How to publish a story

Diagro · 14 Mar 2017 at 11:59

Hey

I wrote a very short 500 word children's story.

I have been told its very good.

Does anyone have any idea how i can go about getting it published? or included in a published short story collection?

Thanks

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Jono said:
500 words? Will it have pictures? That's about 2 pages long?

It would need to be illustrated. Something of which can be done if required.

nick.lidgett said:
We will be the judge of that, get it posted

I will be happy to post a snippet but not the whole piece of writing.

Its called "The Power Cut"

Down in the basement of old man Franks house was a large table, this table was decorated in such a splendid way. It had little pristine carvings upon the legs, along the top there were tiny perfect copper tracks with little arches next to them all laid into the wooden table top.
Now this table wasn’t just a normal decorative table, this table was one of a kind, for what was within this table were little creatures that lived to dance.
The Creatures would only come out when the surroundings were dark, one would venture out to make sure the room was empty and silent, if all was well the table would light up from the tiny lights positioned along the copper tracks, and the little creatures would emerge from the arches and begin to dance along the lit up copper tracks. If only you could see the marvellous sight of hundreds of them dancing to an inaudible tune, causing dancing shadows to project onto the surrounding walls.

Please note: Grammar, Spelling and punctuation are things that may be lacking within my writing. I am Dyslexic, Yet that didn't stop me getting an A* in GCSE last year along with passing my written sections of my PGCE @ Masters level.. So hold your tongue grammar nazi's!

Jono · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:02

500 words? Will it have pictures? That's about 2 pages long?

nick.lidgett · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:02

Diagro said:
I have been told its very good.

We will be the judge of that, get it posted

Diagro · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:07

Jono said:
500 words? Will it have pictures? That's about 2 pages long?

It would need to be illustrated. Something of which can be done if required.

nick.lidgett said:
We will be the judge of that, get it posted

I will be happy to post a snippet but not the whole piece of writing.

Its called "The Power Cut"

Down in the basement of old man Franks house was a large table, this table was decorated in such a splendid way. It had little pristine carvings upon the legs, along the top there were tiny perfect copper tracks with little arches next to them all laid into the wooden table top.
Now this table wasn’t just a normal decorative table, this table was one of a kind, for what was within this table were little creatures that lived to dance.
The Creatures would only come out when the surroundings were dark, one would venture out to make sure the room was empty and silent, if all was well the table would light up from the tiny lights positioned along the copper tracks, and the little creatures would emerge from the arches and begin to dance along the lit up copper tracks. If only you could see the marvellous sight of hundreds of them dancing to an inaudible tune, causing dancing shadows to project onto the surrounding walls.

Please note: Grammar, Spelling and punctuation are things that may be lacking within my writing. I am Dyslexic, Yet that didn't stop me getting an A* in GCSE last year along with passing my written sections of my PGCE @ Masters level.. So hold your tongue grammar nazi's!

MikeTheNative · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:07

Your mum telling you it's good doesn't count.

touch · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:11

That's a third of your entire story? There can't be much more going on.

Diagro · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:12

MikeTheNative said:
Your mum telling you it's good doesn't count.

Not quite, my mother hasn't read it.

Diagro · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:13

touch said:
That's a third of your entire story? There can't be much more going on.

Two other paragraphs.

I did say it was a short story, that was simply the beginning.
I have a vision of a small child's book with plenty of illustration. It would be pitched to Reception / Year 1 age groups for reading.

Jono · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:15

Once upon a time, there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick. And it lived happily ever after.

I can't stand long books.

Diagro · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:15

Jono said:
Once upon a time, there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick. And it lived happily ever after.

I can't stand long books.

I have seen books on the shelf that have that many words in them. It's amazing really.

Glaucus · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:18

easiest and cheapest is kindle https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A37Z49E2DDQPP3

Josh · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:19

You could self publish on Amazon via Kindle but that means you'd need the illustrations already done and formatted plus if it's for young kids then it might not work as well as a published book.

Good luck though, I've always wanted to write a book - I've had ideas knocking around my head for years but never got started with it.

nick.lidgett · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:19

Diagro said:
I will be happy to post a snippet but not the whole piece of writing.

Its called "The Power Cut"

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A snippet? Thats 168 words or 1/3 of your story

What do these creatures look like?

enigma27 · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:20

Diagro said:
Down in the basement of old man Franks house was a large table, this table was decorated in such a splendid way

is it set in Austria? is Franks surname Schnitzl?

:eek:

Diagro · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:24

nick.lidgett said:
A snippet? Thats 168 words or 1/3 of your story

What do these creatures look like?

Yea its 1/3.
Although there are questions that need more clarity, one of which is yours "What do these creatures look like?". That would be answered by the person who is drawing them with some help from myself.
Also the ending ties in with the story title, which also gives a clue to what they could look like.

All things that need to be changed or written into the story if it was to become a book.
At the moment its a simple story which is only good for reading without images.

nick.lidgett · 14 Mar 2017 at 12:58

Diagro said:
"What do these creatures look like?". That would be answered by the person who is drawing them with some help from myself.

Yeah Ive imagined them to all look like..............

Edrof · 14 Mar 2017 at 13:09

Diagro said:
Down in the basement of old man Franks house was a large table, this table was decorated in such a splendid way. It had little pristine carvings upon the legs, along the top there were tiny perfect copper tracks with little arches next to them all laid into the wooden table top.
Now this table wasn’t just a normal decorative table, this table was one of a kind, for what was within this table were little creatures that lived to dance.
The Creatures would only come out when the surroundings were dark, one would venture out to make sure the room was empty and silent, if all was well the table would light up from the tiny lights positioned along the copper tracks, and the little creatures would emerge from the arches and begin to dance along the lit up copper tracks. If only you could see the marvellous sight of hundreds of them dancing to an inaudible tune, causing dancing shadows to project onto the surrounding walls.

Please note: Grammar, Spelling and punctuation are things that may be lacking within my writing. I am Dyslexic, Yet that didn't stop me getting an A* in GCSE last year along with passing my written sections of my PGCE @ Masters level.. So hold your tongue grammar nazi's!

Two routes: an agent will get you in touch with an appropriate publisher and advise you generally; or you can self-publish via one of the online platforms.

Both routes have great advantages and great drawbacks.

Dyslexia or no, you will need an editor and proofreader to tidy up the copy because it is not up to publishing standard.