CHILDREN'S WRITERS MARKETPLACE

July 2007

I check web links to make sure they're working before the column goes to Jon.  The Internet is wonderful, but it changes constantly, and so do links and email addresses.  Sometimes web links and emails are pulled because response is too heavy.  Other times, a site might be malfunctioning and it's worth trying again in a few days.  You can usually tell from the message you get at the site or from a returned email. 

PLEASE DON’T send manuscripts for me to critique.  I am sorry, but I just don’t have time.  Nor do I publish anything so don’t submit material—either stories or illustrations.

NOTE FROM MARGARET:  I have cancer, and I’m sometimes slow recovering from chemo.  But I am teaching, still, and I will at least attempt to get short columns online every now and then.

PUBLICATIONS THAT ACCEPT ONLINE SUBMISSIONS:

Big Country Peacock Chronicle, RR1, Box 89K-112, Aspermont TX 79502: Audrey Yoeckel, Editor-in-Chief.    Short stories for children and adults.  NO PAYMENT.  Complete manuscripts go to publisher@peacockchronicle.com

IN MY MAIL:

Word Action has guidelines and theme list available for its Middle Elementary take-home paper.  Email Kimberly D. Adams for copies: KDAdams@wordaction.com

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN Current Needs  Spring/Summer 2007

FICTION CATEGORIES
Fiction for Young Readers (readers ages 2 to 7) up to 500 words, Marileta Robinson, Senior Editor
No current special needs.

Fiction for 8- to 12-year-olds (readers ages 8 to 12) up to 800 words, Joëlle Dujardin, Associate Editor

(1)          Holiday stories (but not necessarily Christmas), especially Valentine's Day (not sappy) and Halloween (not scary)

(2)          Humorous stories

(3)          Historical fiction about little-covered time periods

(4)          Multicultural pieces

NONFICTION CATEGORIES
Younger Nonfiction (readers ages 2 to 7) up to 500 words, Joëlle Dujardin
Younger nonfiction should be written for readers ages 4 to 8 and should not exceed 450 words. All articles should have a clear focus and relevance to young kids.

*    First-person accounts of fieldwork

*    Photo Essays

*    Arts Stories

*    Accessible Biographies of key historical figures

*    Kids living in various cultures

*    Ancient history

*    High-interest animals

*    Details from urban life (workers, transportation, etc.).

Science, 800 words (two-page features), 400 words (one-page features), 50 words (activities) Andy Boyles, Science Editor

*     Features about kids involved in science

*     Scientists studying high-interest animals in their natural habitats

*     Short, quick, easy, fun science activities

History/World Cultures, up to 800 words, Carolyn Yoder, Senior Editor

*     Fun, humorous, kid-friendly articles

*     Presidential (NOT Washington and Lincoln) and patriotic pieces

*     Need anecdotal articles, rather than broad interviews

*     American holidays, specifically Thanksgiving.

*     World cultures pieces. No need for India, but everywhere else. We want intimate snapshots of life in another country.

Adventure, up to 800 words, Kim Griswell, Coordinating Editor
Adventure articles that bring the reader in and let him/her come along for the adventure. Rather than telling kids "I went here and wasn't it grand" the best articles share the adventure.

Arts, up to 800 words, Kim Griswell, Coordinating Editor

*     Need more contemporary articles with high kid-appeal. A fresh, focused slant rather than overviews.

*     No need for "classic" arts articles, especially bios of famous artists.

Sports, up to 800 words, Judy Burke, Managing Editor

*     Sports "how-to" pieces (except how to dive, how to shoot a basketball, and how to throw a football). Each article should be reviewed by an expert before submission.

*     Contemporary female-athlete bios. It helps when the author interviews the subject for these.

*     No need for baseball biographies or track-and-field biographies right now.

Economics/Personal Finance, up to 800 words, Kim Griswell, Coordinating Editor
Articles that address economics or personal finance at a kid's level.

Gallant Kids, up to 400 words, Kim Griswell, Coordinating Editor
Articles about a kid or kids who are serving others in some special way. Articles must be about unique, interesting, kid-generated projects. The idea is that when kids serve others, they are being their "best selves."

Full-page Activities, up to 400 words, Linda Rose, Assistant Editor

*    300-Word Activities of all kinds, appealing to a wide age range whenever possible.

*    Indoor and outdoor games that involve exercise, creativity, and/or humor

*    Activities and games that kids can do whether they're on their own or with others

*    Some cooperative games (we publish both cooperative and competitive games, but receive more submissions of the latter)

*    Projects that will result in a new hobby or skill and/or a quality finished product

*    Magic tricks

*    Activities to get children outdoors, moving around, or creating.

*    We prefer activities that do not require parental supervision or materials kids aren't likely to have handy.

Picture Puzzlers Take a look at several recent issues to see the kind of puzzle we try to present here.

*    A large visual puzzle with little text, offering our readers an entertaining and visually interesting puzzle activity. Art need not be supplied with the manuscript, but basic sketches showing your idea or detailed art/photo suggestions are helpful.

*    We need fresh manuscripts/ideas for this page that we haven't already done.

