Note: If you’re interested in writing for young people, don’t miss the Writing
for Children and for Young Adults
workshop Saturday, Aug 12, in Collingwood (see here),
and the Writing Kid Lit, weekly class
on Thursday mornings, Oct 5 – Nov 30, in
Oakville (see here).
Cricket Media pays for
stories, poems, articles, recipes, activities, and puzzles and games for their
children’s magazines for ages six months to 14-plus. Their literary publications
include:
Babybug for ages 6 months-3 years
Ladybug for ages 3-6
Spider for ages 6-9
Cricket for ages 9-14
Cicada for ages 14 and up
Cricket also has a
range of nonfiction magazines:
Click Science and Discovery for ages 3-7
Ask Science and Discovery for ages 7-10
Muse Science and Discovery for ages 10 and up
Cobblestone American History for ages 9-14
Dig Into History World History and Archaeology for ages 9-14
Faces World Cultures and Geography for ages 9-14
Babybug is a look-and-listen magazine for ages 6 months – 3
years. It presents simple poems, stories, nonfiction, and activities that
reflect the natural playfulness and curiosity of babies and toddlers. When
reviewing submissions, the editors look for manuscripts that please the ear and
beg to be read again, as well as those that capture a baby’s discoveries in a
few simple, concrete sentences.
Stories and articles pay up to 25¢ per word. Poems: up to
$3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum
Full
guidelines here.
Ladybug seeks stories and poems for children
ages 3 – 6. Current
theme: Our World. "Tell our readers about a cultural tradition you
know well or take them to a new place, such as a train station, theater, orange
grove, or dam. Investigate an everyday mystery (Where does our food come from?)
or open their senses to the natural world. We’re looking for writing attuned to
a young child’s interests and capacity for joy and wonder. We accept narrative
nonfiction (to 800 words), nonfiction (to 400 words), poetry (to 20 lines), and
proposals for short comics."
Stories and articles pay up to 25¢ per word. Poems: up to
$3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum
Spider is a literary magazine for children ages 6
– 9. It features fresh and
engaging literature, poems, articles, and activities for newly independent
readers. Editors seek energetic, beautifully crafted submissions with strong
“kid appeal” (an elusive yet recognizable quality, often tied to high-interest
elements such as humor, adventure, and suspense).
Stories and articles pay up to 25¢ per word; poems, up to
$3.00 per line, $25.00 minimum; activities and
recipes, $75.00 flat rate.
Full guidelines here.
Cricket magazine seeks to publish the highest quality fiction,
poetry, and literary nonfiction to engage our audience of enthusiastic young
readers (ages 9 to 14). Editors consider unsolicited submissions from writers
of every level of experience. Since its founding in 1973, CRICKET has published
some of the most respected writers of children’s literature. It is also a
wonderful opportunity for promising new writers to showcase their best work.
Currently Cricket is seeking “contemporary or
historical fiction, retellings of folktales and legends, and nonfiction on the
theme of problematic encounters between humans and animals. We welcome humorous
stories about troublesome pets, dramatic dealings with wild animals, domestic
adventures with backyard pests, warm-hearted friendships with skittish
horses—even tales of imaginary animals that exist only in fantasy and legend.
Whether you are inspired by stampeding buffalo, beasts from the deep, raccoons
in the attic, or foxy tricksters, Cricket wants to see your best story for
middle-grade readers (preferably of 1500 to1800 words)."
Stories and articles pay up to 25¢ per word; poems, up to
$3.00 per line, $25.00 minimum; activities and recipes, $75.00 flat rate.
Deadline: July 31, 2017. Full submission guidelines here.
Cicada is a YA lit/comics magazine (ages 14-plus) fascinated
with the lyric and strange and committed to work that speaks to teens’ truths. “We
publish poetry, realistic and genre fic, essay, and comics by adults and teens.
(We are also inordinately fond of Viking jokes.) Our readers are smart and curious;
submissions are invited but not required to engage young adult themes.”
