Instititute of Children's Literature

Rx for Writers

Writer's Support Room - Satisfying Editors

Christine Collier is a married mother of three. She lives in Pine City, New York. Her newest book, Solve a Cozy Mystery-35 Mini Mysteries with Solutions is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her children's books are Adventure on Apple Orchard Road and Twelve Months of Mystery.

"We Could All Use a Good Laugh!"

by Christine Collier

Blast from the Past

Recently I was channel surfing and came upon an old episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. I’d never seen this particular one before. With online research I found out it was titled, Frank the Writer and aired in 1996, the first season of the award winning sit-com. If you’ve never seen this comedy series it’s about a newspaper sportswriter, Ray Barone, a family man with a wife and three kids. They live next door to his interfering parents, Frank and Marie, and brother, Robert. Ray’s very annoying father has decided to submit a humorous story about his military days to Reader’s Digest magazine for their Amusing Anecdote section. Three weeks later Frank has the magazine with his published story and a check for three hundred dollars in hand. Anyone that loves to write would enjoy this episode!

What Say Ye?

Here’s a question for all you writers out there. How many of you have ever submitted something to a magazine and seen your work published within three weeks, let alone with a check in hand? NOT! I’ve waited many months, if not years, to see my work published. Many of us wait months just for an acceptance or rejection let alone seeing it in print! Like all writers, children’s writers need a sense of humor and an abundance of patience while waiting to see their work published.

Market Potential

Reader’s Digest is one of the world’s most read monthly magazines, also available in large print editions. Reader’s Digest still accepts funny stories, jokes or quotes and can be done easily online. They also love jokes and stories about the funny things kids do. Check out http://www.rd.com/submitjoke.do. They offer $100-$300 if your submission is what they’re looking for. If your story, quote or joke is printed online at www.rd.com there is no payment made but a free issue of the magazine can be ordered here as well as a place to sign up for a free newsletter and a place to submit a comical photo.

Top-Notch Newsletter

A few years ago my article, "Save the Comics for Me," was published in the Children’s Writer newsletter in the Inspiration section. This article told of the treasure trove of ideas we can find in the Sunday comic section of our newspaper every week. This section is always packed with jokes, humor, and ideas for nonfiction and fiction.

Children’s Writer newsletter has the latest writing and publishing trends and many magazine market listings for humorous and other types of stories for children, www.childrenswriter.com. Are you familiar with the fact that you can sign up for a free copy of this valuable newsletter at ICL online? You’ll discover how valuable it is after you receive your free copy and most likely will want to subscribe. If you subscribe you’ll be able to enter the many writing contests free of charge at ICL. Check out the different contest themes, www.institutechildrenslit.com. You’ll find a printable official entry form as well. Children’s Writer is also listed in Magazine Markets for Children’s Writers, 2009, if you want their current guidelines.

Maybe like Frank the writer, you have a funny story or joke you long to see in print. It’s never too late to try!

Magazines Interested in Nonfiction Humor

Most Parenting Magazines Are Open to Humorous Essays

Adoptive Families
Arizona Parenting
Atlanta Parent
Bay State Parent
Big Apple Parent
Brooklyn Parent
Cincinatti Family Magazine
Cleveland Family
FamilyFun

Humor Can Help Connect With Young People Too

Boys' Life
Boys' Quest
Crow Toes Quarterly
Girls' Life
Guide
Horsepower
Jack and Jill
Ladybug
Shine Brightly
Twist

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