*    We need more ideas with more than one thing going on.

*    A big visual puzzle with activities here and there on the page.

*    Original board games that are visually interesting and can be played on the page are also welcome!

     (Picture Puzzlers should not require readers to write in the magazine.)

Puzzles, Games, Recipes, Other Short Activities, Tiffany Hoffman, Editorial  Needs for Mixed Pages include:

*     Art activities

*     Activities with a sporty theme

*     World culture activities; holiday games

*     Geography-based activities

*     History puzzles/activities

*     Sequencing activities

*     Recipes

*     Code activities

*     We have very little need for logic puzzles and word games at this time.

*     Any activities that easily lend themselves to strong visuals are a huge plus!

Crafts, Tiffany Hoffman, Editorial

*     Multicultural crafts (general or holiday-specific)

*     Crafts that encourage play (musical instruments, costumes, etc.)

*     Crafts with direct boy appeal

*     Seasonal crafts (general autumn and winter activitieswe have enough snowmen)

*     Gifts, usable crafts (we have enough picture frames and cards)

*     Crafts for all holidays, specifically non-Christian holidays (we have enough wreaths, Santas, Thanksgiving turkeys, and Christmas crafts)

*     Fourth of July and summer crafts

Please send a photo or actual sample of the craft. A drawing doesn't really provide enough information.

Send submissions to
Highlights for Children
803 Church Street
Honesdale, PA 18431

While the online Stories for Children Magazine doesn’t pay for monthly publications, it does pay .01 a word for anything included in its Best of Anthology at the end of the year.  (And $12 for illustrations used in the anthology).  I won’t be putting this in my market list since most stories won’t be paid, but I wanted people to know about this.  They do use reprints.  See their submission pages at http://storiesforchildren.tripod.com/id7.html

HOLD ALL SUBMISSIONS HERE UNTIL SEPT. 1.  THEY WON’T BE READING UNTIL THEN.

From Gryphon House:

Dear GIANT Authors,

We need your ideas! Gryphon House, Inc., is looking for lesson plans for children 3-6. Submit as many plans as you want. For each lesson plan used, we will pay $50.00, plus one copy of the finished GIANT Encyclopedia. Please see the attached flyer for more information, including a suggested lesson plan outline and topic list. A sample lesson plan can be found at www.gryphonhouse.com/activity/samplelessonplan.pdf.

If you have any questions about the new GIANT Encyclopedia of Lesson Plans, please contact Charlie Clark at charlie@ghbooks.com.

The deadline for submitting lesson plans is July 15th. We look forward to receiving your lesson plans. Good luck!

Sincerely,

Charlie Clark  Editorial Assistant  Gryphon House, Inc.

FROM YOU (THANK YOU)

Vicki Hale shared this great list of online children’s e-zines: http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listonlinemst.html

Thanks to my good friend Jerry Crotinger for the following site—lots of helpful information about writing: http://www.annemini.com/

Note:  I connected to the site fine just two days ago, but I’m having problems getting it right now.  Hopefully, it’s still up.

Kathy Ptacek (try her Gila Queen Market Guide: info at Gila Queen’s Guide to Markets Website: http://GilaQueen.us)

Cat Tales—Wildside Press, 9710 Traville Gateway Dr., #234, Rockville MD 20850-7408. Editor: George H. Scithers. Attn: Cat Tales editor. "Cat Tales is a new magazine that will launch this year."

Target audience: "Adults who love cats, as well as literate, cat-loving teenagers."

"The editors are seeking fantasy and suspense stories involving cats. Cats must be portrayed in a positive light and absolutely no talking cats. Cat Tales—feline fantasy fiction—seeks fiction with fantasy, science fictional, or mystery content, in which cats (or a cat) play (or plays) an essential role. The cats must be believable cats, not elves, gnomes, or little men in clever plastic disguises. No talking cats, and we are not enthusiastic about stories in which cats come to a bad, yet undeserved, end."

"We are, at the moment, particularly hungry for mystery stories, and for someone to review novels, collections, and anthologies involving cats."

Artwork: "Interior b&w assigned for specific stories. Covers: color, scenes which establish that this a fantasy/mystery/science-fictional one, NOT a children's magazine."

500–5000 words; 3000–6000 words average; pays 3¢/word, for FNASR, "plus (for an additional sum) non-exclusive anthology rights."

"Anything from haiku and limericks on up to about 10,000 to 15,000 words (but we expect to use no more than one story that long per issue)."

"Reprints? Ask beforehand. Items with limited U.S. distribution and unpublished material preferred—again—when in doubt, ask. For material previously published, non-exclusive North American serial rights. For previously published non-exclusive rights, [pays] about 1¢/word."

E-mail submissions okay. [E-mail: g-scithers@sff.net; http://www.wildsidepress.com].

