Posted in The Nitty Gritty of Children's Writing, The Publication Process

Can children and teens get their work published?

kidwriting.jpgYes. Check out these opportunities.

Children’s Magazines and Ezines
A good place to look is at the magazines you read. Do you see a kid’s or children’s section? Or there might be a “reader’s art” section. Here are some I found:

Creative Kids Magazine – for kids 8 to 16. “Material may include cartoons, songs, stories between 500 and 1200 words, puzzles, photographs, artwork, games, editorials, poetry, and plays, as well as any other creative work that can fit in the pages of the magazine.”
KidPub – books and stories by kids online – free to read, but membership ($12.95) is required to publish stories.
New Moon Girls – writing and art by girls 8 and up.
Stone Soup Magazine – features stories, poems and art by kids 8 to 13.

Contests
Contests aimed at children are a good place for young people to submit. Here are a few:
Adventure Write Kids
has an annual contest for kids under the age of 19.
National Geographic Kids often has some contests – search the site.
PBS Kids has a story writing and illustrating contest for kids in K-3rd grade.
Scholastic has an annual Kids Are Authors contest.

Other
Young Authors Guide – this website has advice, links to magazines, and contests ordered by deadline.
The Young Writer’s Guide to Getting Published by Kathy Henderson has been a good resource in the past, but the copy on Amazon is pretty dated (2001)
Young Writers Society is an online community for young writers – ages 13+

Advice
Same as with adults submitting, kids and teens need to follow the directions exactly.

Thanks to Kristine Kisky for the photo above.
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

homer.jpgThe Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Sky Blue Press, 2009) by Rodman Philbrick is not only very fun, but it’s very good. And that’s not just my opinion since it was a 2010 Newbery Honor book! I love how the cover presents a good picture of the flavor of this book.
Here’s a brief introduction to the story:
12-year-old Homer and his brother Harold have been entrusted to the care of their mother’s late sister’s husband. Squint, according to Homer, is the meanest man in Maine, and since he makes them sleep in the barn and starves them it must be true. When Squint sells 17-year-old Harold to the Union Army for $250, Homer escapes and goes to save him. Read about his adventures and misadventures and the people he meets along the way.
The author also wrote Freak, the Mighty, which was made into a movie called The Mighty. Read about that and other books on his website. If you’re a young person wanting to write, read what he has to say here.