Mentioning Your Age in a Query

It’s hard enough being an aspiring novelist, but when you’re an aspiring teen novelist, there’s a whole extra set of rules and obstacles you have to overcome. Especially in publication. People like to set examples of other teen writer’s who’ve done well, such as Christopher Paolini, but those are just like any other Cinderella story. It can happen. Just don’t expect it to happen to you. 

One thing teen writers struggle with, especially when trying to get published, is their age. Should you mention it? Should you hint at it? What if you’re seventeen or eighteen. Should you still tell? If you plan to tell, when is most appropriate? Is the query too soon? Is the full manuscript too late?

First, realize that agents and editors don’t like to be tricked. You don’t want to hide your age. If an agent did sign you, there could be wrinkles later when they took your picture for the book jacket, or even when you signed the legal papers, and needed to add your parents to the deal. Professionalism and responsibility are highly regarded in this business – blow the agent’s trust, and you may even loose the deal.

This goes for mysteriousness, too. An agent wants to do their job; they don’t need you dropping little hints about yourself, acting all coy, or promising to tell more later on. That’s just foolish. It won’t get you anywhere but rejected.

A comeback argument is that if you talk about your age, it might be a turn-off. This is true. If you start your bio with, “I’m a thirteen year-old student at Kempton High…” that’s going to be a bit of a shock. And the longer into the process you wait, the worse the shock gets.

But despite all the Cinderella stories, there are teens who have gotten published.  No one is going to reject you just because you’re a minor.

So now that we’ve discussed the moral of the question, let’s talk about what you should do.

The 18 or older rule.

There’s a basic standard when it comes to mentioning your age. If you’re 18 or older, pass. If you’re under 18, you should tell. The reason for this cutoff is mostly legal: 18-year-olds aren’t minors anymore. An agent won’t have to worry about getting the parents to sign paperwork, or about consulting them when the big decisions are being made.

So even if you’re turning eighteen in two months, you need to tell. Or wait two months first, your choice. 

The query vs. the cover letter.

So if you’re under eighteen, you still need to know when it’s appropriate to mention your age. Some say, go ahead, mention it in your query. Others say to wait until an agent asks for a partial; then mention it in the accompanying cover letter

Mentioning your age in the query has benefits. It’s upfront and honest, even if the age itself was a drawback. But I personally believe it’s forward – at the querying stage, there are no expectations between you and the agent. There is no relationship. Your query is a business proposal and nothing more; you are not obligated to tell them your age, because it will have no effect on this part of the transaction. Doing so assumes the agent is interested.

However. Once an agent does show interest, you’ve formed the stepping stones of a relationship. At this point it’s your duty to warn the agent about anything that could effect the process. Your age has legal implications: it’s something the agent deserves to know.

So. Mention your age in the cover letter.

Stating it appropriately.  

When mentioning your age, you don’t want to drop a bomb. You don’t want to sound coy either, like this is a secret you’ve just now chosen to reveal. You don’t want to make a big deal out of your age, and you certainly don’t want to sound childish.

What you want is to sound respectful, professional, and mature. State it as a fact and move on. As to where you put it, I would suggest just above your closing, or right next to where you usually mention the SASE and requested materials.

Whatever you do, don’t add it as a P.S.

 

- Creative A

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Similar Posts:

Teen Writers

How to Write a Query Letter 

Young Writers

It's the awful truth that young writers don’t get much respect in the real-writing world. My personal opinion is that they get a bad rep from all those other teens, the ones that are playing with writing. Or, all they care about is getting published, regardless of whether they're good enough or not.

Another thing is that they have less life experience. I'll admit it, a 40 year old will know a lot more than a 14 year old, or even an 18 year old. But that doesn't make the adult a better writer. It just makes them older.

Young writers have a lot going against them. But it's been done - look at the authors Christopher Paolini, Alexandra Adornetto, and freelancer Lauren Berger. These are young writers that went out there and DID IT. They got published with a bang. People took them seriously. But do you know why? Because they took their writing seriously.

Let’s talk about getting real.

First: get real about writing. You know all that advice people give you? All those “dumb rules” like show, don’t tell, be more descriptive, blah blah blah? Every writer needs to listen to that advice. EVERY WRITER. Including J.K. Rowling, and Scott Westerfield, and Stephenie Meyer. 

Start fleshing out your characters. Edit your novels - a good edit should take at least half as long as writing your novel did. Avoid plot clichés. You should set a goal to learn as much as you can about writing, and to finish almost every story you start. Until you do, you won’t be ready for the publishing world.

Next: get real about publishing. You can’t just send a publisher your manuscript. There are steps to take and rules to follow. In following entries I’ll try to discuss the specifics of some of these rules, but for now, let me just say that getting published is not easy. You’ll receive a lot of rejection, and you need to deal with that. You need to be respectful and businesslike. You’ll need to do research. 

Thirdly: get real about what it means to BE published. Being published comes with responsibilities. You need to promote your work, improve your craft, and network like a crazy person. You need to realize that getting published once doesn’t guarantee you’ll get published again. You won’t become a famous author overnight. Or ever. And don’t you dare think you’re a finished product – even the greatest writers are still learning.

Finally: get real about being realistic. I know that doesn’t make sense, so let me explain. If you try to get too realistic you might start doubting yourself. You might feel overwhelmed. Writing is partially a faith process, and without that trust in yourself, you won’t be able to write squat. You need to expect the worst and hope for the best. Or in other words: write your plans in pencil, and give God the eraser.

I know. It’s some heady stuff. Let me explain how the mentality of “plan in pencil” works: You write, you edit, you learn more about writing, and you gather yourself a bunch of people that believe in you. You set small goals - a certain number of words per day, better descriptions, a finished work by next quarter. You'll learn about publishing. You send out your finished works, but you don’t die if they aren’t accepted. And if they ARE accepted, you keep on going as you’ve gone before, learning, working, proving to the world that you can do this. 

Try Googling the words “writing articles,” “writing forums,” “writing fiction,” etc. Or check out these websites:

www.writermag.com

www.fanfiction.net

www.thefirstline.com

www.absolutewrite.com

www.fictionfactor.com

www.wherethemapends.com

 

- Creative A