Catherine Austen
Creative Writing
Places for Young Writers to Publish – Updated January 2017
As promised… To the young Canadians out there who feel like their words are all dressed up with no place to go, here is a list of traditional publishing opportunities – print and online magazines – just for you.
Remember, if you’re not ready to submit to a traditional publisher, you can self-publish your work on your own blog or post it on one of the many sites like Wattpad where writers share and critique each others’ drafts. (Visit yahoo’s “10 Sites for Teen Writers” for directions to more of those.) Just keep in mind that once you post your work anywhere on the internet, it may not be eligible for some contests or magazines.
FYI, the following list concentrates on national and international publication opportunities for Canadian youth. If you are American, you have oodles of other opportunities. The best list I’ve ever seen is the NewPages.com Young Authors Guide – check it out. (Even if you’re not American, you should check it out.)
Good luck!
Online and Print Magazines for Teen Writers:
- The Blue Marble Review publishes poetry, prose and art from writers aged 13-20.
- Canvas is a literary journal that publishes prose and poetry by writers aged 13-18.
- Cicada Magazine features poetry and prose by writers aged 14 and up.
- The Claremont Review features poetry, stories, plays and art by writers aged 13-19.
- Hanging Loose Press publishes a magazine and books by high school students.
- The Noisy Island publishes fiction, poetry and songs by high school students.
- Parallel Ink publishes prose, poetry and artwork by writers aged 12-18.
- Polyphony H.S. publishes poems, stories and essays by high school students.
- Teen Ink is a website, magazine, and book publisher featuring teen writers.
- YARN publishes work for young adults by writers of any age.
- Young Writers publishes poetry, stories, and articles from writers aged 13-19.
- Also see New Moon and Skipping Stones, below.
Online and Print Magazines for Pre-teen Writers:
- Alphabet Soup publishes poems, stories and artwork by children under 12.
- CyberKids is a website that publishes art and writing by and for kids aged 7-12.
- Launch Pad is an electronic publisher of .pdfs of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by kids aged 6-14, matched with the work of young artists.
- New Moon features stories, poems, arts and creations by and for girls aged 8+.
- Skipping Stones features stories, essays, riddles and more by writers of all ages.
- Stone Soup features prose and poetry from writers aged 13 and under.
Writing Contests:
You might be eligible to enter local or regional contests hosted by a newspaper, library, or writers’ federation near you. Inquire at your local library. Your words could end up in an annual magazine like Pot-pourri, published by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library. It contains all the winning poems and stories from the OPL’s Awesome Authors Contest.
The Ottawa Public Library’s Awesome Authors Contest is open every winter for ages 9-17.
For more markets and contest announcements:
- Check out the American website, NewPages.com;
- Visit the resource pages of the Teaching Authors website;
- Follow my Facebook page, “Walking Backward,” for posts on contests and calls for submissions.
Caveat:
Stay away from any contest or call for submission that asks you to pay money to have your work considered or requires you to buy multiple copies of a book in which your work will be published. These are sometimes scams. (Sometimes not – it takes a lot of staff time and money to advertise, read contest entries, and award the winners – but still, it’s just plain creepy for adults to ask children to pay money to have a poem considered.) Stick with the legitimate publications – they have editors, designers and readers who will support you instead of ripping you off. Good luck.
3 Comments on “Places for Young Writers to Publish – Updated January 2017”
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Catherine Austen writes books for kids and teens, short stories for adults, and reports for corporate clients. She lives in Gatineau, Quebec.
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Hi there! Could you add Parallel Ink (parallel-ink.webs.com) to the list? It’s an international e-magazine publishing all kinds of writing by students twelve- to eighteen-years-old, for kids by kids.
Sure, thanks for telling me about it. I will add it to the list – and to the list I give to classes I visit – as soon as possible.
Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about that for a couple of months (perhaps you noticed the name of this blog?), but at last I have added Parallel Ink. And I checked out your archives – very nice. I look forward to your next issue.