Children's Writers Chat 1-9-01

Subject: Children's Writers - Highlights

Author: Writerbabe

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Date: 2/2/2001

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Children's Writers Chat 1-9-01

Guest: Chris Clark, managing editor of Highlights

Host: Chuck Galey

Tuesdays

9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT), Writers Workshop

Children's Writers chat - writers and illustrators of children's books meet for specific topics and special guest speakers, moderated by HOST WRTR WBABE & HOST WRTR CGaley, with HOST WRTR sUe & HOST WRTR Neely (Greeters).

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<HTML>Children's Writers Chat 1-9-01

Guest: Chris Clark, managing editor of Highlights

Host: Chuck Galey

CGaley: Welcome to the AOL Children's Writers Chat Group!

Neely f: Christine, I would love to come back.

CGaley: We're in full protocol tonight, soooo....

CGaley: Type a ? when you have a question...

CGaley: and ! when you have a comment partaining to the question being

CGaley: addressed at the moment...

PHeeren: HI

CGaley: Type ga when you're finished with your

CGaley: comment or question...

CGaley: Tonight, we welcome the Managing Editor of one of the

CGaley: most famous magazines in children's publishing

CGaley: I mean, of course, Highlights for Children!

CGaley: Chris Clark is joining us tonight!

CGaley: Welcome Chris!

Chrishfc: Thanks, Chuck. Glad to be here.

CGaley: Wave for us, please Chris! ga

CGaley: Thanks...

CGaley: I'll ask a couple of questions to get

CGaley: the ball rolling, then we'll turn it over to the audience.

CGaley: Chris, most of our group writes for book publishers...

CGaley: what's the main difference between writing an article

CGaley: for a children's magazine and a children's book? ga

Chrishfc: Well, one main difference is often the length.

Chrishfc: But I think a book piece has to have better "legs" than a magazine story.

Chrishfc: A picture book, for example, needs to be able to hold up for multiple readings.

Chrishfc: Not so true for a magazine piece.

Chrishfc: Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.ga

Chrishfc: A magazine piece also tends to have a narrower focus.

Chrishfc: You can't "dump the whole load" ina magazine piece like you might be able to with a book ms.

CGaley: Can you explain "focus" in HFC's context?

CGaley: ga

Chrishfc: I guess when we talk about focus, we talk about zooming in.

Chrishfc: Much like you do with a camera. You can't give the whole picture, so you take an aspect of

Chrishfc: the story and develop it so that it stands alone but, hopefully, inspires kids to dig deeper

Chrishfc: ga

CGaley: What types of articles do you generally look for? ga

Chrishfc: If we're talking about nonfiction....

CGaley: Yes, nonfiction ... or fiction! ga

Chrishfc: we buy a lot of science. We try to include at least one "big furry animal piece" in each

Chrishfc: issue. Kids really love animal pieces. These pieces need

Chrishfc: to exceptional however. Authors either need to have some

Chrishfc: firsthand experience with their subject that somehow makes them experts--or they need to

Chrishfc: have access to experts. If you're not a marine biologist, for

Chrishfc: example, you need to be sure to interview one, and have one review your piece for accuracy.

Chrishfc: We also buy world cultures pieces. BIG NEED.

Chrishfc: We are especially in need of contemporary world cultures pieces. What's life like for kids

Chrishfc: today in other cultures?

Chrishfc: Chuck, am I talking too much at one time?

CGaley: No, you're doing fine! LOL

Sryope2: ?

CGaley: Just for the record... how many countries is Highlights published in? ag

CGaley: ga

CGaley: (Sryope2, your on the que)

Chrishfc: Highlights is currently being produced in two editions: domestic

Chrishfc: and international. The international edition is being sent to other English speaking

Chrishfc: countries--most notable India!

Chrishfc: It's being sold door to door there, quite successfully.

