Hi! So, the title pretty much says it all. I've done a lot of web surfing and submitting, but when I finally found something I thought would work I discovered they don't accept minors. SO, I'm asking for suggestions for a novella written by a minor who doesn't have any money for self-publishing. Help me please!

I'm not sure what you mean by "suggestions."

Do you want the names of traditional publishers who would be interested in your novella? How long is it? Has it been edited so it is in excellent shape grammatically and stylistically?

Sorry. I guess I wasn't very clear. Yes, I would like names of traditional publishers who might be interested. My novella is between 12,000 and 13,000 words. I have edited it to the best of my ability, and I have shared it with a few close friends to generate feedback before submitting it to publishers.

Getting any body of work published isn't easy. Most publishers won't look at any work submitted unless you have an agent. Most agents won't consider an author that hasn't been published in one form or another.

I would highly suggest that you save your money and reconsider self publishing. There are a few publishing houses that will work with you to find a package that you can afford.

@Altenweg: Can you suggest a few self-publishing houses, in case I do end up doing that? The ones I found are way out of my league.

Sorry. I guess I wasn't very clear. Yes, I would like names of traditional publishers who might be interested. My novella is between 12,000 and 13,000 words. I have edited it to the best of my ability, and I have shared it with a few close friends to generate feedback before submitting it to publishers.
Since it's under 20,000 words, it can also qualify as a short story. Why not find someone with a good English background to proofread it, and then shop around for a magazine to get it published in. If it's good enough, a traditional book publisher might want to turn it into a novella.

What is the storyline, in 25 words or less?

Why crank out money from your own pocket (probably thousands of dollars) to self-publish when you could get paid by a magazine?

Claire is heading for college, and her mother Nicole tells her about when she met Claire's dad. It's a romance with focuses on mother/daughter relationships and issues surrounding teen pregnancy.

Have you checked into Young Adult publishers?

Let me research YA magazines that might accept it. Be back soon.

@Altenweg: Can you suggest a few self-publishing houses, in case I do end up doing that? The ones I found are way out of my league.

Xlibris is a good one. They have many different self publishing packages with many different price ranges. They not only print your book, they help you market it.

I was going to publish my children's book with them, and some of the options they presented were very affordable, as low as $250.

It's worth a try.

Of course you shouldn't be discouraged to send your novella to regular publishing houses. Some publishing houses do look in their slush pile, and there's always a chance that they'll read your novella and decide to publish. Be ready for many rejection letters though. That doesn't mean that your writing is bad. Even some of the best authors were rejected many times before being published. It has a lot to do with the genre you're writing in.

How to books, history books (if they're accurate) are the easiest to get published. Children's books are almost impossible, believe it or not.

Whatever you do, don't give up. It may take a long time, and many heart breaks, but if you're determined, and your writing is good, it will happen sooner or later.

Self publishing would be the best way to get your book published now, and on the shelves. Also, if it does well, you'll have less trouble getting the next novella published with a regular publishing house.

I wish you luck. If you get it on the shelves, let us know. I for one would love to read it. :)

Send query letters to some of these YA agents --

Young Adult Literary agents : WritersNet (http://www.writers.net/agents/topic/35/10)

Check the current Writer's Market (local library) for contests.

Check the magazine names in this list (Open Directory - Kids and Teens: Teen Life: Girls Only: Magazines and E-zines (http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Teen_Life/Girls_Only/Magazines_and_E-zines/)) against the information about them and their story needs as noted in Writer's Market.

Another possibility is to get your novella published by a POD (Print on Demand) publisher and skip the print version; publish only an ebook. It's much less expensive, the POD publisher will market it for you on blogs and Web sites, and ebooks are hot right now with quick and easy downloads.

XLibris, Outskirts, lulu.com are three of them. Here's more information:

PRINT-ON-DEMAND AND ELECTRONIC SELF-PUBLISHING (http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/)

Thanks for your help!

It is of vital importance that your work is squeaky clean regarding grammar, punctuation, capitalization, point of view, dialogue, etc. If it doesn't look good, it won't be going anywhere; no one will buy it.