sell more than a few dozen copies, as they don’t receive professional promotion and rarely make it into bookshops).
