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Hi, Genesis,

Thanks for posting. I’ll try to answer all your questions.

Tips for finishing a story. Tie up all the loose ends and make sure the ending truly is an ending. Nothing is more annoying than feeling you’ve been robbed of closure at the end of a story. But if you’ve planned your story properly — and you must! — your ending will come to you naturally.

Getting a book published doesn’t cost you anything. The publisher buys the rights to the book from you, and negotiates the price they will pay you per copy when the book goes on sale. That’s why it’s not easy to find a publisher. They’re careful — and who can blame them? — about where they spend their money.

I can’t tell you what to expect from publishing companies. If they like your manuscript, they’ll treat you like gold. If they hate it, they’ll return it to you (if you supplied return postage, that is) and ignore you other than telling you that your submission does not meet their present needs. It’s a business, after all.

There is no such animal as a youth-friendly publishing company. Again, it all depends on your submission. If they like it, they won’t care how old you are. The question is: will they read it? I was lucky. Scholastic read my manuscript and liked it. I’ve heard that many publishers no longer read material that doesn’t come to them through a literary agent. But I’m not sure about that.

I just read this over, and it sounds so discouraging! I didn’t mean it that way! I hope to be writing you a fan letter one of these days. Go to the library and get a book on Writers’ Markets. All the publishers and agents are listed in that book. Search for the one that you feel is right for you, and go from there. And best of luck to you!

                                                                                                 —–Gordon Korman—–