Also from KATHY is the news that Chicken Soup Anthologies has an upcoming theme of: Girl's Soul II: "Another collection of stories from preteen girls and others who haven't forgotten what it's like to be a preteen girl." Deadline: No date established yet.  And Junior High and High School Graduates: "The stories in this book will celebrate the memories, laughter, tears and accomplishments of those people graduating, or who have graduated, from both Junior High and High School." Deadline: No date established yet.  And teenage Soul Daily Inspirations: "An inspirational message for each day of the year centered on the teenage years." Deadline: No date established yet.  Length here is 300–800 words; pays $200. [E-mail: webmaster@chickensoupforthesoul.com; http://www.chickensoup.com].

BRAG TIME:

Jori Reihonen will be writing another textbook supplement.  Plus, an article she co-authored will soon appear in a special issue of an educational journal.

Check out the anthologies I have work in.  “Manhattan Mysteries” contains three of my short stories (two for children).  Copies are available at Amazon.com: www.amazon.com or through Claflin Book Store at claflin@interkan.net.   Single copy price is $12.0* Sales tax will apply at Claflin, at least for Kansas residents--I’m not sure about non-state residents. Should a bookseller wish to order it, wholesale prices are available at the publisher: KS Publishing, Inc.: www.kspublishinginc.com.

I also have an article in the new God Allows U-Turns for Women.  It is available at Christian many bookstores and at www.amazon.com.

CHECK OUT my classes for children's writers.  The fees have gone up a bit on all of them, but they now all come with an email copy of my market list.

"Write Short Stories for Children": http://universalclass.com/arts/creativewriting/classes/2371.htm

"Children's Fiction: In-Depth Plotting": http://universalclass.com/arts/creativewriting/classes/3499.htm

AND MY NEW ONE "Write Tidbits for Tots through Teens": http://home.universalclass.com/i/crn/5609.htm

HELP!

Markets I’m hoping someone has current information right now are AMERICAN SKATING WORLD, AMERICA'S HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE, ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION AND FACT, England) ANIMALS AND YOU, BLACK CHILD, BLAST/KID POWER, BLENDER, BLUES CLUES MAGAZINE, BRIO, CAREERS, CAREER PREVIEW, CHESS LIFE, CHILDREN'S STORY SCRIPTS, THE CHRISTIAN EXAMPLE, CHRISTIAN SCHOOL BUILDER, CLUB KIDSOFT, CONNECT FOR KIDS, CRINKLES, THE CRYSTAL BALL, DIMENSIONS, DINOSAURUS, DOGS FOR KIDS, DOVETAIL, DRAGONFLY, ECS LEARNING SYSTEM, EDGE, FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, FF, FIRST OPPORTUNITY, FLUX, FREEZE, FRINGEGOLF, GIRL: FASHION FOR EVERY BODY, BEAUTY FOR EVERY FACE, GIRLS TO THE RESCUE, GLOSSY, GRAND RAPIDS FAMILY, GSI, HIGHWAYS, HiP, HOBSON’S CHOICE, HORSEPLAY JUNIOR, H.S. SPORTS, INSIGHTS (National Rifle Assoc.), INSTRUCTOR MAGAZINE, INTERNATIONAL GYMNIST, JOEY MAGAZINE, JUNIOR COURAGE, JUNIOR RIDERS, JUSTINE MAGAZINE, KID PLANET, KIDSPORTS, KIDS TRIBUTE (CANADIAN), KIDS WALL STREET NEWS, KIDS WORLD MAG (CANADIAN), KITE LINES, K MAGAZINE, LACROSSE, LATIN GIRL, LILO AND STITCH, LITERARY CAVALCADE, THE LOOK, MICROZINE, MID-ATLANTIC SOCCER, MY LITTLE MAGAZINE, NHL POWERPLAY, NOISE, PACK-KIT, PEOPLE’S FRIEND, PLAY, PLAYS, POSITIVE TEENS,

CONTESTS:

Byline Magazine contest: Juvenile Short Story Contest—PO Box 111, Albion NY 14411. "Fiction for ages 5 to 8; 9 to 12; or 13 to 16. State targeted age group on manuscript; length should be appropriate for intended audience." 3000 words maximum. 1st, $50; 2nd, $30; 3rd, $20. Entry fee $5. [http://www.bylinemag.com]. Deadline: June 30,

WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES:

Check the Write 4 Kids main pages for information about Laura and Linda’s West Coast (Bay Area) Bootcamp coming up on July 14-15!  Sounds fantastic.

EDITING SERVICES: 

I get a great deal of mail from new writers wanting to find someone who will edit/critique manuscripts.  At one point a personal friend of mine had such a service, but she went back to teaching.  I’m listing two dependable services below:

Children's Book Insider editor Laura Backes does critiques on a limited basis, depending upon her schedule—and at the moment is taking on only picture book clients.  For info, e-mail critique@sendfree.com

Another writer/editor I can recommend is Jill Ronsley, the director of Sun Edit Write.

Sun Edit Write provides editing and book design services for writers. If you would like your story, novel, poem or nonfiction to be checked for errors of grammar, punctuation, style, syntax, and usage before you submit it to a publisher, or if you would like to consult with a professional book designer, write to jill@suneditwrite.com.  Jill Ronsley, founder and director, has a special love of literature for children and is on the Executive Board of Boost4Writers. For more information, visit www.suneditwrite.com.