op here. also have any of you /lit/heads write/published your own books?

publishing.
getting your book published is like being violently sodomised by a T-800 Terminator wearing a razor-spiked strapon. you will not enjoy it and you will die of bloodloss before you can start to pretend you're enjoying it.

Find yourself an agent and you're set.

Getting published is easy. The tricky part is getting someone to pay you.

Fiction or non-fiction? If non-fiction I think you're supposed to query first, write later. If fiction, just worry about writing it for now. When it's done, you'll want at least one other person to read it for you while you research agents. Find an agent who will take you and they'll find a publisher (note: NO reputable agent will ask you for a "reading fee"). It's a long, tedious, frustrating system.

I haven't gone that route in publishing, but I have published short fiction. The advantage to this is that I don't need an agent or even a query. Sometimes I need a cover letter, but that's about it. I can send my work to the magazines directly and get paid without middle men.

>>1049398

>>1049553

What this guy said. Write the book first and then worry about getting it published.

another 19 year old here. how to go about writing the book. should i attend seminars/etc, or are there any decent guides or anything?

>>1049646
What kind of book do you want to write?

You don't NEED an agent, especially for a first book, and if you do your research, learn which publishing houses are looking for the sort of stuff you're writing, and so on, you can submit to them directly. An agent may be an unnecessary expense.

>>1049648

a fiction that explores the nature of my society. i believe i have an original way of writing this.

>>1049656

Unfortunately if you don't have an agent you get shoved into the slush pile. Another anon had a few threads about the life of a slush reader; she said that getting an agent usually increases your chances; not to mention if the agent likes it you're not that bad.

But what everyone else said; get it finished first; don't get any pipe dreams quite yet.