26 years old

>26 years old
>still unpublished

Who /panicking/ here?

Every time I read about a 24 / 25 year old getting their debut published I seethe with anger and resentment.

>Every time I read about a 24 / 25 year old getting their debut published I seethe with anger and resentment.

Why don't you write about it?

Maybe you should be less worried about getting published and more focused on writing something worth reading. Literature isn't like acting; you can get published at any age as long as the writing is good. If you're looking to get published young so you can "slay mad pussy" acting like a pretentious douche at parties telling all the girls you're a "published author" then maybe the reason you're not getting published is because you're a phoney, vapid, narcissist with nothing to actually say.

>so you can "slay mad pussy" acting like a pretentious douche at parties telling all the girls you're a "published author"

Literally nothing wrong with this. Why do you think most musicians join a band in their youth? Why do most men do anything?

Don't panick, just keep pracitising. Writing isn't easy. There's nothing wrong with struggling to get your first break.

does a short story count as being published if i get paid?

No. A book of short stories: yes.

Literature is different. Literature is pure. If your main motivation for writing is to get laid then you don't really enjoy writing and you will never write anything worth a damn.

Unlike music or film, you can get into writing at any age and still find success. Also, unlike music or film, the written word is largely free from superficial image; only the content matters. You can even practice your art while maintaining a full time job. There is no rush to "break"; there is no "lifestyle" or "look" you need to adopt to help your chances of becoming noticed or successful. The fact that OP appears to be under the impression there is, shows to me he is writing for the wrong reasons, ironically which is probably the main reason he isn't getting published.

Being someone of status is a circumstantial benefit of being talented at something, not the main impetus; you have to love the thing you do and be good at it. Most published authors are nobodies anyway, so if you crave fame / recognition there are better ways to go about it. Otherwise just focus on getting a gf, you'll have more luck that way.

>Every time I read about a 24 / 25 year old getting their debut published I seethe with anger and resentment.

Uh....like who?

>20 years old
>haven't finished a single anything
>not even a short story
>five unfinished novels I glance at and add one line once in a while

Fuck I'm running outta time. Worse part is the fear someone will publish something very close to what I'm trying to write, and everyone will think I copied them.

YA authors, I guess

In Stephen Kings On Writing, he said he got 400k for his first accepted novel. Is this even possible anymore jfc

All these retards in here panicking that they won't get published before their 30s. You'll get published when you get published.

26 and not the least bit worried about it.

It will be ready when it is ready. Publishing isn't a race. Don't be so vain and feebleminded.

My sisters friend who is 4 or 5 years younger than me was published in some travel magazineor something. I experienced a flash of anger, but then I realized it wasn't literary, so fuck her.

>Literature is pure
No it's not. Pseuds get published all the time and are rewarded with long careers for being phony, vapid, and narcissistic.

It's taking me longer than it probably should, but mind you:

>it is hard to make a living as a writer, even if you are GOOD. The economics simply doesn't check out at this point in time

So you are forced to do it in your spare time until you are financially secure by other means. Even highly successful contemporary writers these days started writing as a second career.

>Anything worth writing is going to take some time, especially a great novel

A book of poems is one thing to publish. But publishing your first monster of a novel is extremely time consuming and dispiriting. A lot of the great novelists of posterity (Tolstoy etc) were retired old patricians with all the time in the world to roam their estates, ponder their experience in the Crimean war and write hundreds and hundreds of pages.

It's totally possible. And while I'm not even a huge King fan, there are authors putting out way shittier stuff than his early work getting six-, even seven-figure advances. The girl that wrote this is in her 20s or 30s and got a $2 million advance for this shit, and it's not even that impressive in quality or ambition.

You misread that.

He said he got 200k for the PAPERBACK rights for christine. He had published a few other novels before that book went to paperback, but that was the first time he ever made real money as a writer.

Also most debut YA writers are mid 40s women

I just got my copy out, I might have been sourcing the wrong part of the book, but it says 400k for Carrie paperback

>Why do most men do anything?
a wild feminist appears!

Yeah, in any case, that was for the paperback rights. The hard cover book had been out for a while and was a huge success, that's why he got a good deal for the paperback. He also didn't make dick for the hardback sales.

I-Is it not normal to be unpublished by 26?

I only expect to get published once I'm 30-40. Not like I've begun writing yet, but still.

>I-Is it not normal to be unpublished by 26?

No, close to 100% of all authors that ever was, and will ever be, get published, win nobel prizes, and fuck all the popular porn stars, do so before they're 19.

God! Reading it again, he makes it sound like its the first monies he ever got for his work, like he won the lit lottery.

Yeah, he does write here that he didn't have an agent looking out for him, and lost a lot of what should have been his royalties. Well, in the long run it hasn't affected him any. I've stopped paying attention to his books, but Tommyknockers was great.

Yeah, the point of that story was he had basically been writing his entire life, he first got published when he was like a teenager. And it was until until then that he made any serious cheese off it.

If you so most things for pussy, you must be a pretty sad person.

Most people start doing things for themselves once they get through puberty m8

I'm already 29 but I've self-published several novels, so I can say I haven't been sitting on my arse and claim I'm only too ahead of my time/misunderstood to be picked up by a company.

I still seethe with anger and resentment when I read about a 24-25-year old or someone even younger getting published. There's no remedy to that.

Literature is pure because a lot of what we read and gets published is dead people.
You are only a great writer if people still read you in 200 years.
Many writers only became famous posthumously.