editors speak

Getting to Know Moo Cow Fan Club
Editor/Publisher Becky Ances

After our Special Report on Moo Cow Fan Club, some of our readers have already made a positive impression on the magazine’s editor – so we thought we would bring you still more information. Despite the busy holiday season, Becky Ances was willing to share with us about this great quarterly nonfiction magazine and we’re delighted to share what she had to say.

KMW: How do you decide on your themes? I know curriculum plays a part but
what else goes into choosing?
BA: We have a general guideline that we follow: Spring: Geography; Summer: Activity topic; Fall: Science; Winter: History. Then we look at state standards within that topic (for our age group-grades 3-6) and narrow it down from there. Sometimes personal preference plays a part too. For instance, last fall we decided to do a science topic about animals. Every state studies animals, but in a wide variety of topics such as animal habitats, reproduction, mammals, birds, history of animals, etc. We decided on "Baby Animals" as a theme because we could incorporate a lot of ideas (the habitats they are raised in, different types of animals etc) and also because baby animals are so darn cute.

KMW: What was your favorite theme to work on so far...or if you don't have a favorite...please, tell me some surprises you got from any of the themes you've done.
BA: My favorite themes to work on and my favorite issues are actually different. My favorite issues are Japan and Aztecs because I like the articles and the look. I really enjoyed working on the Sports issue, because we focused on less well known, and odd sports, but I didn’t like the final product because the colors we picked were wrong.
Although I always think the issue that we are working on is the best one yet!

KMW: A Parents Choice Award -- that is so cool! Were you blown away when you got that? What was that like?
BA: Winning parents' choice was very thrilling. Unfortunately there isn’t an award ceremony, so no acceptance speeches! We knew the day that the award winners were being announced (via e-mail) and we spent the day constantly checking our inboxes! I think we went out that night for a celebratory dinner.

KMW: How did you decide on the personality of each of your mascot characters? Do you find them evolving over time?
BA: The main character, Moo-Cow is actually based on a stuffed animal of mine. The others came about very organically. My husband and I took almost a year off and traveled around the world. We went to Australia, saw a baby wombat, and boom. F.W. was born, playing the flucorder, and is best friends with Ramses. The same happened in New Zealand with Kiweenie (who loves to eat bugs), and Rhetorical the Oracle could come from no other country then mystical, magical England. Some later characters were Keby the gardener, because we needed a strong girl, and Wolly Willy T (a gift from Santa to F.W.) because F.W. wanted a puppy.

I can't say they have changed too much over the years. Because we are only quarterly, change has to come slow. We even have a few characters "waiting in the wings" that we will introduce someday. We did just introduce a new bunny named Sleepy P, based on a craft in one of the issues, and he is proving to be popular!

KMW: What's your favorite thing about having your own magazine? What's the toughest thing?
BA: My favorite thing by far is the creative aspect to it. I love writing, and even the research. And I still get a thrill when I walk into a bookstore and see Moo-Cow on the shelf.

My least favorite thing is when the more serious things need to get done. Books need to be balanced, renewals need to be sent, new customers need to be found. These are less creative aspects that aren’t as enjoyable to me.

KMW: What's the best way for a writer to make a favorable first impression -- humor? style? good clips?
BA: I like when a writer asks for the guidelines and themes, and actually thinks about the different topics and suggests an idea for a future issue. Since we only assign articles, sending in manuscripts for my review really isn't that helpful. I've gotten a few great articles, but it doesn’t fit in with the future themes, I can't use it. But I do like to see a writing sample, and a resume doesn’t hurt. Contrary to what some editors say, grammar is not that big an issue for me (that's what we pay the copy editor for) and as long as the writing is good, punctuation can be fixed. I always like a slightly personal e-mail or letter, but really just because I love getting mail, it's not required.

KMW: What the surest way for writers to make a really poor first impression...what should we avoid?
BA: Submitting a fiction story about cows, or milk, or farmers. It shows me that they haven't even looked at the magazine (as we don’t have fiction, farmers, milk, and only one cow who stands on 2 feet). I talked to Heather Delabre (at Spider) about it and she said that she gets hundreds of articles about spiders, so I know it's not only us!

As a writer you have to know what you are submitting to. Make sure to get the guidelines, and make sure to look at some back issues, or if possible, archives of the magazine. I recently received an unsolicited article about butterflies, only 4 months after we had run one in the magazine.

KMW: Have you ever gotten any indignant letters from parents? [I ask because Heather Delabre said a parent sent Spider an indignant letter for saying "Naked Mole Rat" in an article -- she didn't like "naked."] Have you had any "scoldings" yet?
BA: The only really negative letter we have gotten from parents was after an article that involved growing English ivy. One parent wrote to tell us how invasive it is. We've been pretty fortunate so far.

KMW: What kinds of changes would you like to see for Moo Cow in the future?
BA: Most importantly, we would like to go from 4 times a year to six. We would also like to vamp up our website, and go from 2 color to full color. We also have a number of books on the back burner. We've got a lot of plans actually.

KMW: Can you let me in on any themes you have in the works for the future?
BA: Sure. The 2006 schedule is: Spring-Hawaii, Summer-Insects, Fall-Weather, and Winter-The Civil War.

If readers would like even more insight into Moo Cow Fan Club, how it came about, and how it operates, there is an excellent radio interview by the New Hampshire Public Radio available online.

This page last updated on 01 January 2006