Writing for Kids’ Magazines, Part 1: Ruminations and Fulminations -- by Christy Mihaly

Welcome to today's GROG post, where our Thursday theme is submissions.

Have you considered submitting work to children’s magazines? Maybe there's some little gem in your files that just doesn't fly as a book; maybe you'd like to try something new. After several years of writing for magazines, I'm developing some book ideas, but plan to keep on submitting to magazines too.  Here's why:

Three Great Aspects of Writing for Kids’ Magazines:

1.  Possible Publication.  You CAN hear back from an editor within a week – with an acceptance. This has happened to me. (Not often, but just enough to keep things interesting.) That "YES!" means that kids – lots of kids – will actually read something you've written. And isn't that why we write?

2.  Excellent Experience.  Like book publishers, magazine editors want great hooks, intriguing ideas, kid-friendly approaches, drama, and beautiful language. Writing for this market means practicing your craft and polishing your skills. I write primarily nonfiction, so it also means researching markets and topics, identifying unique, kid-friendly subjects, conducting interviews, and crafting queries and/or cover letters. Once your piece is accepted, you get to work with an editor and publishing staff, to make your work the best it can be.

3.  Renewed Inspiration.  Are you getting sick of that YA novel you’ve been writing for three years? Bored with your endless research project? You can complete a short magazine submission in a manageably short time. Doing so always reminds me how much I love to write. And often, I come up with book ideas while working on an article. Why not try a short story, poem, puzzle, or joke – kids’ magazines are looking for all of these.

By Tim Pierce (originally posted to Flickr as lost) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Sound good?  Well, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out:

Three Not-So-Great Aspects of Writing for Kids’ Magazines:

1.  (Lack of) Money.  Some magazines pay on acceptance.  Some don't pay at all. One magazine sent my (tiny) check more than a year after the article was published. You won't get rich.

2.  Rejections. You’ll get rejections. Some magazines don’t respond; many send form letters. My favorite is, “We love this article but can’t use it, because we've just taken a similar article.” Arggh. I try to think of all the rejections as good practice for when I'm ready to send out those book manuscripts.

Here’s my rule: if a magazine rejects a submission without identifying something wrong with it, I resubmit to another appropriate magazine, ASAP. (Obviously, if an editor said something needed fixing, I'd fix it.) And keep writing and submitting. I've had magazine acceptances in response to queries (more on queries in Part 2); and on the first, second, and third try. As with any good manuscript, the secret is to find the right home for it.

3.  Slow responses and far-off publication dates. I usually follow up on a magazine submission if I haven’t heard back after four months. I’m no longer surprised if the magazine then asks me to re-send it, because they've lost it! "Highlights" can take eight months or longer to respond (though they'll send out a prompt postcard asking you to “bear” with them – with a cute bear illustration). And even a quick acceptance won’t mean immediate publication. I sold an article in 2013 that’s scheduled for publication in 2017.

Bottom Line: Why am I still writing for kids' magazines despite these frustrations? Because I want to be a children's author. I love writing, and I want kids to read what I write. And, of course, having those submissions pending makes my daily trip to the post office much more exciting!

Stay tuned for Part 2:  Some Nuts and Bolts of Submitting to Magazines