I am currently working on a novel, and this is my first novel I would want to get published. I’ve practiced writing since the age of five (I am currenlly 14), I’m most likely going to get the novel done by the age of 15.
My question is: How old do you have to be to self publish?
If I can’t at this age I’ll try other ways of getting it out there!
I am a self publishing Author and I can say: Try other ways.
Look for serioius publishers for your novel and send it to them. In the age of 14/15 you are not in a position for self-publishing. I refereer to the Amazon KDP Programm and their terms. This is in fact a contract between you and the publisher. So you either have to be in the legal age for signing contracts or let someone handle it who is responsible for you. And the most important thing is: You have to handle every cost that comes in. ISBN Numbers for printed books, marketing, every copy you want for yourself. Self-publishing is not an easy piece of cake. So having the legal age of your country is extremely helpful for self-publishing.
Zach. While some roadblocks will come up based on your age, there are enough avenues open that you can self-publish at any age. Are you wanting print, ebook, audiobook, animated narration video on youtube, all? Think about what matters to you and be ready to lose a few battles and make a few sacrifices to get it out there. If you're nearly done with a full novel at your age, you have enough determination to make it happen. The hardest part may be yet to come, but your progress so far shows that you have what it takes.
I would suggest taking your time and understanding that publishing will take a very different set of skills than writing. Be prepared to learn a bit about marketing, legal, and finance to avoid some of the biggest roadblocks. It also helps to find others to rely on and ask for help with this. People are willing to help a kid with passion and drive. Good luck and congratulations!
You can be any age to self publish. But, self-publishing means: being a publisher. It means marketing, distribution, editing, layout, printing (or managing contracts with others to print), and paying for all of the things a publisher does.
The only thing a younger age really does to the situation is that your legal guardian will have to be involved with any contracts you sign.
Self-Publishing is hard. It's an entire business model and therefore an entire job. Some people can do this, some people can't. It will depend on how robust your executive functioning skills are as to whether you have a chance of managing it. That's difficult at any age, and perhaps harder when you take on the burdens of feeding and housing yourself and others.
You're at an age where you can at least afford to make a mistake, and it probably wouldn't hurt you to understand the publishing industry if you want to write. I recommend you actually study the publishing world from both sides at some point and make the determination for yourself as to how you want to spend your time/money.
From a high level you'll be choosing between spending more of your time writing (traditional publishing) and a lot of your time running a business with multiple arms (self-publishing). Self-publishing doesn't remove the gate-keepers, it just changes who they are and how many people with experience are working to get your books through the gate into the domain of public awareness.
There is no age limit for publishing, but self-publishing can be expensive and difficult. If you are determined to do it, I would recommend POD (print on demand) publishing, and only going through a service where you pay NO UP-FRONT COSTS. A legit POD service will change you only per printed book, and only an amount comparable to purchasing a new book (i.e. around $20). However, that means you'll have to supply all the proof-reading, editing, formatted text, cover art and so forth for the book yourself. (Also, as Pawana mentioned, you may need a parent or other adult to actually sign up for the service.)
Instead of going straight for a novel, however, I would strongly recommend writing some short stories and trying to have them published. There are many short-story outlets --magazines, contests, etc -- focused specifically on young authors, and you even might get paid instead of having to spend money.
