Beginning children's writers are often told that the best way to break into print is to write for magazines. Even for established writers, the magazine market can offer many interesting opportunities. I first broke into print in 1982 with Cobblestone Magazine, an American history magazine for readers 9 and up. I went on to write a few more articles for them. One article was included in a desktop calendar published by the company. Several others were reprinted in individual state tests. Very cool.
Cobblestone Publishing has come along way since then. The group now publishes several magazines. At the 2008 Writers Day, sponsored by New Hampshire Writers Project, the editors from the Cobblestone Publishing group presented a workshop called The Inside Story on Cobblestone. This is a description of the workshop:
Meg Chorlian, Elizabeth Carpentiere, Beth Lindstrom, Peg Lopata, Marcia Lusted, and Lou Waryncia
If your goal is publication, then it’s time to think seriously about writing nonfiction for children’s magazines. Even if you have never written for young readers, you should know that opportunities abound to write fresh, kid-appealing articles about a range of topics, from science to history to world cultures, and more. The editorial staff from Cobblestone Publishing will introduce you to the company’s magazines, share the inside story on writing magazine nonfiction, and answer your questions.
Today and tomorrow, I'll post some of the quotes I harvested from their talk, which will also be featured in the New Hampshire Writers Project New Hampshire Writer:
Editorial Director of Cobblestone Publishing, Lou Waryncia had these general comments:
“Each of our magazines is published nine times a year, which means fifty-four issues a year. With 10 – 15 feature stories for each magazine, along with sidebars and activities, it's fertile ground for writers. It's also a good way for beginning or unpublished writers to break into print.”
Cobblestone. Editor: Meg Chorlian
On what she's looking for in a good query:
“What would make a child want to read your article? I'm looking for articles that
make famous people seem more human and real to our readers, for example, articles that show how they were real people before they were famous. And I want our readers to understand why an event is important, not just the facts of what happened."
“I like to see a hook that makes the query stand out from the others”
She then went on to cite an example for an issue she was putting together on the World Columbia Exposition. The author started his query by mentioning the amount of horse poop that was generated by horse drawn vehicles. The query showed the author (new to the editor) understands kids, and can write well.
“We ask for a complete bibliography with the query. If I see a couple of encyclopedia entries or websites, I usually don't use that writer. I go with someone who has cited more primary sources or experts in the field.”
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
NH Writers' Day
Yesterday, I spent the day at New Hampshire Writers' Project's annual "Writers' Day." I love seeing the increasing number of writers, most who live in NH, that turn up each year. Writing is sometimes a lonely occupation or avocation, and it is nice to commune with like-minded individuals.
The keynote speaker was the award-winning poet, Wesley McNair. I enjoyed his keynote, which included slides. After listening to his description of his childhood where his mother was a single parent who raised three boys, I was once again reminded that poetry often springs from hardship and adversity.
One thing that McNair commented on was the idea that people get ideas while driving. He went on to say, "that's what checkbooks are for!" He showed a slide of poems crisscrossing a checkbook. I can relate since I keep an Altoids tin with a post-it pad, and a stub of a pencil, in my car door pocket! Fortunately, I write haiku! My friend, Marnie Brooks keeps a notebook, and she referred to her being struck with the muse, while in the car, as "poem driving." Disclaimer: please, please, please, give all your attention to the road and your driving! Pull over when the pesky muse whispers in your ear! You don't want to be known as, as Marnie says, an "accidental poet." Here's a senryu inspired by the topic of poem driving:
poem on
a post-it note
--evening commute
One of the Write Sisters, Muriel, and her business partner, Lisa Greenleaf, gave a workshop called It’s Not Vanity: The Decision to Self-Publish. Here's the description:
I attended a workshop a little out of my comfort range, The Art of Evocation in the Single-Image Poem. The workshop was led by poet and editor, Maggie Dietz. Dietz is currently assistant poetry editor for the online magazine Slate, and for several years directed the national Favorite Poem Project, so she knows her stuff. From the workshop description:
--Diane
The keynote speaker was the award-winning poet, Wesley McNair. I enjoyed his keynote, which included slides. After listening to his description of his childhood where his mother was a single parent who raised three boys, I was once again reminded that poetry often springs from hardship and adversity.