Chrishfc: The international edition is very similar to the domestic edition except that it is

Chrishfc: de-Americanized. Stories about American culture are largely replaced with stories that have

Chrishfc: a more international focus. and, of course, everything is

Chrishfc: Oxford English. We add a lot of "u"s to words, and replace Mom with Mum, etc.

Chrishfc: ga

CGaley: Wow! Door to door sales in India! That's marketing!

Chrishfc: Yes, it's really amazing. The distributors also World Book.

CGaley: I'll ask one more question then we'll open it up to the floor... type your

Chrishfc: They are the world's largest distributors of World Book encyclopedias.

CGaley: ?'s & !'s and I'll call on you in the que.

Ddilcher77: ?

CGaley: You mentioned the International Culture angle for stories...

CGaley: what else do you have a need for?.

CGaley: ga

Chrishfc: We currently have a crying need for December holiday stories that stress the spiritual value

Chrishfc: of the holidays. For example, we could use more Christmas stories that focus on family time

Chrishfc: helping others--all the neat things about the holiday except the

Chrishfc: commercialism/Santa Claus.

Chrishfc: We could use more Hannukkah stories (not sure I spelled that

Chrishfc: correctly). We're even looking for some good pieces on Hindu holidays--fiction or non.

Chrishfc: In terms of holiday fiction, we could use a little more of

Chrishfc: everything except Halloween. We seem to have plenty of that.

Chrishfc: Shall I go on?

CGaley: Sure! A few more topics would be great!!!

CGaley: ga

Chrishfc: If there are poets out there, we could use some action rhymes/finger plays for our youngest

CGaley: (Everyone make a note of what she's needing!!!)

Chrishfc: readers. I'd like to see more crafts made from common

Chrishfc: household items--but something different! Newer, more contemporary ideas.

Neely f: <---making a list and checking it twice.

Chrishfc: We also need nonfiction pieces on the arts.

Chrishfc: We have a few pieces about contemporary art--profiles of modern-day

Chrishfc: sculptors, etc. But we'd like to find folks who can write an interesting,

Chrishfc: narrowly focused piece of some aspect of Mozart's life or a piece of Beethoven's music.

Chrishfc: Something to get kids excited about the classics--but not in a schoolbookish way.

Chrishfc: We're also short of adventure stories--nonfiction pieces

Chrishfc: about modern-day explorers. Folks who explore caves, have adventures on canoe trips, etc.

Chrishfc: Of course, they have to discover something in the process.

Chrishfc: Whew!

CGaley: WOW!!!

Chrishfc: Let me catch my breath here. :)

CGaley: I hope everyone took note of all their needs there

CGaley: at HIghlights!

CGaley: Chris, why don't we field a few questions... OK?

CGaley: You're doing great!

CGaley: ga

Chrishfc: Sure.

CGaley: OK, Sryope2... did you have a questions for Chris?

Sryope2: Do the cultural pieces have to be up beat? How about a girls life in afghanistan for eg?

CGaley: (question)

Chrishfc: That's a great question, Sryope2.

Sryope2: Also, sorry if I missed this, what kind of pay range for different pieces

Sryope2: ga

RoxyanneY: ?

Chrishfc: Yes, we prefer that the cultural pieces are upbeat.

Chrishfc: Our goal is to show kids not-so-much the differences in other

Chrishfc: cultures, but rather the similarities. We try to avoid depicting a culture

PHeeren: ?

Chrishfc: unfamiliar to most of our readers in a way that might make kids think it's strange or weird.

Chrishfc: We'd like to kids to think about how we're all more alike than different.

Chrishfc: Pay? It varies. It probably starts at about $185, depending on the research.

Chrishfc: Writers who have sold to us before earn more (a little) with each sale.

Sryope2: (for how many words?)

CGaley: Chris... what is the word length for these types of articles? ga

WriteLeanOnMe: ?

Neely f: ?

Chrishfc: Our guidelines say that 900 words is the maximum.

Chrishfc: The truth is--that's almost too long. I think 700 or 800 is ideal.

