editors speak

City Kidz World
Melissa Edwards

This month, I’m delighted to spotlight a brand new magazine: City Kidz World. Located in New Jersey, City Kidz World seeks to “put educational enrichment in the hands of every child” – that’s a goal we can certainly get behind. Kid Mag Writers was lucky enough to connect with Melissa Edwards, creator of City Kidz World when she wrote to respond to something she saw in our emagazine. During that exchange, she shared what inspired the creation of City Kidz World and I’d like share that with you.

ME: When I was eight years old I won a writing contest through Popcorn magazine. It was the "Ice Cream story teller contest." I will never forget that I won first place. My story was published, my name was announced on the radio, and I received gift certificates to a great ice cream parlor in Richmond. I was so inspired that now (about 30 years later) I have started my own children's magazine. I hope to impact children the same way I was impacted.

KMW: The readers of Kid Magazine Writers are professional freelancers, so naturally, their first interest is in getting content into City Kidz World. What kind of content is open to freelancers -- what kinds of things do you want to see most?
ME: From freelancers, we would like stories that focus on the successes of young people, the challenges of young people and the conditions of young people. The subjects (children) can be from early childhood to late teens. Freelancers may also submit informative pieces that are backed by experts. We also accept stories written by experts about children. We are a multicultural magazine and so we are extremely interested in receiving stories about children from countries all over the world. We are interested in seeing stories that offer windows into the rich cultures across the globe and within the United States.

KMW: From reading your site, I assume you prefer to see queries from freelancers but submissions from young people -- is that right? What kinds of queries would you most like to see -- any subjects you really look for?
ME: We offer several contests for young people and we will showcase their work frequently, but we are eager to receive colorful features from freelance writers. We accept columns, how-to's, lists, and features of 500 to 1000 words.

KMW: Are you open to any of the "traditional fillers" like crafts? How can a writer of fillers catch your eye?
ME: For fillers we would be interested in photos and crafts. Fillers can get our attention if they give a child something to do that has some educational merit.

KMW: How can writers get your writers guidelines?
ME: We provide writer's guidelines when writers request them by email.

KMW: What rights do you ask from your writers?
ME: We ask for first time rights from writers.

KMW: What changes do you dream of for City Kidz World in the future?
ME: At this time City Kidz World is a quarterly magazine in New Jersey. Our goal is to be a national magazine. We expect the City Kidz World website to attract an international audience. We expect for CKW to serve as a doorway into education for children to come in and for educators to reach out.

KMW: Those are some great goals and we wish all the best to City Kidz World.

This page last updated on 01 December 2008