One thing that McNair commented on was the idea that people get ideas while driving. He went on to say, "that's what checkbooks are for!" He showed a slide of poems crisscrossing a checkbook. I can relate since I keep an Altoids tin with a post-it pad, and a stub of a pencil, in my car door pocket! Fortunately, I write haiku! My friend, Marnie Brooks keeps a notebook, and she referred to her being struck with the muse, while in the car, as "poem driving." Disclaimer: please, please, please, give all your attention to the road and your driving! Pull over when the pesky muse whispers in your ear! You don't want to be known as, as Marnie says, an "accidental poet." Here's a senryu inspired by the topic of poem driving:
poem on
a post-it note
--evening commute
One of the Write Sisters, Muriel, and her business partner, Lisa Greenleaf, gave a workshop called It’s Not Vanity: The Decision to Self-Publish. Here's the description:
When Muriel Dubois couldn’t find a home for a biography she believed in, she teamed up with book designer/illustrator Lisa Greenleaf to self-publish To My Countrywomen: The Life of Sarah Josepha Hale. Technology has made self-publishing a viable option for today’s writers, yet it is not a decision to be made lightly. Dubois and Greenleaf will take participants through the process of self-publishing a book and present examples of self-published books, as well as the reasons for and against going this route. Recommended for intermediate to advanced writers.I'll leave it to Mur to talk about the workshop if she wishes. Both she and Lisa told me, though, that they were pleased with the participants' questions and discussion.
I attended a workshop a little out of my comfort range, The Art of Evocation in the Single-Image Poem. The workshop was led by poet and editor, Maggie Dietz. Dietz is currently assistant poetry editor for the online magazine Slate, and for several years directed the national Favorite Poem Project, so she knows her stuff. From the workshop description:
Some of the most vivid and memorable short lyrics—from Dickinson’s "There’s a Certain Slant of Light" to Stevens’s "A Jar in Tennessee"-—are built upon the description of a single powerful image. We’ll begin this workshop by looking at a few poems in this tradition; then, through a guided exercise, we’ll write short, evocative poems and share them with the group.I felt totally at sea. The writing exercises were fun, but I have problems thinking metaphorically. I'm a literal type of girl! I also found that I need some instruction on line breaks and enjambment! One thing Dietz showed us may hold out some hope for me regarding line breaks--she took a William Carlos Williams poem and rewrote it using the exact same words and punctuation, but laid out on the page differently from the way Williams did. We discussed the differences. It was an "aha" moment for me. I thought, if I can get someone to type up a poem in paragraph form without any breaks, other than normal punctuation, I could then retype it myself with breaks where I think they should be, and then compare it to the poet's original and see where I differed. It might work...Anyone feel like typing up a poem and sending it to me?
--Diane
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Technology Doesn't Guarantee the User Has a Brain!
On Sunday the Sisters appeared as presenters at the NE-SCBWI Conference held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Nashua, NH. It was our first program with all SEVEN of us presenting in turn. I think we did a FABULOUS job!
I had planned on documenting the workshop and brought along my digital camera to take some candid shots to put up here, and on our website, but, a camera doesn't work if the user forgets to recharge the battery and, I forgot! Mea culpa! You'll have to take us at our word--we were there, and we done good!
--Diane
I had planned on documenting the workshop and brought along my digital camera to take some candid shots to put up here, and on our website, but, a camera doesn't work if the user forgets to recharge the battery and, I forgot! Mea culpa! You'll have to take us at our word--we were there, and we done good!
