7 Misbeliefs I had About Being a Teenage Author

Here I'll break down ten misbeliefs I held about being a teen author that held me back from publishing sooner. 1) "No one will take me seriously because of my age."

The truth about any kind of art, be it writing, music, or painting, is that it's accessible to everyone of any age. It's entirely up to you to decide whether or not you're confident in your own work, but don't let age be a limiting factor. In fact, intellectual curiosity tends to diminish with age as people become increasingly disillusioned and bogged down by real-life priorities. So if you're young, this is the best time for you to start creating. Every messy draft is a step towards a clean one.

2) "Publishing is expensive and will take forever."

While this can be true, it doesn't have to be. It all depends on which route you want to take and what expensive means to you. I'm choosing to self-publish because I have a limited budget, and I get full creative control over cover design, the content of my book, and the timeline in which this all happens. Both small press publishing and trad publishing will give you an advance, but then you have to pay it back as your book sells more copies. I personally don't want to take that kind of financial risk. If you choose to publish your book at all, get your parents involved. It is paramount that you have some kind of parent/guardian involvement, especially if you're a minor, because in the US, you cannot close any book deals or sign contracts without parental involvement.

3) "I don't want to share my work because I don't want to be judged."

This is a fear that I still sometimes hold today, but like many fears, it's an irrational one. It's important to share your work with those whom you trust, because it'll give you insight into what works and what doesn't. Constructive feedback is something that's crucial to have before you go into professional editing, and especially before publishing. To publish with only you having seen your manuscript is a recipe for disaster. You want to get all the negative feedback before you publish, because bad reviews on your finished product hurt a lot more than a few negative comments.

4) "My book doesn't need any professional editing."

Spoiler: It does. Especially if you're young without much experience in writing, your manuscript will sound amateur and difficult to read. This often comes with financial investment, and is what most of my budget is saved for. There are different kinds of editing you can do, all with varying costs, and understanding the differences is crucial. Even if you think your manuscript is done--especially if you think your book is done--professional editing will catch all the errors that you and your beta readers didn't see. Oftentimes, writers will get too close to their work and become apprehensive about receiving critiques. It's crucial to understand that editing is an invaluable tool that will only serve to make your manuscript better. If you're a teenager, working a minimum wage summer job will be plenty for editing services (unless your work is absurdly long or has a lot of errors). It's a worthwhile investment and will make both readers and publishers more open to receiving your work.

5) "I don't want to publish yet. I'm scared my book won't sell well and I'll make a loss."

To combat this misbelief, you have to define your idea of success. Does it mean being a bestseller, becoming a local celebrity, or just finding a small group of people who love your book as much as you do? Especially if you're a teenager or you don't have a large following, you have to understand that your first novel probably won't be a bestseller, and that's okay and normal. Your debut novel will teach you so much about publishing, writing, marketing, and, by extension, business, and those are invaluable skills to have. The truth is that being an author is a long game, especially if you intend to publish more books than your first one. Financial anxiety is real, though. If you have a lot of time and money, go trad. If you want more control and an extremely small upfront cost, go self-publishing. If you want something in the middle, go small press. I personally feel calmed knowing that through Amazon KDP, I'd only need to sell about 200 copies to break even, financially. Anything else on top of that would be a blessing. For teens like myself, that is the most accessible option. Just remember to manage your expectations, and that publishing a book isn't going to make you a trillionaire (or at least, not right away).

6) "I'm just too busy." This misbelief won't apply to everyone, but "I'm too busy" was often my go-to excuse to make myself feel better about my book not being out there yet. The reality is that to keep making progress, the key is consistency, not intensity. There are days that I'll work for three hours and make two blog posts and several Instagram and Substack posts and still go to my manuscript to edit several chapters (today is one of those days), and other days I barely have energy to edit a single paragraph. But I do it anyway, because the feeling of progress keeps me going. I'm also just a teenager who goes to school. This leaves me in the situation of finding weird pockets of time after I've finished my homework or classwork, where I can boot up a school Chromebook and start typing away. If I have no time in the week, I'll work on the weekend. You don't need a "daily routine" or any rigid schedule, just work when you can. And always remember to take care of yourself; burnout can happen if you're not careful.

7) "The genre I'm writing right now just isn't trending." It doesn't have to be. The internet is a vast and varied place; you will always find a pocket of the internet that will appreciate what you write. Even if it's YA metaphysical steampunk or a paranormal political romance thriller, there will always be someone who will love your work. Trends and whatever's trending on Booktok or Bookstagram are ephemeral, often changing with the whims of popular opinion. It may feel discouraging to write something that's not in the zeitgeist. The beauty of writing and storytelling is its ability to connect with people on a personal level. To get readers for your niche, you have to tap into communities in places like Goodreads, Reddit, and other forums. Every author once started from nothing, and many of them found an audience by embracing their unique voice rather than conforming to trends. The stories that endure are the ones that don't necessarily follow trends. Stay true to yourself, and your audience will find you.

7) "I have to write a profound, deep book that's going to change someone's life." If that's your thing, go ahead. But don't assume that it's a requirement for writing a legitimate story. The notion that your book has to be deep to be taken seriously is a limiting belief, and depending on your writing experience, it can be unrealistic. You don't need to write a deep story; it just has to be compelling. Plenty of books, especially in the YA market, succeed because people find them entertaining and not necessarily profound, and it doesn't make you any less of a legitimate author if you write YA. It all depends on who you're writing for, too. Ask yourself, "is my target audience looking for something thematically rich, or are they just looking to be entertained? Why are my readers reading my book?" Not every story needs to be life-changing to be a valuable piece of entertainment. Write with authenticity and don't let your book be bogged down with unrealistic goals.

I'm not going to lie to you. Trying to become a published author and convince people my soon-to-be-published book is worth their time and money is very difficult, especially as a teenager. But it's not impossible. Most of the roadblocks I experienced are just problems and excuses I created for myself. The most powerful step in my journey that I took and will ever take is the first one. And everything else just comes afterwards. If you got some value from this, please like or follow, and comment if any of these points resonated with you. Visit my blog for more posts, and I sincerely thank you for giving me your time and making it this far!