Publishing Student Writing

The writing process — prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing — takes on new meaning for students who write with the intent of publishing their work for a real audience. Karen Kellaber, former editor of Scholastic New Edition 3, shares some useful tips on how to get student writing published in national magazines.

• Help children get to know the publication.
  Students should read recent issues of the magazine and visit its Web site to find out what kinds of articles the magazine publishes.
• Have students write about people, places, and things they know.
  Writing from actual experience gives writers opportunities to express themselves vividly with details and feelings.
• Take time to talk about plagiarism.
  Young students, especially from ages six to ten, don’t always know the difference between "borrowing" something they saw somewhere else and creating their own work. Kellaber suggests teachers include a note with publication submissions guaranteeing the authenticity of students’ work.
• Provide a few basic guidelines.
  Submissions should be typed or neatly printed, and students should include their names and home addresses on each page.
• Caution young writers to be realistic in their expectations.
  Judy Burke, assistant editor of Highlights, says the magazine receives about 500 poems a month and publishes only 12 per issue. However, just the process of writing for publication can be a great experience.
• Consider publishing sources close to home.
  Some teachers publish classroom newsletters or schoolwide magazines that use only student work. Other teachers have students bind and illustrate their stories for placement in the classroom or school library. Another possibility is your local newspaper.

Kellaber lists the following magazines that publish student work:

• Girls’ Life (insert link to: http://www.girlslife.com/)
  4517 Hartford Rd., Baltimore, MD 21214
• Highlights for Children
  803 Church St., Honesdale, PA 18431 E-mail (insert email link to: highlights@ezaccess.net)
• Jack and Jill
  Children’s Better Health Institute, 1100 Waterway Blvd., P.O. Box 567, Indianapolis, IN
• Merlyn’s Pen
  4 King St., P.O. Box 910, East Greenwich, RI 02818 E-mail (insert email link to: merlynspen@aol.com)
• New Moon(insert link to: http://www.newmoon.org/)
  P.O. Box 3620, Duluth, MN 55806
• Stone Soup: The Magazine by Children
  P.O. Box 83, Santa Cruz, CA 95063
• Storyworks
  Scholastic Inc., 555 Broadway, New York, NY 10012

Source: Instructor by Scholastic, March 1999. For more information about Instructor, contact Scholastic (insert link to: http://www.scholastic.com/instructor/).