Highlights' Wish List

If you've read much of this blog, you'll know that I'm a fan of Highlights for Children. They just put out their latest "wish list" for freelance children's writers. If you're looking for ideas of what to write, here's an excellent place to start:

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN Current NeedsWinter 2008-2009

NONFICTION CATEGORIES

Nonfiction for Younger Readers (Ages 4 to 8) up to 500 words, Joëlle Dujardin, Associate Editor

All articles should have a clear focus and relevance to young kids.

• First-person accounts of fieldwork


• Photo essays


• Arts stories


• Ancient history


• High-interest animals


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


• Nature

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, Easter, Christmas, and little-known holidays


• World-cultures pieces. ALL COUNTRIES. We want intimate snapshots of life in another country.

One-page Activities of all kinds, up to 300 words, Linda Rose, Assistant Editor
We prefer activities that require neither parental supervision nor materials kids aren't likely to have handy.

• 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


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


• Magic tricks

Short Puzzles, Games, Recipes, and Activities, Manuscript Submissions

• Art activities


• World-cultures activities


• History and geography puzzles


• Logic puzzles


• Math puzzles


• Codes


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

Crafts, Manuscript Submissions; please send a photo or sample of the craft.

• World-cultures crafts (general or holiday-specific)


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


• Games


• Gifts


• Crafts for all holidays except Valentine's Day

Send magazine submissions toHighlights for Children803 Church StreetHonesdale, PA 18431

PUZZLEMANIA
Puzzlemania, our puzzle book club for children ages 6—10, is in need of word puzzles—crosswords, word searches, logic puzzles, word scrambles, and codes. For detailed submissions guidelines, visit http://tracking.highlights.com/t?r=2&c=29464&l=1079&ctl=1E1CA:7EA46CD7F7E5CAE773355AD42202C436&. Go to About Us/Contributor Guidelines/Puzzles. Send puzzle submissions to hfcpuzzlemania@gmail.com.

Highlights posts their new wish list!

One of my favorite children's magazines just posted their summer 2008 wish list. Take a look: http://www.highlights.com/custserv/customerservicecontent2main.jsp?iContentID=2552&iCategoryID=203&CCNavIDs=3,203

And lest you think that these lists don't matter, take a look at the July 2008 issue of Highlights. I have a craft on p. 27 that I submitted as a result of last summer's wish list. Talk about speedy publication!

:) Cheryl

How to Make a Magazine Sale

Last week I promised more on how I sold my first article--and how, maybe, you might do the same. I followed my advice from last week: studied my target market, kept my eyes open for cool ideas, and wrote my article with a similar sample article close at hand.

Now for the specifics. I had just started the Institute for Children's Literature writing course. That meant I had a pile of great reference material and not enough writing to do, because the first few assignments were too short and simple to offer much challenge. (It's a fantastic course, I just didn't click with the first (read beginner) assignments.) So, being me, I read ahead.

I learned that nonfiction is easier to sell than fiction, so I spent time studying sample articles collected in one of the ICL publications. I particularly loved one from Highlights: "Watching a Bee Keeper" by Joan Davis (http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/accountability/testing/eog/g5/ReadingSamples/Gr5WS6beekeeper1615.pdf). It was written in an appealing conversational style. Its story-like format draws in the reader--guerrilla educational reading.

I thought I could write an article like that--if I had a topic.

The next step took a bit longer: I kept a lookout for news that would catch hook a second-grader. I found what I needed when I passed a herd of goats chomping weeds along a nearby bike path. A story!

Over the next months, I performed hours and hours of research, visited the goat ranch, interviewed the goat herder, wrote the article, and polished, polished, polished. I compared it, paragraph by paragraph, with the “Bee Keeper” article. I compared the amount of time I spent on description versus education. I looked at sentence lengths, word choices, point of view. I gave it to my critique group. Finally, I rewrote the article twice based on much-studied comments from Highlights’ editors.

Want to break into the magazine market? Find a publication you love and study, study, study. When you learn what the magazine likes, you’ll be able to write for them.

