As a teacher of writing, I have had the pleasure of working with some creative, ambitious young authors who write with passion and originality. However, their fan base generally resided within the walls of our classroom.
If you are a young author, and you would like to take your writing to the next level, this post is for you. Read the advice and check out the list of publications and contests. Take a step toward seeing your work in print!
If you want to be a writer, write every day.
Successful authors don’t just write when inspiration strikes. They have a schedule. They sit down and do the work every day. Some days, it’s great; some days, it’s not. But every day, they do the work.
You might begin with just 15 minutes a day, but if you stick to it, you will quickly see how this discipline pays off. And most likely, that 15 minutes will soon stretch itself into longer and longer increments of time.
If you want to be a writer, submit your work.
Search for contests and publications that accept your genre and age group. Read their submission guidelines and follow them carefully. Sometimes submissions have word or page limits. Sometimes they should be submitted via email, or other times hard copies must be submitted via snail mail.
Some contests and publishers accept “simultaneous submissions,” meaning you can submit your work to multiple places at the same time, but others do not. Remember, if you are a minor, you MUST search and submit under the guidance and with the permission of a parent or guardian.
If you want to be a writer, learn to persist.
Nearly every famous author you can name has a story of multiple rejections prior to their eventual success. Dr. Seuss, J.K. Rowling, Beatrix Potter, Madeleine L’Engle, Agatha Christie, Stephen King…. The list goes on and on. The common quality they share is that they persisted until they achieved success.
If you receive a rejection, examine your work, make adjustments, and find a new place to submit. If you receive feedback along with a rejection, accept it as a gift. This type of feedback can help you refine and improve your work, or it might make you all the more committed to your original style and ideas. Either way, keep an open mind and be grateful someone took the time to provide feedback.
If you want to be a writer, check out this list of publications and contests that accept work from young authors.
Read the description and age limits, and find a place to begin. Each time you submit your work, you are learning more about the process of becoming an author. If your work is accepted, celebrate! You will be a published author! If your work is rejected, just remember that rejection is part of the process. Your job, if you want to be a writer, is to persist.
Publications that accept work from young authors:
The Bitter Fruit Review
(ages 12+)
The Bitter Fruit Review is a journal of poetry, prose, and artwork. It was founded by teens and is published for an audience of teen readers. Read online journal issues to become familiar with the scope of work published before submitting.
The Blue Marble Review
(ages 13-22)
The Blue Marble Review is a quarterly online literary journal publishing “poetry, fiction, personal essays, travel stories, and opinion pieces, as well as art and photography.” Submit only work that has not been published elsewhere.
Chautauqua
(students in middle and high school, ages 12-18)
Chautauqua publishes a journal and a blog. They accept submissions of poetry, short stories, essays, and flash fiction that represent the values of the Chautauqua Institute: “a sense of inquiry into questions of personal, social, political, spiritual, and aesthetic importance—and when, where, and how those values and questions intersect.”
Writers in middle and high school can submit poetry, short stories, essays, and flash fiction.
Magic Dragon
(12 and under)
Magic Dragon is on a mission“to encourage creative thinking and expression in young children and to support the arts in education.” Elementary students may submit stories, essays, poems, and artwork.
New Moon Girls
(girls ages 8-14)
New Moon Girls publishes stories, poems, nonfiction work, and artwork by female authors ages 8 to 14. Additionally, the site offers a supportive, ad-free, online community for girls. Each issue is themed, so pay attention to upcoming themes before you submit your work.
Polyphony Lit
(grades 9-12)
Polyphony Lit is “a global, online literary platform for high school writers and editors.” You can hone your craft through various workshop offerings or submit your work for consideration.
Stone Soup
(13 and younger)
Stone Soup is a literary magazine that’s been publishing student compositions for decades. You can subscribe to Stone Soup in digital and/or print format to read the work of your contemporaries and support this worthy publication, and you can submit your own work for consideration.
Teen Ink
(ages 13-19)
Teen Ink is a “a website and national teen magazine devoted entirely to teenage writing, art, photos, and forums.” For over 33 years, the publication has depended entirely on teen authors and illustrators for content. Visit their site to check out the work of your peers, subscribe to the magazine, receive writing tips and take online writing classes, or register and submit your work.
Additional links to publications seeking work by young authors can be found at: https://www.newpages.com/writers-resources/young-authors-guide.
Contests that accept submissions from young authors:
The Carl Sandburg Student Poetry Contest is an annual competition for poets in grades 3-12. The contest is themed each year, and submissions have strict rules and deadlines. Categories are grades 3-5; grades 6-8; grades 9-12.
The National PTA Reflections Awards are granted each year for all kinds of creative submissions, including literature. Students from PreK-grade 12 are invited to submit work that reflects the annual theme of the contest.
The NCTE Promising Young Writers Program is an annual contest limited to eighth grade writers. Teachers must be involved in the submission process.
River of Words is “free, annual, international youth poetry and art contest.” Each year, they sponsor a youth poetry and art contest for writers ages 5-19.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is an annual contest open to students in grades 7-12 (minimum age 13). Prizes are awarded at both regional and national levels. Guidelines and submission tutorials are available on the site.
And don’t forget the opportunities that the Florida Writers Association offers youth members!
We encourage you to submit your writing to The Florida Writer, the official magazine of FWA and our annual writing contests: Royal Palm Literary Awards and Collection. Let us hear from you!
Now, get busy writing! Finish your work. Revise it. Share it with a trusted critique partner or group. Revise it again. And again. Submit it. And if you don’t win the contest, or if you receive a rejection, then you know what to do. If you want to be a writer, you must persist!
Lee Gramling
I completely agree. And ANY publication can be the “spark” that encourages you to persist.
My first one was an article in a local weekly shopper (“Buying Your First Home”), which of course was uncompensated, but seeing my byline in print was enough to inspire me to attempt a nonfiction book, which to my surprise was accepted by the second publisher I queried. I’d only written one chapter, so I had to scurry to finish it (on an old Smith-Corona portable) before interest in it could cool.
Then, having proven to myself I could complete an entire book, I wrote the inevitable “first novel.” (Which, like many such, went nowhere and still resides in the back of my file cabinet.) But I’d again proven I could finish something, and now I have seven novels in print. They’re by no means best sellers, but I’ve a small number of “fans” who seem to like them (plus an RPLA award), and I’m still hacking away at my keyboard.
Peggy Lantz
I wish I’d had information like this when I was young!
Susan Koehler
Thanks, Peggy! I hope young people will take advantage of it.
Lee Gramling
I completely agree. And ANY publication can be the “spark” that encourages you to persist.
My first one was an article in a local weekly shopper (“Buying Your First Home”), which of course was uncompensated, but seeing my byline in print was enough to inspire me to attempt a nonfiction book, which to my surprise was accepted by the second publisher I queried. I’d only written one chapter, so I had to scurry to finish it (on an old Smith-Corona portable) before interest in it could cool.
Then, having proven to myself I could complete an entire book, I wrote the inevitable “first novel.” (Which, like many such, went nowhere and still resides in the back of my file cabinet.) But I’d again proven I could finish something, and now I have seven novels in print. They’re by no means best sellers, but I’ve a small number of “fans” who seem to like them (plus an RPLA award).
Susan Koehler
So glad you kept at it! We should write, first and foremost, for ourselves. However, publication and awards are so validating. For young people, this external validation is so important.
Lee Gramling
Oops.