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[polls] At what age did you first appear in print?
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Posted: 5:46 pm Sun March 08 2009 |
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[...] [polls] At what age did you first appear in print? »03-08-2009 [...]
27 for my first novel. 18 for my first non-fiction sale.
Paying or just in print? Because, you know, my elementary school put out a newspaper…
Code of Conduct was my first published work. It came out in 1999. I was 41.
I was the high school correspondent for my local paper–if you’re counting journalism. If not, well, no books pubbed yet as author, but as editor, I was in my early 30s.
16 for the local Pembroke, MA paper – covered the police blotter and fire reports. Then 23 for Patriot Ledger feature articles – did interviews, etc. Now working on fiction…and am 46, so…who knows?
I was 16 when my first SF poem was published in a collection of poetry, 19 when my first SF story was published in Germany, and haven’t had any fiction published since-that was almost 44 years ago. I got sucked into write-for-hire employee handbooks.
My first publication of any kind at all was actually in elementary school in the school newspaper. In junior high school a poem I wrote for a teacher was used on an award he received. My poetry was published in high school lit mags. My first professional fiction publication was when I was 31, in Ghosttide, a small press anthology, in some really nice company. But in the three or four years leading up to that, I was writing book jacket copy at work.
I was 32 when my first genre fiction was published, although I’d been published in various other ways long before then, beginning with newspaper credits (fillers) at age 12 or so.
I was 32 when my first genre fiction was published, although I’d been published in various other ways long before then, beginning with newspaper credits (fillers) at age 12 or so.
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
I was 40 when I made my first paying sale and was published. I am 44 now.
I was in my mid twenties when I had my first story published in the university literature mag. Had a bunch of other stories and poems published since then, all small press.
Does poetry count? If so, I was first published in second grade (we had a poet-in-residence who really liked my work!). If not, it wasn’t until our literary magazine came out in high school that my first short story was published. Either way, I was under 18…
I started selling articles to newspapers and magazines at about 25, but I was 36 when the first book came out.
I won a Halloween short story contest at the age of 9. My story was published in the local paper.
Elementary school, I’m sure I had something published in the bulletin. We could break this out into categories, and make it more complicated…
I assumed you meant real live pro or semipro published (22), but like many others here I was active in little school papers and litmags since approximately middle school.
Depending on whether you mean in an online publication (an online programming journal) or the print version that started up a few years later…. Well, either way, I was in my early 20′s.
For non-fiction, I had a short essay in the Washington Post when I was 17. I became a journalism major, so that meant articles for my college paper. My first non-fiction pro was at 20 when I had articles in a national magazine. For fiction, I was 28.
First sale was at start of 2008, age 41 (almost 42). Published earlier in a Community College Literary Journal, but I didn’t get paid for that so I didn’t count it.
- yeff
I’m not counting anything that looks like it could have been run off on a laser printer – never got paid more than contributors copies for that stuff anyway – so Writers of the Future, at age 27, gets the nod.
First short story at 41. By that time, I had already published numerous non-fiction pieces and edited three anthologies (which were published when I was 36).
My first professional short story published when I was 37 (though I sold it when I was 34).
Age 35, in a charity anthology. Still working on the rest.