In fiction, Cicada
seeks realism, SF/fantasy, and historical fiction; flash fiction to
to novellas up to
9,000 words
In poetry, no length limits. Send us yer epics!
In comics, Cicada seeks talented
artists who are making thoughtful (or flippant), beautiful (or unsettling),
exuberant (or quiet) comics, zines, visual poems, sequential graphic
narratives, or any other work in image and/or text. We commission original
stories from a brief pitch, and give developmental feedback through the
production process.
In narrative nonfiction, Cicada especially wants teen-written essays on lit/culture/arts;
hybrid forms. Length: up to 5,000 words
Stories and articles pay up to 25¢ per word; poems, up to
$3.00 per line, $25.00 minimum.
Full
guidelines here.
Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in the "Follow Brian by Email" box
to the right under my bio and get each post delivered to your Inbox. Also,
if you’re not yet on my newsletter, send me an email, including your locale,
to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~ Brian
Click introduces
young children (ages 3–7) to ideas and concepts in the natural, physical, or
social sciences; the arts; technology; math; and history. Each edition of CLICK
is built around a central theme and features a variety of formats, including
stories, articles, poems, photo essays, interviews, and activities.
An ideal Click article (200–500 words) investigates
and explains the how and why of its subject in a friendly, engaging, often
humorous way. Intended to be accessible and appealing to pre-readers and
beginning readers, CLICK prose should be informal and conversational, with a
clear focus on ideas rather than just facts.
Click is
especially interested in narrative nonfiction (600–900 words), stories that
read like fiction but contain and explain nonfiction concepts within them.
Since one of CLICK’s goals is to encourage children to question, observe, and
explore, successful stories often show children engaged in finding out about
their universe—with the help of supportive, but not all-knowing adults.
Full guidelines here.
Ask is a
nonfiction magazine for children 7–10 years old who are curious about science
and the world they live in. Each edition of Ask is built
around a central theme on some question or concept in the natural, physical, or
social sciences, technology, mathematics, history, or the arts. Ask introduces
kids to the joys of thinking, writing, and observing scientifically, and
presumes them to be active participants in the ongoing search for better
knowledge about the world.
Ask welcomes queries for
articles for upcoming themes. Queries should give an overview of the proposed
article, including scope and treatment, resources, and a draft opening
paragraph. Writers new to Ask should also provide a
resume and two writing samples, including at least 200 words of unedited copy
on any nonfiction topic.
Current
theme: Cats – Are they just tigers in disguise?
Deadline
for queries: Aug 1, 2017. Full submission guidelines here.
Muse is a discovery magazine for children and
teens. The editors seek fresh, entertaining stories from the fields of science,
technology, engineering, art, and math. Timeliness is essential, but humor,
irreverence, and atypical angles are also hallmarks of Muse.
Current theme: YOU
SHALL NOT PASS – The what,
why, and how of cybersecurity
Deadline for queries: July 31, 2017. Full submission
guidelines here.
Cobblestone is an American history
magazine for ages 8 to 14. They need articles,
fiction, poetry, activities, and puzzles and games. Each issue has a new theme,
but their themes haven’t been updated recently.
Full submission guidelines here.
Dig Into History focuses on world history with a 10- to
14-page section that focuses on an archaeological discovery or topic related to
the issue’s theme. They need articles, fiction, poetry, activities, and puzzles and games.
Current theme: KV10: A Primer on Egypt.
Deadline for queries: Aug 18, 2017. Full submission guidelines here.
Faces world culture and
geography magazine seeks articles, fiction,
poetry, activities, and puzzles and games, with lively and original approaches
to the subject of each issue.
Current themes:
Scotland – Queries
due by July 21, 2017
Basketball – Queries
due by August 25, 2017
Full guidelines here.
See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops
and creative writing courses in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton,
Burlington, Caledon, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Ingersoll, Kingston,
Kitchener, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St.
Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock,
Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA,
Ontario and beyond.