Chrishfc: Of course, they can always be shorter.

Chrishfc: ga

CGaley: Donna... you have a quick question in between greeting duties?

CGaley: (DDilcher... you're next)

Neely f: Christine, Wow, what a lot of information! When you contract a story,

Neely f: is it for a particular month, or do you store stories to use at a later date?

Neely f: Is payment upon publication or is it upon completion of manuscript?

Neely f: GA

Chrishfc: We buy good stories when we see them, whether we have

Neely f: (Thanks Chuck.

Chrishfc: an issue in mind or not.

Chrishfc: So we build an inventory of stories, and sometimes it takes

SMiles1012: ?

Chrishfc: us a while to find a slot of them.

Chrishfc: I think we're better than we used to be about buying material we probably won't use.

Chrishfc: We pay on acceptance. ga

Neely f: Thank you. :)

CGaley: OK, dDilcher... ask a way!

Ddilcher77: Has Highlights ever done articles on hot air balloons and would they be interested in one?

Chrishfc: Hmm...I can think of some fiction we've done with the balloon

Chrishfc: theme. I'm not remembering any nonfiction.

Ddilcher77: I live in Reno and we have our balloon races every year.

Chrishfc: But there may be some in the drawer.

Chrishfc: If you wanted to write about a specific balloon race,

Chrishfc: that would be a tougher sale. It'd be hard to pull it off without it

Ddilcher77: I wanted to do a photo article on how the balloons are readied for such an event. ga.

Chrishfc: sounding like a travel article, which we don't do.

Chrishfc: A photo essay would be great!

Chrishfc: That might work for us.

Chrishfc: ga

Ddilcher77: Great. I'll get something together during this years race. ga.

CGaley: Roxanne, you're next! ga

RoxyanneY: How should we submit photo essay ideas, specifically what format do you want the pictures?

RoxyanneY: Slides, prints, etc.

RoxyanneY: ga

Chrishfc: Our art department likes slides/transparencies best. We don't mind

Chrishfc: looking at prints first. And sometimes the prints are magazine

Chrishfc: quality, so then they're OK. Digital hasn't been working too well.

Chrishfc: ga

Sryope2: pay?

RoxyanneY: ?

CGaley: Phreeren... your question... ga

Husky 7: ?

PHeeren: What about writing about children with disabilities? Didn't Highlights have stories based on

Chrishfc: Pay varies. It depends upon the quality of the photos. We tend to pay for the package--

PHeeren: them?

Chrishfc: photos and captions.

PHeeren: ga

Chrishfc: Pheeren--it's tricky to write stories that focus on kids with

Chrishfc: disabilities. But we're open to looking at them. We love it when stories include disabled

Chrishfc: kids in a way that's very natural to the story.

PHeeren: I am a disabled writer, btw

Chrishfc: We want all kids to see themselves in Highlights, and it's

PHeeren: ga

CGaley: Everyone... please hold your article ideas for personal

Chrishfc: harder for disabled kids. ga

Rdpelleg: !

CGaley: corrospondence with Highlights...

Ddilcher77: ?

CGaley: We're here for techniques and needs... Thank you...

CGaley: WriteleanonMe... you're next

WriteLeanOnMe: Do you accept articles on spec, what is your typical

WriteLeanOnMe: response time to query? ga

Chrishfc: We rarely make assignments, so almost every article is on spec.

Chrishfc: We only want queries on nonfiction, and we try to answer

Chrishfc: in a timely manner. A month is the goal.

Chrishfc: Think we do most sooner. ga

MudderGG: ?

WriteLeanOnMe: Thank you ga

CGaley: Rdpelleg.. a comment? ga

Rdpelleg: As a child I read many of the highlight magazine

Pete n Gun: ?

Rdpelleg: and I just wanted to say that whether children have handicaps or live with hardships

SMiles1012: ! ?

Rdpelleg: I have always found them to enterain and touch me, ga

CGaley: Great comment....!