:) Cheryl

Market Analysis: Highlights for Children

Earlier this week, I spotlighted Highlights as a great break-in market for children's writers. Today's topic? How to do it!

First, the basics:

1. Read (and follow) their guidelines: http://www.highlights.com/custserv/customerservicesubgateway2main.jsp?iCategoryID=203&CCNavIDs=3,203 That seems like advice too basic to include, but you'd be surprised how many people don't bother to follow simple instructions....


2. Study their needs: http://www.highlights.com/custserv/customerservicecontent2main.jsp?iContentID=2552&iCategoryID=203&CCNavIDs=3,203


3. Check out their mission: FUN, but with a PURPOSE.


4. Study the magazine for article content, writing style, and format.

In my opinion, the most valuable step in the process is to study the magazine. So, what's in this month's Highlights? A quick survey turns up the obvious--a poem, a few short stories, a few nonfiction pieces, two pages of crafts, the monthly feature "Ask Arizona," The Timbertoes, a rebus story, riddles, puzzles, and the science corner. That info helps you figure out if Highlights is the right market for your story, article, craft, or puzzle.

Next: take an in-depth look at the type of piece you want to sell. Do you want to submit a short story? Take a look at "The Mystery of the Ghost in the Wall." Hmm...about 800 words long, written for Highlights' older readers, this story has a quick-talking narrator and a math tie-in. Almost every paragraph is one to two sentences long--the story moves. Description? Minimal. Dialog? It occurs in short bursts separated by transitions, tight one-sentence scene-setting descriptions, actions, and internal dialog (aka, the narrator's thoughts.)

What about a craft? Turn to page 32 for the craft line up. These crafts have only 4-6 steps and no list of "what you need." Instead, supplies are shown in the text of each craft, highlights in bold. Word counts are low. What kinds of crafts to they feature? One toy rocket, one card craft, one decorative magnet, one Valentine-themed mask, and a treasure chest/treasure map craft pair encouraging active play.

By taking a close look at the pieces a magazine has published, you can get a vision for the types of pieces they like. Skeptical? That's how I sold my first article--but more on that later.

:) Cheryl

Break-In Markets: Highlights for Children

I decided it's time to plug my favorite magazine market again: Highlights for Children.

Highlights is a great break-in market for new writers. Why? Here are a few reasons:

• They accept--and respond to--unsolicited manuscripts, including manuscripts from unpublished writers. As for any publicaion, a list of publication credits in the cover letter helps, but they'll take a serious look at your writing whether you've been published before or not.


• They actively encourage beginning writers with their yearly fiction contest (http://www.highlights.com/custserv/customerservicecontent2main.jsp?iCategoryID=203&iContentID=1584&CCNavIDs=3,203 -- deadline of Jan 31; sorry not to mention it sooner,) with the Highlights Foundation's Writers Workshops http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/, and with a generous scholarship program to help struggling writers to attend.


• It's a well-known and well-respected publication with a circulation of two million+ readers.


• They have diverse needs, publishing fiction, nonfiction, multicultural, science, history, crafts, rebuses, poetry, puzzles and recipes.


• They publish a list of "current needs" that helps writers target topics to the publication (http://www.highlights.com/custserv/customerservicecontent2main.jsp?iContentID=2552&iCategoryID=203&CCNavIDs=3,203)


• They're devoted to their writers. Once you've sold a piece to the magazine, they try to respond personally to all future submissions.


• They have a reputation for fairness. Although this company buys all rights, they resell articles and share the profits with the writer.


• Comparatively rapid response time. Depending on the department, response time can range from a few weeks to a few months--which is still relatively quick for the magazine market.


• Highlights is closely associated with Boyds Mills Press, a high-quality children's book publisher. When you build a relationship with the editors at Highlights, you're building relationships with Boyds Mills' editors as well.

On the flip side, Highlights buys all rights (never a favorite amongst writers) and the pay is modest compared to adult publications. If you've spent time studying the children's magazine market, though, then its pay scale starts to sound pretty good!

The market can provide great writing credits for the beginning writer. Sound good? Tune in later this week for an analysis of the most recent Highlights magazine.

:) Cheryl