Have you ever written a novel? Was it published? How hard was it and how long did it take?

My first novel is self-published while my agent shops the manuscript around. It was in the hands of a publisher, but the project was scrapped in lieu of another author's "more mainstream" works.

Is it difficult to get published? That could be the understatement of the millenium, especially now when book sales are off and publishers are becoming more particular.

Some advice: Get an agent and get your manuscript to a professional editor. An agent will have a number of editors to choose from. A lot of people say that having an agent isn't important, but it truly is a benefit to you to have someone representing you, someone that knows the business and can find the right publisher for your type of work, and most of the established publishing houses won't even consider a manuscript unless it's delivered by an agent.

You also have the option of self-publishing, but your chances of making any money from it and getting anywhere are very small. Mine is self-published right now to answer a very small demand for the book, and I will gladly and quickly halt that as soon as I have another offer from an established house.

If you choose to self-publish, even if it's just to have your own copy of your work in print, DO NOT PAY SOMEONE to do it for you. There are over a hundred companies offering services to do this, and they will charge you exhorbitant amounts of money to do something you can do yourself for free.

Here's a couple of places where you can publish your own work:
http://www.lulu.com
http://www.createspace.com

Createspace is completely free, will even give you ISBN and EAN numbers for your book, and sell it on Amazon.com.
Lulu has more options for your book (hardcover, different sizes), and offers a couple of low-priced options to get an ISBN and get listed with Bowker's.

Feel free to email me at thebrokenplanet@comcast.net if you have any other questions, want some more advice, or need help with getting your book into self-publication.

Visit my site at: http://www.jacyns-journey.com you could even be nice and buy the book!

ya in the 6th grade it was an kids book duh lol

Working on it/
Not yet obviously but hopeful/
Very hard, but very fun/
A year in the making so far, probably another to get it finished, edited and arranged.

The other answer here is correct, an agent is extremely helpful, every friend I've made in the field says the same thing, unless you are, or are friends with a good editor :)

I have a trilogy sitting on the shelf right now. I call them "love story -murder mysteries" in murders someone has to die. In love stories, someone is going to get some loving. I find writing is a snap compared to getting published. Occassionally I open them up and polish the here and there. One of the best inventions on a word processor is the "DELETE" key.

Yes. I even signed a contract...but then the publisher went belly up. I have written a set of four and have to polish them up before submitting for publication. Hope to do better this time. I think they are great.

I was 17 when I first wrote my novel. It was a 165-paged, single-spaced, senseless and absolute waste of paper resources. The closest thing I've come to getting it published is printing it out of our family printer till the black ink ran out and the rest had to be printed in blue ink. Only three people have read it so far, they gave it the thumbs up. :)

working on it but its horror/dark fantasy

I wrote a children's book in fifth grade using a cartoon creator program for graphics. Can't remember the name of the program though. This was pre-windows 3.x

I've got around 5 or so book ideas floating around in my notebooks that are all within varying degrees of completion.

The topics?

1. A Lovecraftian horror novel about academic intrigue and betrayal.
2. A pan-dimensional love story about a young man who becomes addicted to lucid dreaming.
3. A morality tale about a civilization made up entirely of ghosts.
4. An episodic story about a psychologist's unique way of dealing with an eclectic slew of patients.
5. A time-traveling story about a guy who hooks up with his own great, great, great, great granddaughter.

I wrote a kids book in second grade about friendship. I still have it accually.