Chrishfc: Thanks, Rdpelleg. :)

Kathum: ?

CGaley: Roxyanne... another question?

RoxyanneY: Do you have any need for articles or stories about technology for younger kids? And what

CGaley: (Husky, you're up next, then Ddilcher ...)

RoxyanneY: sort of problems did you have with digital pictures? Also, it's been a while since I've seen

RoxyanneY: the Highlights site here on AOL - do you have a website now and is it interactive - any need

RoxyanneY: for articles there? And if so, do they correspond with the themes in the print version?

RoxyanneY: ga

Chrishfc: Oh, yes. We'd love more technology articles. Writers who can make

Chrishfc: technology simple and interesting to kids definitely need to

Chrishfc: contact us!

RoxyanneY: (Wahoo! You will be hearing from me!)

Chrishfc: Your second question about digital photos:

Chrishfc: I'm not sure I can answer it well enough technically for you (sounds like

Chrishfc: you want detail!). I just know that the overall quality

Chrishfc: isn't there in most cases. They don't seem to reproduce well

Chrishfc: on our paper.

Chrishfc: Have to scroll up again for your third question.

Chrishfc: Ah! We migrated off AOL several years ago (great

Chrishfc: experience, that was!). We've spent the last year developing

Chrishfc: this fabulous web site for kids which, with any luck, will

Chrishfc: launch this spring.

Chrishfc: We're not sure what allt he opportunities for writers will be.

WriterBabe: [Folks, we all want to make sales, but please refrain from pitching articles to our guest]

DLubar: ?

Chrishfc: We're preparing new guidelines, and we'll address that then.

Chrishfc: Much of the content, though, will be repurposed from the mag.

Chrishfc: ga

RoxyanneY: (Superb, thank you.)

CGaley: Smiles... did you have a comment?

SMiles1012: I read it also & Loved it. Are you interested in Mysteries or fantasies

Chrishfc: Ah, the Highlights mystery story. So hard to do, so hard to find!

Chrishfc: We always need mysteries, but they need to be our style.

Neely f: ><><><> 15 MINUTE WARNING ><><><>

Chrishfc: No violence. No crime.

Chrishfc: But yet, still mysterious and intriguing.

Chrishfc: We laugh, because it seems like it's always "the dog" and not the butler

Chrishfc: in our stories!

Chrishfc: Fantasy stories--we buy them. Not too much science fiction, but other types. ga

CGaley: Let's move on to a few more questions...

CGaley: Husky7, you're up...

SMiles1012: Thank you

Husky 7: Chris, are you still looking for sports, fitness, health articles? ga

Chrishfc: Husky, in my last job at CBHI, that was my goal! :)

Chrishfc: At HFC, we're mostly interested in sports articles. Maybe a health piece that isn't too

Chrishfc: didactic and inherently interesting. ga

Husky 7: thanks!

CGaley: dDilcher.. you're next... and please don't pitch an idea!!!

CGaley: LOL!

CGaley: dDilcher?

Prbatey: ?

CGaley: OK, then... MudderGG... you're next!

MudderGG: So we just submit an entire story itself? Without a query? If so, where do we send it?

MudderGG: ga

Chrishfc: Fiction -- no query. Just a great story and a great cover letter! Nonfiction

Chrishfc: can be queried or not. 803 Church ST. Honesdale, PA 18431.

Chrishfc: Fiction for younger kids: Marileta Robinson.

Chrishfc: Fiction for older kids: Judy Burke.

Chrishfc: Nonfiction that's not science or history: Andra Serlin

Chrishfc: Science: Andy Boyles.

MNWhiles: ?

SMiles1012: /

Chrishfc: History/World Cultures: CArolyn YOder.

Chrishfc: ga

CGaley: We have time for a few more questions... hopefully they

CGaley: will have to do with the fine art of writing.... !

Neely f: #@#@#@ 10 MINUTE WARNING @#@@#@#

CGaley: Pete n gun... you're next...

