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Introduction
Annotated Bibliography
Pathfinder
Becoming
A Published Writer
Created by Valerie Burns | October 17, 2002
Introduction
There
are many possible ways a young person can publish their writing. In
addition to traditional print formats such as periodicals and student
anthologies, there are a number of online magazines that have the special
mission of publishing young authors. For the purpose of this pathfinder,
I limited the scope of the topic "how to become a published author" to resources for young people, trying to cover all the formats of publication.
I focused on web sites, including only one book in my bibliography.
I
began with Google, using the simple
search "how to get published" to get a starting idea of what
existed on my topic. Immediately I saw that a lot of the hits were about
web publisheing and e-books, or were advertisements from vanity publishers.
After looking at the first page of results closely, I noticed that there
was a Google Category: Arts>Writers Resources>Writing Tips that
was close to my needs. Clicking on this category brought me a greatly
relevant page of results. I looked at the first 55 pages of search results
from my Google search.
After
looking at several of the vanity publishing "print on demand" advertising sites, I ruled out including these as part of my pathfinder
for two reasons. First, because they were commercial sites which required
the user to pay, and second, because merely having your work printed
on paper and bound is not the same as being published as an author.
In fact, I decided to give preference to sites that would pay their
authors for publication of their work.
Next I went to UTCAT to
search for books. Wanting to find the subject heading for books on this
topic, I tried searching for How to Get Happily Published by
Judith Applebaum, the most frequently mentioned book on the subject
in the web sites I had been reading. UTCAT had it listed under the subject
heading of "Publishing and Publishers", so I investigated
the subject heading. These entries didn't seem right, so I clicked on
one book that seemed closer to my topic and found its subject headings
were "Authorship--Marketing" and "Authors and publishers".
Finally,
while looking at the "If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything" web
site with an eye toward narrowing my focus, I discovered some links
on their web site that were relevant and bore repeating in my own pathfinder.
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Annotated Bibliography
- A
Girl's World. Accessed 16 October 2001.
This
online magazine for girls also publishes a line of books for girls
from its web magazine content. The page cited contains solicitations
for various kinds of writing published in the magazine.
- Appelbaum,
Judith. How to Get Happily Published. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.:
1992.
The one book I saw
mentioned most frequently in the websites I visited for this assignment.
It can be found in the University of Texas library at the following
location: PN 155 A67 1992 PCL Stacks.
- About.com
- Getting Published. Accessed 16 October 2001.
This
is a page of reviewed links from About.com. It includes links to
articles with titles like "10 Basic Steps to Finding a Publisher"
and "20 Tips for Getting Published".
- About.com
- Young Writers Can Get Published Too. Accessed 16 October
2001.
This
article has tips and many relevant links for young people wishing
to be published. Links are divided into e-books, short writing, and
writing contests.
- Authors
and Writing.
Accessed 16 October 2001.
Great
site by Macmillan Publishing that graphically shows the different
job roles within the publishing industry. The "author" link
leads to guidelines for preparing a manuscript for publication.
- The
Busy Person's Guide to How to Get Published. Accessed 16 October
2001.
A
short list of annotated and rated links to publishing and writer's
resources.
- Center
for Teaching Excellence - Where to Get Published. Accessed
16 October 2001.
This page consists of links for educators with submission details
and contact information for a list of peer-reviewed journals in the
field of education.
- Education
World - Get Published. Accessed 16 October 2001.
A page from an education website with instructions and links for teachers
interested in publishing anthologies of student writing. All of the
steps of the process are well explained and documented; however, there
is a publishing fee for these services.
- FactMonster.com
- Where to Get Published. Accessed 16 October 2001.
This
list of contact information and descriptions of publications that
publish content written by young writers includes URLS and postal
mail addresses for such magazines as Boy's Life and Stone
Soup.
-
Fiumara, Georganne. Six
Steps to Getting Published. Accessed 16 October 2001.
Advice
to authors by a freelance writer.
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- HomeworkSpot.com
- Get Published. Accessed 16 October 2001.
A page containing links to 5 online publications that publish creative
content submitted by teens.
- JustWrite.
Accessed 16 October 2001.
This
newsletter exclusively publishes content written by kids kindergarten
through high school age. The specific URL given is the page of information
on how and where to mail manuscripts to JustWrite.
