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Fun With a Purpose – Writing for Highlights
By Pam Zollman

Remember reading Highlights as a kid? Doing the Hidden Pictures? Laughing at Goofus and wondering if you could be as good as Gallant? Maybe as a child you even had a picture or a poem published in “Our Own Pages.” And now, as an adult, you’re wondering how you can write for them. First, a little history of the magazine, so you’ll be on the same page as the Founders and current editors.

Highlights for Children was started in 1946 by Dr. Garry Cleveland Meyers and Caroline Meyers. They were retired educators who weren’t happy with the children’s magazines available at that time. The Meyers decided children needed a magazine that educated while it entertained. Hence Highlights’ motto, which is prominently displayed on the cover of each issue: Fun with a Purpose. When you turn to the table of contents, you’ll see a Parent-Teacher Guide with keys for “pre-reading,” “easy reading,” “advanced reading,” “creative thinking,” and “moral values.” Every story, article, and activity in Highlights is assigned at least one of these keys. The Founders of Highlights referred to it as a book, rather than a magazine, because magazines tend to be consumables that are easily tossed aside. They wanted each issue of Highlights to be enjoyed again and again, so there are never any games, puzzles, or activities that involve writing or coloring in the book, or cutting up the book. The Founders wrote a mission statement that is included in each issue: “This book of wholesome fun is dedicated to helping children grow in basic skills and knowledge, in creativeness, in ability to think and reason, in sensitivity to others, in high ideals and worthy ways of living – for children’s area the world’s most important people.” Today’s editors refer to both the mission statement and the motto when considering manuscripts. Does this short story or article or poem or craft or activity meet the ideals of the Founders? I believe that this is one of the reasons that Highlights is the largest-circulation children’s magazine with more than 2 million subscribers.

As a former editor at Highlights, I can tell you that one of the reasons manuscripts were rejected was that the author didn’t heed the motto. The manuscript was either all “fun” with no real “purpose” or else it was all “purpose” and not “fun” at all. There needs to be a balance between the two. Does this mean that short story must have a stated moral? No, it means that the story must have some sort of “take-away” value that is woven in. Even a seemingly silly story such as “Ah-Choo” has a take-away value for kids. In this story, the king sneezes and the news is passed from servant to servant to towns people, rather like the game “telephone.” In the end, the people think the king has died, but when they see him in the window, they’re excited that he’s been miraculously cured. The reader learns from this clever story to get the facts correct before passing on any unsubstantiated rumor. If the purpose of your manuscript is to teach a child something directly, then don’t write fiction because it will wind up sounding preachy and condescending. Instead write lively nonfiction that passes on to a child knowledge that is both useful and fun. Is the easy? No, of course not. But if you study back issues of Highlights, you’ll start getting a feel for what the editors want.

There have been a number of changes this year at Highlights, with more to come. Rich Wallace, Senior Editor, and I have both left our editorial positions to pursue freelance writing, and Highlights has not yet hired anyone to replace us. That means that the following information is subject to change at any moment.

Young Fiction: Send short stories for readers up to age seven to Marileta Robinson, Senior Editor. These should be no more than 500 words, max. She likes humor, mystery, fantasy (including talking animals), realistic contemporary stories, realistic historical stories, and stories from other cultures.

Rebus and Cumulative Stories: Send these also to Marileta. A Rebus is a story for beginning readers, which replaces concrete nouns with illustrations. The illustrations are assigned, so you only have to supply the text (underline the words to be replaced). These are no more than 120 words and are harder to write than they look. A Cumulative Story is one that repeats the previous sentences or phrases and then adds one more sentence or phrase (along the lines of “This is the house that Jack built”). These are usually no more than six lines and are also harder to write than they seem.

Older Fiction: Send short stories for readers age eight to twelve or so to Judy Burke, Associate Editor. The word limit for these is no more than 800 words, max. Judy is looking for humor, mysteries, fantasy (NO talking animals for this age group), science fiction, and realistic stories (contemporary and historical). No more folktales, please! She’s overloaded with those right now.

Poetry: Send short poems (you may send several at one time) to Marileta Robinson, Senior Editor. These can be on any subject.