--Diane
Friday, April 11, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Rereading an old favorite, part one
My first surprise was to discover that The Pink Motel is by Carol Ryrie Brink, author of the much better known Caddie Woodlawn, a Newbery Award book I must confess I have never read (but will, now). Caddie Woodlawn was published in 1936, but The Pink Motel was published in 1959 so the copy I kept taking home from the library must have been fairly new when I was in grade school. I wondered how dated the story would be.
“Six Weather Vanes for Seven Houses” is the title of the first chapter. (I love chapter titles. When did they go out of style?) I don’t think I noticed in 1964 that the adult characters all have names that more-or-less tell you who they are. There’s Mrs. Ferry, who surprises the children with occasional bits of unexplained magic. Eventually you figure out that she is – a fairy. Her friend Marvello the magician is more obvious. The snobby family who are only interested in achieving perfect suntans are named Brown. The children discover that Jimmy Locke and Jack Black are gangsters. The cast is rounded out with a complement of dopey parents, mysterious visitors, gators and dogs.
One character in particular caught my interest. The children are quickly befriended by a local boy who knows all about coconuts, alligators and other Florida surprises, as he has grown up down the road from the motel and always helped out there in the summer. Although only 10, he becomes their mentor and defacto babysitter as they explore their new home. He is, as we are first introduced to him on page 21, “a little colored boy named Big.”
Bam. We’re instantly back in the 1950s. No chance this book is going back into school libraries today. And yet, I was pleased to discover as I read, that Ms. Brink’s development of the character of Big was not at all demeaning. In fact, although Big’s speech reflects his lack of formal education, his innate intelligence and common sense are essential to the tale (this might be considered stereotypical, although it certainly did not seem so to me as a child reader). And the relationship among the four children (as the daughter of the snobby Brown family is inevitably drawn in to the adventure) is completely untainted by any hint of racial tension. Since this would have seemed unusual in 1959, I think it likely that it was Ms. Brink’s intention to suggest, without preaching, that children (and by extension, anyone) can be friends regardless of race or class. I think I absorbed that lesson from my hours at The Pink Motel. Looking back, I hope I also learned that an author can teach without preaching, by simply weaving a story that represents life as she knows it is, or can be.
--Sally
“Six Weather Vanes for Seven Houses” is the title of the first chapter. (I love chapter titles. When did they go out of style?) I don’t think I noticed in 1964 that the adult characters all have names that more-or-less tell you who they are. There’s Mrs. Ferry, who surprises the children with occasional bits of unexplained magic. Eventually you figure out that she is – a fairy. Her friend Marvello the magician is more obvious. The snobby family who are only interested in achieving perfect suntans are named Brown. The children discover that Jimmy Locke and Jack Black are gangsters. The cast is rounded out with a complement of dopey parents, mysterious visitors, gators and dogs.
One character in particular caught my interest. The children are quickly befriended by a local boy who knows all about coconuts, alligators and other Florida surprises, as he has grown up down the road from the motel and always helped out there in the summer. Although only 10, he becomes their mentor and defacto babysitter as they explore their new home. He is, as we are first introduced to him on page 21, “a little colored boy named Big.”
Bam. We’re instantly back in the 1950s. No chance this book is going back into school libraries today. And yet, I was pleased to discover as I read, that Ms. Brink’s development of the character of Big was not at all demeaning. In fact, although Big’s speech reflects his lack of formal education, his innate intelligence and common sense are essential to the tale (this might be considered stereotypical, although it certainly did not seem so to me as a child reader). And the relationship among the four children (as the daughter of the snobby Brown family is inevitably drawn in to the adventure) is completely untainted by any hint of racial tension. Since this would have seemed unusual in 1959, I think it likely that it was Ms. Brink’s intention to suggest, without preaching, that children (and by extension, anyone) can be friends regardless of race or class. I think I absorbed that lesson from my hours at The Pink Motel. Looking back, I hope I also learned that an author can teach without preaching, by simply weaving a story that represents life as she knows it is, or can be.
--Sally
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)