How would you tell it to a publisher?

#1 If you do not have a demo then you should create one hell of a promotional package that shows off what you do have available and what you will provide.

Remember that how you present your idea to them tells them a lot of what they are going to get from you should they choose to invest, so if your promotional package and presentation looks like garbage they probably won't even bother to give you the time of day, if your promotional package is intersting and tells them what they need to know then you might stand a chance of getting your foot in the door.

Also you should try to ensure that your spelling is accurate, as this can hint to people how professional you are. But this debate has been done to death in other threads.

Edit: Michael, I was taking a quick glance at your profile and noticed that you say that you are 11. This will probably cause you a lot of problems finding success because no company will want to take a risk on someone who is 11. This is due partically to the fact that you have no track record or experiance and also due to legal issues that arise because you are still a minor.

Logan

#2 Sounds like you already know what the answer is. :-P

What would you like to hear? I don't want to discourage ideas at all, but the truth is that an idea isn't enough to pull off a game.

You could download Realm Wars and start learning it. You may even be able to make your demo with it. That part is free, though you'd have to license it for engine code and to sell.

Good luck. :-)

#3 A small note:
I know that i am 11! but i have enough knowledge to get this game started so i intend to finish it. And i haven't tried talking to any publishers yet but i am preparing!

#4 11??? Holy man! At 11 I was too busy being a kid to worry about stuff like this!

#5 Mr. Nolan I would take the first guys advice and work a little on those grammer skills. Basic mistakes like the "i" not capitalized.

#6 What do you do? Programming etc?

And just a thought, maybe best to not say your age etc...

#7 Well guys you have to remember we're to the point in technology and education that even very young people are learning so fast that they can kick our butt. Just like teenagers have learned fast enough and have experience that they can actually get good jobs, for example hackers. Just because he's eleven years of age doesn't mean he's limited what he can do, it just shows he's not yet mature to take on the responsibilities as professional game developers do. Hey you have to learn at sometime and why not learn at a young age so that you have enough time to actually study what you want to learn.

My point is that you shouldn't have a closed mind thinking ohh he's too young to know what he's doing and have the experience. Last time I checked it's kids now adays working on open source projects mostly, for example that one kid that got kicked out by Apple for working on an open source project dealing with Mac OS X because he wasn't at least eighteen years of age.

#8 Young people can achieve something... up to a certain point.
In this case its impossible for him to get money. There are laws for this.. one is child labour. People just can't pay 11 year old teenagers/children to develop a product for them.