teen authors get no respect

In this article in the New York Times, grown-ups wax on about why teens maybe shouldn’t be publishing their work on venues like Amazon:

The mothers and fathers who foot the bill say they are simply trying to encourage their children, in the same way that other parents buy gear for a promising lacrosse player or ship a Broadway aspirant off to theater camp. 

But others see the blurring of the line between publishing and self-publishing as a lost opportunity to teach children about adversity and perseverance.

Hmm. I thought writing was the ultimate way to teach someone about adversity and perseverance. And:

“What’s next?” asked the novelist Tom Robbins. “Kiddie architects, juvenile dentists, 11-year-old rocket scientists? Any parent who thinks that the crafting of engrossing, meaningful, publishable fiction requires less talent and experience than designing a house, extracting a wisdom tooth, or supervising a lunar probe is, frankly, delusional.”

Hey, Tom, if someone under the age of 20 wants to publish their work on Amazon and make a few bucks, it’s not rocket science. They may not be working at the level of Tolstoy or Hemingway, but imagine how far they might go in 10 or 20 years. Everybody starts somewhere. Who are you to decide where the starting block is?

We don’t tell kids who start their own lawn-mowing business, “Who the hell do you think you are, Donald Trump?” We don’t tell kids to stay away from organizing bake sales — they’re no Paula Deen, after all. Listen kiddies, take time, learn your craft, develop diabetes, then get back to us later, after we’re retired and you’re no longer cutting into our royalties.

Hey, look! A kiddie architect!

And here are some famous teen authors. And a few more. And they didn’t even mention Joyce Maynard. Or Jodi Picoult’s latest coauthor, her 16-year-old daughter. Or check out Stephen King’s great book On Writing where he talks about how he starting writing and sending out stories to magazines when he was a teen.

Take-away: Don’t let anyone stop you from writing and publishing just because they think you’re too young (or, for that matter, too old). Or too female, or too interested in vampires/orcs/zombies/romance/fantasy/sci-fi/politics/shark romance. Or too shy, too spelling-challenged, too introverted, too fan-ficcy. Embrace what you are, including your age, and start making your life happen.

Age is nothing compared to ability, tenaciousness, and the willingness to work hard.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. — Peter Drucker