How to help DS

[Thingsthatgo]

DS is 14 years old and is writing a book. I haven’t read it, (he doesn’t want me to yet) but the head of English at his school has read the first 5 chapters and is encouraging him to look into getting it published. I know that this sounds boastful/deluded but he really is quite extraordinary and has won lots of big writing competitions- so it might actually be worth trying. If he can’t find an agent I might look into self publishing because I’d like to encourage and reward his massive effort.
He says that the genre is YA fantasy/political intrigue - should he research agents who specialise in his area? He has written about 50k words so far.

I'm an author and editor. I wouldn't advise him to self publish because the chance of it reaching a wider audience is absolutely zilch. He has plenty of time. If I were him I'd finish it and move on to another book, then come back to them several months later - it's amazing how much of a difference that makes. It's great he's writing so much. Has he read many creative writing books?

Edited to make it make sense!

@TFImBackInThat sounds like good advice, thank you. He has done lots of creative writing courses, but I don’t know if he has read many books on writing- are there any that you would recommend?

If he’s serious about becoming a writer (and given he’s written 50k words at 15 then I’d say he is) then DO NOT SELF PUB. A writer only gets one chance to debut and that deal often sets the tone for the rest of their career, so he’ll want to hone his craft and learn about the industry before taking that shot. There is absolutely no rush. If you want to support him then validate his dreams, buy him the books about writing (save the cat writes a novel, the writers and artists year book, into the woods, bird by bird etc), encourage him to study English A level, apply for English/creative writing at uni, look at short writing courses which sometimes offer scholarships (faber, Curtis brown creative, Jericho writers etc). Think about helping him build the confidence and habits to become a successful writer for life, rather than the quick win of getting a book out into the world. He sounds amazing, good luck!

(I’m a reasonable successful published author BTW)