Young Nonfiction: Until further notice, send article for readers up to age seven to Marileta Robinson, Senior Editor. (The contact editor will more than likely change when someone is hired.) These articles should be 500 words or less and have a very narrow focus. They can be on any subject: history, biography, science, nature, geography, geology, sports, the arts, as well as customs and cultures from around the world. Most of the submissions tend to be science/nature (and please, no more birds, bees, or insects for a while), so a good way to break in here would be to submit something in a different subject area.

Older Nonfiction: These articles should be no more than 800 words and be written for readers age eight to twelve or so. Different editors cover the various subject areas: Andy Boyles, Senior Editor (science/nature), Carolyn Yoder, Senior Editor (history, biographies, world culture), Kim Griswell, Coordinating Editor (the arts, Page 5 activities and articles), and, until future notice, Linda Rose, Assistant Editor (sports).

You do not have to query for nonfiction. Send the complete manuscript, including detailed bibliography and an expert’s review, as well as any photos you may have (or sources for them, if known). There is no theme list and Highlights buys manuscripts on any topic all year long. However, they work far in advance, so if the subject of your article concerns an anniversary, be sure to submit it at least 1 ½ to 2 years in advance of the actual anniversary date.

Crafts: There is not a craft editor at the moment, and I would hold off sending any crafts until a contact editor is announced. Plus, they are in the process of changing the craft requirements. This is a great way to break in, but wait a few months before submitting.

Manuscript Coordinator: There is no one doing this job at the moment. Beth Troop used to be the Manuscript Coordinator, but she hasn’t been with Highlights in about five years. So, don’t address your manuscripts to her. Either send the manuscript to an editor listed above, or else simply address it to “Manuscript Coordinator” and someone will see that it gets to the proper place.

The Annual Highlights Fiction Contest: This is another great way to break in and win some serious money. Each year Highlights hosts a fiction contest, in which first prize is either $1,000 or a trip to Chautauqua (their annual week-long writers workshop in New York state). There is a different theme each year, so check their website or you can call them for contest information at 570-253-1080. The contest entries should be postmarked January first until the last day of February. There is no entry fee and you may enter as many stories as you wish. Each year 1500 or more entries are received, and three winners are chosen. The editors often choose ten to fifteen stories to buy as well.

Rights: Yes, Highlights buys all rights. If this bothers you, I suggest that you don’t submit to them, because it is not subject for negotiation. They have only made one exception to this policy and that was for President Ronald Reagan. The reason that they have this policy is so that you don’t resell your story to another competing children’s magazine. Because Highlights doesn’t have a theme list and they work so far in advance, it could be possible that another magazine could buy the same story for reprint rights (and pay less), then print it before Highlights could. That would make the story, which Highlights paid full price for, useless and it wouldn’t be printed in Highlights because it was no longer fresh and original. If you wanted to sell the story as a picture book, you can discuss this with Kent Brown, Publisher, and he is most reasonable about this. The same is true if you want to include the published Highlights story in a collection of stories, to be published by someone else.

The truth is that most short stories will not make good picture books, and most magazines do not want reprints (they also want fresh, original stories for their readers). I’ve always felt it was better to spend my time writing something new than spending my time trying to find new markets for old material. Another policy of Highlights is that they resell your stories to markets to which you wouldn’t have access, usually educational in nature. (Your story might be used for a reading assessment test or reprinted in an anthology or translated into a foreign language.) Then Highlights shares the profits of that sale with you. When I get a check like that, it’s always such a nice surprise and it’s what I call “Mailbox Money” – it just appeared in my mailbox and I didn’t have to do any work to get it.

Highlights is always looking for writers since most of the magazine is freelance written. There are usually three young fiction stories, three older fiction stories, one young nonfiction article, and three or so older nonfiction articles. There are usually several short poems as well as science activities, party plans, puzzles, five crafts – all sorts of opportunities for kid magazine writers!

Pam Zollman is a former editor with Highlights for Children, as well as the author of Don’t Bug Me! (nominated for the Sunshine State Young Readers Choice Award) and several chapter books. Before she was an editor there, she won the 1996 Annual Highlights Fiction Contest with “Millie’s Garden,” which has continued to earn her “mailbox money.”

This page last updated on 01 August 2004