special report

Brio

Readership: girls 12 - 15

SUBMISSION SPECIFICS:

SUBMISSION SPECIFICS from their guidelines and from examination of sample issues.

To reach the BRIO guidelines, go to the Focus on the Family Customer Service page and type "guidelines" into the search box. A link to the guidelines will be at the bottom of the results page.

The goal of BRIO is "to teach creatively, to entertain and challenge the girl toward a healthy self-concept and closer relationship with Jesus Christ." Upon examining sample issues, it's clear that unlike some other Christian girls magazines, BRIO assumes its readers are very focused on their spiritual lives, so they tend to be less interested in stories and articles with simply a strong moral grounding and more interested in material that is specifically Christian. If the piece could run in a secular magazine, it probably would not run in BRIO.

WHAT THEY WANT:

FICTION: "We're looking for stories with realistic character development, good dialogue, fresh teen lingo, and a plot that teen girls are immediately drawn into. Romance stories, sibling rivalry, and situations faced daily by teen girls are especially welcomed." Up to 2000 words, not preachy.

NONFICITON:

"Biographical articles and/or interviews with teens or adults teens admire."
"Ordinary teens doing extraordinary things …. We're interested in the unusual."
How-to Articles -- articles to improve self, relationships, fashion, time management, etc.
Humor -- cartoons, short pieces. Doesn’t need to be spiritual, just funny.
Quizzes.

Submissions should be sent to

Susie Shellenberger, Editor
BRIO
Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80920

BRIO pays on acceptance. 8 - 15 cents per word. Buys first rights.

ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC ISSUE

Contents:
BRIO
February 2005

Dear Susie. Advice Column to Editor. Reflects the religious nature of the magazine -- questions like whether it's Biblically acceptable to kiss before marriage. Also a question on how to show respect toward an abusive parent and how to deal with having a "secret" boyfriend online.

Overcome your FEAR. (Valorie Burton) Article about fear and how fear tends to be a matter of perception, and how to overcome fear. Sidebar gives scriptures about fear.

God Said. I Said. (Susie Shellenberger) Excerpt from a book available through Focus on the Family. A "conversation" between a girl and God about quiet time with God.

Girls of Grace. Responses from girls who attended "Girls of Grace" -- a Christian conference for teens.

God Orchestrates Her Life. (Lisa Benoit) Article on a teen harpist -- lots of comments about God working through her, God's plan, etc.

The Cafeteria Lady. (Martha Bolton) Humor column -- a fairly straight look at a town she visited. Apparently she's on a tour.

A Different Kind of Valentine. (Susie Shelleberger) An object lesson about a kid who focused on giving Valentines even when he didn't get any, which segues into an exhortation about being a Valentine to others.

Angels in Horsehair. [Kim Meeder] An article about how a gentle horse helped an abused child. (This was another article that was tied to a book available through Focus on the Family.)

Create Your Own Scrapbook. (Laura K. Cummings) Sidebar for supplies is called "What You Need:" and the how-to itself has three steps but the directions are fairly general, more guidelines than exact steps. Lots of room for individual creativity. Focus on scrapbooking for little money.

BrioMart. Teen books and music available through Focus on the Family.

Looking for Popularity. (Tess Riley) A story of how the author bought a book, How to Be Popular, hoping for a cure for her lack of popularity but found the author exhorted her to be herself and she didn't know who she was. So she decided to imitate someone popular but that didn't work. Then she became a Christian and discovered that the one she needed to imitate was Christ and through that imitation, she gained real friends.

La Glamour. (Andrea Stephens) Beauty tips from a Christian teen musician.

Beyond the Back Yard. (Krishana Kraft) Begins with hypothetical glances at the lives of 16-year-old girls in very different parts of the world, then goes on to exhort the reader to pray for missions, become informed about the life of Christians around the world, support the cause of Christian missions, and consider a missions trip

Brio is heading to Panama City, Panama. A youth missions trip.

Who Will Be My Father? (Jennifer Smith) A girl loses her dad and learns to allow God to fill her need for a Father.

A King's Kid. (Danae Dobson) How to improve your self-image in a godly way.

Quiz -- Are You Modest. (Rebecca Mayer) A multiple-choice quiz to see if your clothes and conduct reflect a godly modesty.

Someone's Dream Girl. (Natalie Lloyd) A regular feature -- devotional column. Author advices becoming the kind of godly person a guy would want.

High Volatage. (Bob Smithouser) Regular feature -- a look at the media and Christians (this exact same piece ran in both Brio and Breakaway.

Hands and Feet. (Denise R. Morris) Look at two teen girls -- one volunteers at a soup kitchen with her mom, and the other is part of a Christian musical theater group.

Just Jenny. Regular column from the girl chosen as "brio girl" of the year -- column focuses on her spiritual life.

This page last updated on 01 April 2005