If a agency doesn't ask for a CV, because I'm fifteen should I include my age in my covering letter. It may be a problem while they are looking at my work if I do include it, but they may think I haven't been honest if they meet me if I don't. What do people think?
Thankyou that was some really helpful and encouraging advice!
Thankyou that was some really helpful and encouraging advice!
Age shouldn't be relevant, but if you're under sixteen it probably is. From a business point of view, to the agent it means they are not just entering into a contract with you, but also a parent/guardian too. I think that needs to be on the table fairly quickly. Whether you tell them on first contact is going to have to be completely your decision. You could go with Louise's suggestion letting your work speak for itself and then add your age on the next communication.
But I would give some consideration to that next communication. If they phone you could they catch you on the hop and fluster you? Are you a confident speaker? Will you be able to put yourself across in the same convincing way in a reply email as if you were to write a strong, well thought out proposal (including your target markets, genre and your aspirations for your future writing) which included your age? I would be quite likely to shoot myself in the foot by writing my age as a negative if I then set out to reveal it in an email afterwards. I know this about myself, so I would avoid it.
If your writing has potential, your age need not be a barrier, but how you conduct yourself is going to be the test of whether the agent feels they can work with you, so it needs plenty of thought. How can you best portray both your work and yourself as a viable business proposition?