-
K.A.T. E-zine.
Accessed 16 October 2001.
This
URL gives submission guidelines for an electronic magazine published
on the website of I-Safe America's Partnership with Schools. The e-zine
publishes formats including book reports and school papers that received
A's.
- Mocha
Sofa - Get Published. Accessed 16 October 2001.
An
article about how to get your work noticed written by a publisher.
- New
Moon: the Magazine For Girls and Their Dreams. Accessed 16
October 2001.
This beautiful online magazine has an editorial board consisting of
16 girls ages 8 to 14. New Moon pays for published submissions written
by both girls and adults.
- Night
Hawk Publications - 10 Ways Not to Get Published. Accessed
16 October 2001.
An article listing what NOT to do in order to become a published writer.
- The
Open Directory Project - Writers' Resources. Accessed 16 October
2001.
This
site contains a reviewed list of online writers' resources with short
annotations.
- Poetry
Spoken Here - How Do I Get Published?. Accessed 16 October
2001.
An incredibly clear and detailed article from a Canadian poetry site
about how to get poetry published. The article includes instructions
on how to prepare poetry manuscripts, mailing and keeping track of
submissions, and publication and payment (both in book and chapbook
formats).
- Prince
George Public Library - Get Published. Accessed 16 October
2001.
This
is a list of links to writing contests for youth from a public library's
web site.
- Southon, Michael. How
to Write Ezine Articles Than Get Published. Accessed 16 October
2001.
An article
giving seven steps to writing articles for e-zines.
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- Spring
Time Writers.
Accessed 16 October 2001.
A writer's workshop that publishes a web site of new writers' work.
Works may be published for free, or may be submitted in a contest
to win cash prizes for a fee.
- Student
Bylines. Accessed 16 October 2001.
This magazine of student written content for grades 6-12 pays small
sums for accepted articles. It has a limited print distribution, but
is available online in PDF format.
- TeenPeople.com
- Writer's Club. Accessed 16 October 2001.
People
Magazine's teen version online includes a "writer's club" where teens
can post material electronically and be reviewed by other teens. Formats
published include a "serial" format for ongoing stories. These bulletin
boards are only available to users of America Online.
- Teen
Voices Online - Teen Submissions. Accessed 16 October 2001.
This URL is for the submission guidelines for an online magazine that
published content by teenage girls.
-
Tobias, Elias. The
Poet's Guide to Getting Published. Accessed 16 October 2001.
A
long, long page of advice for poets from the author's personal website.
- Yahooligans!
Kids' Almanac - Where to Get Published. Accessed 16 October
2001.
Yahooligans! almanac entry on where to get works published, with postal
mail addresses for publications that accept material from kids.
- WritersDigest.com
- 50 Best Places to Get Published Online. Accessed 16 October
2001.
A great set of annotated
links to web journals with their audience, guidelines, and pay scales,
compiled by a magazine for writers.
- Watson,
Amy. How
to Get Published - In Five Steps. Accessed 16 October 2001.
An excellent article by a published writer on her 5 steps to getting
published.
- Zuzu.
Accessed 16 October 2001.
A
magazine for kids that has a "Get Published" section. Although
there are 3 of its issues available online, closer reading showed
that the magazine had ceased to publish due to lack of budget.
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Pathfinder
Where
can I read some advice about how I can get my writing published?
About.com
- Young Writers Can Get Published Too
Appelbaum, Judith. How to Get Happily Published. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: 1992
Poetry
Spoken Here - How Do I Get Published?
What are
some magazines and newsletters that publish writing by young authors
and how can I contact them?
FactMonster.com
- Where to Get Published
Yahooligans!
Kids' Almanac - Where to Get Published
What are
some online publications that accept submissions from kids and teens?
Student Bylines
Teen Voices Online
- Teen Submissions
Are any
of these online publications just for girls?
A
Girl's World
New Moon: the Magazine For Girls
and Their Dreams
I'd
like to enter a writing contest. Where can I find contests for young
authors?
Prince
George Public Library - Get Published
Our teacher
would like to publish an anthology of student writings. Where can he
or she find out how to do so?
Education
World - Get Published
If this
pathfinder didn't answer your specific questions, be sure to ask a librarian
for further assistance - librarians are there to help!
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