Getting Published

An article on the BBC News website today (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6582955.stm) discusses the difficulty of getting a novel actually published.  The comments in response are also quite interesting.

I can attest to the difficulty writers encounter in trying to get novels published: My sister, a professional writer, has spent years writing and revising a young adult novel.  She has attended writing workshops (by invitation) and gotten positive feedback but hasn't been able to get an agent interested in it, so she keeps working on it.  She hasn't given up hope but recognizes how tough it is to get published the traditional way.  Fortunately, she just got a paying job with an online educational company, after five years of unemployment.  

I, on the other hand, have published articles in numerous educational journals and books over the past twenty years as well as a couple real-life short stories about travel experiences, and also spent ten years as editor and publisher of an online journal for teacher trainers, one of whose goals was to provide more opportunity to people in countries who, historically, had great difficulty in getting published, especially when writing in a second language.  A few things I've submitted haven't been accepted, but my experience is that publishing non-fiction for a specialized market is much easier.  As long as what is written is well-written, of course.

What are your thoughts about getting published (not including fanfiction) either traditionally or through self-publishing on the web?

Have any of you tried to publish a piece of writing?  What happened?

I have written many short stories for children and a few years ago sent them off to numerous publishers and agents. Fortunately I enclosed a nice big stamped address envelope so they were able to send them back.  
Sheesh.


Then along came two cowboys in need of some stories and I haven't looked back since.

I think you need a very original idea to land on the desk of an agent at just the right time if you have any hope of being published. Either that or you need to be in the public eye already so they know they have a guaranteed market for whatever you write.

I, for one, am thrilled you didn't go the way of Fergie (Sarah Ferguson, that is) and wrote former outlaw stories instead of Budgie stories, Maz!

I know my writing isn't near publishing quality and am amazed that you folks still read & enjoy my stories. I wouldn't dream of even trying to write a novel.