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Hi, Rachel & Taylor,

Thanks for posting. Sorry, but Ms. Brown’s e-mail address didn’t come through to me. I get the messages, but no details.

My 7th grade English project, THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING AT MACDONALD HALL, got published because my Mom typed it up and sent it to a publisher. It was just a lucky break. That same publisher will very probably no longer read any old manuscript that arrives in the mail. They just don’t have the time. Most authors today approach publishers through a literary agent. Your best bet is to find a book on literary markets and check out different publishers and their requirements for publication. Your Ms. Brown can help you with that. First, of course, it’s a good idea to be sure that what you have really is a book — that it’s long enough, organized enough, prepared properly…there are so many things to think about! You should probably have a long discussion about your material with a teacher or librarian or both, just to make sure that your presentation is right, your grammar is spot-on, and your book is interesting (it sounds REALLY good the way you describe it!)

Good luck, people. I hope to be writing you a fan letter one of these days!     —-Gordon Korman—-