Lack of support for young writers

I've read in Young Post that two young authors had their books published. I have been writing since Primary Four, but I don't know if there's any way I could get my work published.

I know a lot about submitting projects to foreign publishers, but there aren't many publishing companies in Hong Kong which accept young adult or children's submissions. I was wondering if Young Post could write a feature about how children or teens could get their manuscripts sent to publishers for consideration. I'm sure it would help many aspiring writers.

Jade Lam, Maryknoll Convent School

From the Editor

Thanks for your letter, Jade. Young Post is always looking for young writers. But we really only publish fiction over the holidays as most of our term pages are crammed with school-oriented articles. So this summer we're holding our usual holiday fiction writing competition. You'll be able to find out all the details from yp.scmp.com. That's always a good start.

Now, many writers self-publish. The benefit to this is that you eventually do see your work in print. The downside is that no one takes you too seriously as they always feel that you were not good enough to attract a real publisher. For slightly older writers, the organisation Women in Publishing is a good start - for women. They put out an anthology of work by Hong Kong writers on a regular basis. Sorry, guys, you're on your own it seems.

Susan, Editor