: Re: As a young author, how do you make people listen? I am an extremely young author. I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging, but I think I am very good. They say the best readers are

@Candy753

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Figure out your Resources:
Even this site says you need to be 13 or have a parent assisting you to use it. Start with a school English teacher, and see if they will beta read the book and give you feedback (A parent isn't likely to be neutral). Get friends to beta read it, but not so good a friends that they won't criticize. The first sentence, paragraph, page and chapter are the most critical ones to make a first impression, so work these over well (I redid the beginning of my novel five times).
This is your baby, and you love it, but it will need to get torn apart and rewritten (possibly several times). Your book is likely not in publishable condition yet (no one's first book is, without a lot of work/experience). BE PREPARED for criticism; no one likes to hear their baby is full of run-on sentences and has the word "the" in it 400 times too many. Or worse, they say you are doing something flat-out wrong (better to fix it now than try publishing something that will be rejected). I feel like my editor is kicking me in the teeth, but I ignore her at my own peril.
A lot of authors don't have their first novel published first. That is because it usually is good, but poorly written (until they go back and rewrite it later). Have a backup story/plotline in mind in case you can't get the first published. Or, think about if you can make each/any of your 11 novels standalone stories and not dependent on the first (except as your own reference for the world).
If you are targeting a YA audience, look for agents in YA. They will be more receptive to writers in their target age range. Use your parent as your representative, since you are legally unable to enter into a contract and agents will only deal with contracts. Possibly try getting some short stories published in magazines; people take authors with published works more seriously. Even if it's just a story in the school paper (or equivalent), the experience of success and failure will get you in the right frame to capitalize on success and be ready for failure (being an adult doesn't mean you aren't rejected over and over...)

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