I am a published author. Will this help me chances at universities in any way?
Depends. I’ve read some really crap published stuff, especially self-published, so publishing alone is no longer a guarantee of quality or a significant hurdle.
Could be a cool EC, though.
What type of book? Do you have a link?
If you are published by a major, traditional publisher, yes: it would be hook-y. But if you self-published or published with the kind of small publisher that is one step above self-pub (ie: mostly POD services, offers little by way of marketing/editorial support), then no. Anyone can self-publish a book, and while it’s rare for a teenager to write one (congrats–you should be proud for finishing, no matter what, at your age), it’s not notable unless you were picked up in a major deal.
There are no “major deals” in publishing outside of celebs and other household names. Depending on the book, which I’d love to see, there can be a strong case made for even self publishing- for a high school kids to have the determination required to finish a book and then figure out how to get it published is very admirable. Great essay topic.
My tenth grader self published a book for an assignment in her IB curriculum HS. It wasn’t that hard to do.
I looked at the OP’s other posts. It looks like the OP has published a few articles in The Modesto Bee, which “is a California newspaper, founded in 1884 as the Daily Evening News and published continuously as a daily under a variety of names.” Serves 60,000 subscribers.
IMO, this is nice to list but will not help substantially.
Thanks for all the replies guys! I have been published in the Modesto Bee:
But I also self-published on a novel on on Amazon Kindle.
In case anyone was curious about what I’ve wrote.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Deleted links. Sort of defeats the “confidential” part of the website name. If OP wants to PM the links to anyone who asks, that’s fine.
Thank you for the links. I think they are great accomplishments. With this type of focus and drive it won’t matter where you go to school. Be sure to get some experience in college at the newspaper or clubs. You’ll be fine.
With all due respect, I have to disagree @Rollout. I am involved in the publishing industry, specifically in the young adult fiction world, and it’s not true that only celebrities and household names get major publishing deals. I have several close friends who got six figure debut deals from major houses in the last few years. (and I am currently on submission with NY editors and hoping for a “nice” deal, myself!) It takes a lot of work, but there is a path for “normal” writers–you write a book (and do a LOT of work on it), you get a literary agent, they shop your book to editors, and if you are lucky, the publishing company buys it. If you pass through this gauntlet of traditional publishing as a teenager, it is incredibly impressive. Very few have managed it, and those who have are supremely talented. But they are in the minority.
While Amazon Kindle is a great platform for many writers, and specific genres with flourish in the self-publishing realm, self-publishing is technically very easy, and it is a space saturated with under-baked books with poor writing. There are some wonderful outliers, and if one is an outlier, that is worth mentioning–if you self-pub and sell 100K copies, trumpet that. But most people are lucky to sell 100 copies.
I know a few authors who were published by the Big Five (Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Hachette) as teenagers–their books were as good, if not better, than works written by people twice their age. That’s notable. So a teenager who has written and self-published a book may highlight that fact, but it won’t provide a significant edge in admissions, whereas a bestselling trad-pubbed teen author has a “hook.” That’s the distinction.
(anyway, again OP: be proud of yourself for completing a novel and keep writing!!! If you’re aiming for traditional publishing, and especially if you are writing YA, feel free to ask me questions. I’d be happy to share resources, etc.)
Excellent, @proudterrier, and should be repeated to kids who think it’s just what amuses them and a word count. They miss the review process houses take you through, the significance of the opinions of others in the business. Not just family and friends.
So I’d add, published reviews by respected professionals (not just other Amazon writers or readers) can be nice, even if not a trad pub.