Publication & Writing Links for Youth
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Before you send any work in, check the Writers’ Guidelines, which are usually either on the website or inside the magazine. Pay attention to word count and any themes that might be requested. If a contest has a DEADLINE, make sure that your work arrives before deadline. There is usually no fee to submit your work to a legitimate publisher like those listed below.
Send your best work; and have a teacher, friend, or parent check your manuscript for typos. Use white paper, 8 1/2” x 11’ and black ink with a normal font like Times / 12. Follow the guidelines carefully. For example, type your name and page # on each page, unless requested NOT to—sometimes contests want “blind” manuscripts with a separate cover sheet that has your title listed on it.
Every submission may need a cover letter and a SASE (self-addressed-stamped-envelope) so that the publisher can reply to your submission. Don’t be discouraged if at first you don’t succeed. Every rejection slip brings you one step closer to being published. Make sure to keep copies of any work that you submit. When your work is published, you will receive a copy of the issue, and sometimes payment, too. Keep copies or “clips” of all your published work. Best of luck in your efforts!
The Blue Pencil Online: new online journal where high school writers publish. Poetry, fiction, reviews and more. www.thebluepencil.net
Hanging Loose Magazine has published high school writers in every issue, and they have put together several anthologies of high school writing: Hanging Loose Press, 231 Wyckoff St., Brooklyn, NY 11217. www.hangingloosepress.com
Highlights for Children: youth up to age 12 may send poems, drawings, book reviews. Guidelines are at www.highlightskids.com/Express/h11magCall.asp
Imagine, a magazine for students 12 -18 yrs publishes stories, poems, essays and book reviews. Also offers variety of academic opportunities. Editor, CTY/Imagine, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Or visit them on the web at www.jhu.edu/gifted/imagine/guidelines
Merlyn’s Pen: Fiction, essays and poems by America’s teens. Many resources for writers and teachers. Check it out at www.merlynspen.com
New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and their Dreams, for girls age 8 - 14. Check out their website and guidelines before submitting work. New Moon, 34 East Superior St, #200, Duluth, MN 55802. www.newmoon.org
River of Words sponsors an annual poetry and art contest for students www.riverofwords.org
Skipping Stones features multi-cultural, international perspective. Poetry, personal-experience essays and short stories. Skipping Stones, P.O. Box 3939, Eugene, OR 97403. www.skippingstones.org
Stone Soup : Publishes poems and stories by kids through age 13. www.stonesoup.com
Scholastic has annual competition for writers, photographers and artists. For grades 7 - 12. Website has complete information on entries and examples of past award winners. www.artandwriting.org
Teen Ink publishes poetry and short prose on-line and in print. Read a sample before submitting your work. Information about workshops, college programs and related writer resources. www.teenink.com
ukiaHaiku is an annual festival of Haiku. No cost to enter. Haiku resources online: www.ukiaHaiku.org
Waging Peace . A wealth of peace resources, including poetry and essay contests, www.wagingpeace.org
Writing and Read Magazines, For grades 6-10, including contests at www.weeklyreader.com
The Tracking Way, a magazine for young people featuring art, poetry, and writing by teens, and with contributors of all ages. From the smallest detail of an animal's track to the larger things we can track ? our own place in the world, as well as where others have been and what they have left behind ? The Tracking Way has got it all. It's a practical guide, a place for authentic communication, and a way to stay close to the Earth that is common to all of us. www.inthisplace.org/magazine.html
Other Online Writing and Enrichment Resources
Academy of American Poets . Find a poet, find a poem. www.poets.org
California Arts Council: Advancing California Through Arts and Creativity. www. cac.ca.gov for information about Poetry Out Loud and other writing projects.
Center for the Art of Translation promotes literature and translation. Home of Poetry Inside Out , a bilingual school-based program. Anthologies available. www.catranslation.org
California Poets in the Schools, 1333 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94118. (415) 221-4201. Places professional writers in classrooms throughout California. www.cpits.org.
Carnegie Library . Resources and literature for children and teens. www.clpgh.org
Figment: new, online community where young writers share and read new writing. Launched by former editors of the New Yorker and Conde Nast family of publications. www.figment.com
Inner Spark summer program held at Cal Arts for 8th-12th grade students passionate about music, creative writing, dance, film, visual art, animation, or theatre. February deadline to apply. Excellent student support and lifelong friendships. Details about portfolio preparation on their website at www.csssa.org
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Offers seminars, summer programs, and Imagine magazine, which is a treasure trove of opportunities in writing and other fields of interest. cty.jhu.edu/imagine
National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts sponsors annual scholarship programs, including Presidential Scholars in the Arts awards, for high school seniors. See www. youngARTS.org for application and writing portfolio guidelines. October 1 deadline to register. Fee waivers available.
National Geographic Expeditions for high school students. Scholarships for students seeking summer outdoors adventure, nature, wildlife, archaeology, creative writing. www.ngstudentexpeditions.com
National Novel Writing Month. Every November, writers log in to chart their progress toward finishing a 50,000 word first-draft. Special forum and resources for teen novelists. Lots of support, ideas, and bulletin boards for different genres of writing. www.nanowrimo.org
New York Public Library . Literary resources for students, writers & teachers. www.nypl.org.
Oyate , 2702 Matthews St, Berkeley, CA 94702. Native American Studies. Oyate is the Dakota name for people. www.oyate.org.
Poetry Foundation Is committed to bringing poetry to everyone. A wonderful site to find a poem or to learn about new forms like poetry-comics. www. poetryfoundation.org
Poetry Out Loud, Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation. High School poetry recitation contest. Great poems archived on site. www. poetryoutloud.org
Poets & Writers is published bimonthly with interviews, publication opportunities, and links to other literary sites. www.pw.org.
San Francisco State University Poetry Archives. Wide range of video, audio, written work by living and historic poets. Diverse range of styles and voices. www.sfsu.edu/~poetry
Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 5 Union Square West, NYC 10003-3306. Publishes catalog of writing tools and offers comprehensive website with many literary links. www.twc.org
Teaching Tolerance. Lesson plans, posters free to educators and students. www.tolerance.org
Write Girl provides mentoring, creative writing workshops, performance and publication opportunities for teen girls in the Los Angeles region. Find them at www.writegirl.org
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Updated by Karen Lewis -- kwills@mcn.org, October 2011.