Pete n Gun: What are the elements of a good rebus and do you need any?

Chrishfc: Always happen to see rebus stories. The best ones, Pete,

Chrishfc: have a "twist" at the end--a kind of O'Henry ending. STudy the ones in the mag to see

Chrishfc: what I mean. ALso, the picture words need to be nouns. Don't

Chrishfc: force it by trying to show verbs in pictures. Yikes.

Chrishfc: ga

CGaley: Kath... a question?

CGaley: ga

Pete n Gun: thanks

Kathum: I got thrown off line. Hope I didn't miss it, but can you give any advice on how to win

Kathum: the upcoming fiction contest? ga

Chrishfc: Well, first of all: follow the rules. DOn't send a story that

MaryCronk: ?

Chrishfc: doesn't fit the theme. Also, make sure it's your best effort.

Chrishfc: WRite it, put in a drawer for a few days, pull it out and revise.

Chrishfc: Competition is often steep. The good ones are very good, but they rise to the

Chrishfc: top like cream! Good luck. ga

Kathum: tks. ga

CGaley: David L... you're up!

CGaley: fa

DLubar: Any chance Highlights will ever change it's policy of buying all rights to fiction?

CGaley: ga

Chrishfc: Don't see a policy change in the near future. Kent's a real stickler on that one!

Chrishfc: ga

LynWriteBk: ?

CGaley: Prbatey... you're next..

Prbatey: Hi Chris! Trish Batey here. Do you have much need for general fiction right now? ga

Chrishfc: Hi, Trish! We buy fiction all the time. If we see a good story, we'll snatch it.

Chrishfc: Sometimes we don't even know what we want until we see it. Everything's read, so send away!

Chrishfc: ga

Neely f: ()()()( 3 MINUTE WARNING ()()()

CGaley: One more question...

Prbatey: thanks!

CGaley: Mnwhiles... you're up!

MNWhiles: I have this idea--just kidding. ;-) Seriously, what makes a great cover letter? GA

CGaley: ga

CGaley: (UGGG!!!)

Chrishfc: Say something relevant. Tell us about previous credits.

MNWhiles: ;-)

Chrishfc: Tell us about any special expertise you may have that qualifies

Chrishfc: you to write about your subject. Tell us about any special

Chrishfc: research you did. Include a bibliography. Don't say "this is great. My kids loved it."

Chrishfc: ga

RoxyanneY: ?

MNWhiles: thanks.

CGaley: That's about all the time we have for questions tonight...

CGaley: the novelists are arriving.

Chrishfc: What fun! The first time I've talked to writers wearing my jammies!

CGaley: Chris... any closing comments? Maybe something about

RoxyanneY: How do you want to see poetry submissions?

Pete n Gun: Thanks Chris! Very informative!

BOEDEN: Excellent discüssion. Thank yoü Chris Clark for your generoüs information. Chück...

CGaley: your favorite style of writing?

Prbatey: Thanks, Chris! Happy New Year!

BOEDEN: Nice hosting job. Happy writing everyone. Dream of exciting plots.

WriterBabe: Thanks, Chris!

Ekbruno: very informative ... thanks!

Julisari: Thank you Chris and Chuck!!!*

WriterBabe: Great guesting and hosting!

BOEDEN: Nighty Night Writers

Chrishfc: Let's hear from you!

Sryope2: Thanks

Neely f: ()()( Clapping ()()() Great job! Christine! Thanks.()()( Clapping ()()()

WriterBabe: Next week, folks, we have another stellar guest: the granddaddy of short story anthologies,

WriterBabe: Donald Gallo.

WriterBabe: See you then!

WriteLeanOnMe: Great discussion! Thanks!

SMiles1012: ()()()()()()

MudderGG: Thank you very much, Chris

RoxyanneY: Please forgive that last question - I swear I was aiming for the delete button!

CGaley: Chris... thanks for joining us tonight!1!

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