Wednesday, September 21, 2011

5 Magazine Markets for Children's Writers

I've had a lot of fun writing occasional articles for magazines during the last few years.  It's a great way to practice writing, build a resume, and get professional feedback.  I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the magazines that have published my work.  The only draw-backs to writing for magazines include the long response time (it can take months to hear a reply) and the fact that you still have to deal with rejections (sigh).

You can submit work to many magazines for children, but here are five that accept (and some encourage!) online submissions.  These five also offer varying amounts of pay for accepted/published manuscripts.  Perhaps, if there is a lot of interest, I can do another post like this in the future.

Now, five magazine markets that will accept submissions of articles for children online (and pay you for accepted/published work!):

Listen Magazine.  This magazine shows teenagers a positive way of life without drug and substance abuse.  Queries are encouraged and email submissions are allowed.  A theme list and more information is available on their website.

Stories for Children Magazine.  This award-winning, online ezine publishes fiction and non-fiction for children three to twelve years old.  Email submissions are required.  Learn more about writing for them on their website.

Odyssey Magazine.  Part of the Cricket Publishing Group, this magazine focuses on science content for children between nine and fourteen years old.  Queries are required and may be submitted online.  For more information, visit their Submission Guidelines.

Friend Magazine.  Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stories in this faith-oriented magazine are often based on real experiences and written for children three to twelve years old.  Past issues and content can be viewed online and manuscripts can be sent on speculation through email.  For more information, visit their website.

Yes Mag.  This science-oriented magazine for kids and teenagers prefers queries before manuscripts.  Emailed queries are accepted.  They prefer Canada-related material.  For more information, visit their website.  Note: They seem to only be accepting material from Canadian authors at the moment.

14 comments:

Angela Scott said...

I don't normally write for young children, but this is good to know. I have a few friends that do, so I will pass this information on to them. Thanks for the post.

Laura S. said...

Wow, this is great, Carla! I'll have to check these out.

Carla said...

Angela, I hope it's useful for them!

I hope they're helpful, Laura!

Carla

nutschell said...

Wow, I've never heard of these magazines. Thanks for sharing! I'm sure I'll find these helpful in my own writing.
nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I would have copied and pasted this list back when I was writing for children, when my kids were young and there was barely time for anything. I submitted to Highlights a couple times but had most success with the Friend. They bought 3 of my stories and published one. Back then they paid pretty well.

Carla said...

Nutschell, They're all wonderful magazines!

Karen, Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I'm working on some submissions for Highlights...wish me luck! And the Friend still pays pretty well. ;)

Carla

Kenda Turner said...

Thanks for the links, Carla--there are a couple of markets here I'm unfamiliar with, and will want to check into :-) Years ago I had a story accepted at Friend magazine, they paid me nicely upon that acceptance, then notified me some time later they couldn't use the story after all--and still didn't require me to return the payment. Though that was good, I would rather have had the publication credit!

Anonymous said...

This is a great resource...sometimes I forget about magazines. But hey, whatever gets kids reading is AOK with me:) And HI!

--Carter

Abby Fowers said...

Oh Carla, this is wonderful. I'm so glad you posted it. I think I need to bookmark this. It would be very interesting to do something like this.

MTeacress said...

Hey, what a great list! It's rare to find such a suggestion. Thanks. :)

Carla said...

Kenda, Thanks for sharing your experience! It would be frustrating, but at least they paid you on acceptance and not publication. ;)

Hi, Carter! I agree...if it helps kids read, it is a good thing!

Abby, I'm glad you like it! It is fun to write for magazines!

Michelle, I hope it's helpful!

Carla

Lauren F. Boyd said...

Hey, Carla! Thanks so much for this post! I really enjoy writing for children's magazines, and I hadn't heard of a couple of these before, so I look forward to checking them out. And yes - I would be interested in more posts like this in the future.

Thanks, too, for your comment on my blog! I'm glad the post was helpful! Come back next Thursday for part two in this series!

Thanks again!

Emily R. King said...

The Friend magazine is one of my faves. Thanks for sharing this list. I haven't heard of two of these. I'm going to check them out.

Susanna Leonard Hill said...

Thanks for the tips. I hadn't heard of a couple of these.

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