What Publishing Opportunities Are There for Children’s Poets?

& filed under Children's Fiction, Children's Poetry, The Kidlitter Letter newsletter.

Getting published is hard.

Sure, there is a small group of people in the world for whom all the planets aligned the first time and it’s been smooth orbiting ever since, but for a lot of writers, taking all the classes, following the rules and working hard doesn’t guarantee they’ll ever get published traditionally. And that’s just for books. If you write poetry, it’s even more complicated.

Where to get your poetry published?

Many people think of rhyming picture books and (over the last few years) verse novels as the main types of books in which they should invest their time and energy if they want to become published poets for children, but there are other places where the odds of becoming published are much higher, like children’s magazines or literary publications.

Children’s magazines and literary publications

Magazines buy or accept a lot of poetry, making them one the most consistent markets for children’s poets. While book publishing can take years, being published in a magazine can take a few weeks to a few months. Does this mean it’s easy to sell your work to magazines? No, you still need to be sure that your work is of a high-level, has been edited, is entertaining and serves children in the best way possible, but the whole process from submission to rejection or publication is quicker. And, as there are dozens of magazines out there looking for poetry for each issue, the chances of selling a poem to a magazine are higher than those of selling a rhyming picture book manuscript to a publisher.

Do children’s magazines pay writers?

Some do, others don’t.

I always encourage writers to submit whether the market they’re submitting to is paying or not because I feel strongly that building a literary CV creates opportunities and hones diverse writing skills.
Would it be great if they all paid? Absolutely! But seeing as they don’t, should writers pass up on publishing credits? I feel it’s a pity to sit on beautiful work that children could be enjoying because a paying magazine doesn’t want it. Also, bear in mind that many non-paying magazines aren’t trying to put one over on writers, their staff are volunteers themselves who are kindly giving of their time and energy to put lovely reading experiences out there for children.
There are many opportunities for getting published in well- or lesser -known children’s literary mags. I’ve compiled a list of 43 children’s and teen magazines looking for submissions that you can study and send your work to. Not all accept poetry, but many do. Read the submission guidelines and a sample magazine carefully before sending them your poems.
Now, apropos of nothing, I discovered Julie Fogliano’s delightful book, When Green Becomes Tomatoes: Poems for All Seasons, a few weeks ago and feel sad that I’ve lived for so many years without having read them. I’m going to have to read this beautiful collection every few months for the next thirty years to make up for lost time. Here’s a favourite:
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater is hosting Poetry Friday this week at The Poem Farm.

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23 Responses to “What Publishing Opportunities Are There for Children’s Poets?”

  1. Mary Lee

    You found one of my favorite children’s poetry books! Julie Fogliano knocked it out of the ballpark with that one!

  2. Tracey Kiff-Judson

    Lou, thank you for your work in compiling this list. Very helpful! I love the two poems you selected. Just today, I picked up a Julie Fogliano book from the library. Now you have me itching to dive in!

  3. Linda Baie

    I will have to find my copy of When Green Becomes Tomatoes, Lou. I laughed when you said you’ll have to read for some years to catch up. Thanks for the list, will check it out!

    • Lou Piccolo

      I read it on my e-card from Queens Library (sitting here on the top of a mountain in the French Alps means I don’t get access to all the books in English I’d love to read), but I enjoyed Julie Fogliano so much that I’m buying When Green Becomes Tomatoes so I have a copy of my own always all for myself…

  4. Alan j Wright

    Lou, your thoughts on poetry and publishing tend to mirror my own. It often saddens me when publisher hual up the drawbridge and announce- ‘poetry is not welcome here!’ Thank you for the links to follow up.

    • Lou Piccolo

      I hope you find something for your poetry in the links, Alan. And, it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in my observations.

  8. Carol Jean Labuzzetta

    Thanks, Lou, for compiling this list. I try to keep a monthly list of my own – who’s accepting, where I submit, etc. It does get disappointing when you receive rejection after rejection though. But, I’m back on the submitting bandwagon again. We’ll see. The difficulty of getting poetry published is one of the reasons I am publishing an Ekphrastic Nature Poetry book for children. I want to provide opportunities not only for myself but for others. No – I’m not a big name – far from it – but one has to start somewhere. I can only hope people take advantage of the open call for submissions. I’ll take a good look at your list, Lou. Thanks.

    • Lou Piccolo

      Carol, rejection is challenging. I always tell myself that everyone gets rejected, even those who are churning out the publications, but it’s not always easy. I saw your call for submissions and I’m going to send you an e-mail about that! I have things to say…

  10. Rose Cappelli

    Thanks so much for this great list, Lou! I love Julie Fogliano’s work. She is a master!

  12. Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

    Thank you, Lou, for all of your generosity. This is a very helpful post which I will share when asked for such information. And yes, that beautiful, beautiful book! xo, a.