Welcome

Hi, my name is Alys Jackson and I'm an author and poet

based in Adelaide, South Australia.

My work has been published in books, magazines,

anthologies and online.

Children’s Fiction – 33 Publications that Accept Short Stories for Children and YA

Why write children’s fiction?

If you haven’t yet written short stories for children, or are still considering whether or not it is worthwhile, I would highly recommend trying it out.

If you are an emerging writer, what better way to hone those editing skills. Lets face it, writing to a set word limit forces us to edit ruthlessly, and to consider every word in a story.

It is also a great way to ‘meet’ your future readers and, importantly, their parents who are often the ones to choose the magazines and books their children read. And many of the magazines listed have huge circulations and are well regarded in the publishing world.

What age groups do the publications cover?

From 6 months old (Highlight magazine) to young adult (Yarn).

Why are some publications missing?

I deliberately chose not to include some publications. Reasons included: websites that appeared to be inactive or publications that appeared to have stopped publishing sometime in the recent past. If I have missed any publications please let me know in comments and I will update the list.

Won’t submission details constantly change?

Yes. So, my advice is to check each publication for current submission deadlines, copyright and formatting guidelines. This list is a guide only (with links to websites).

How competitive is the children’s fiction market?

Very, so most publications advise writers to read a current issue to find out the kind of stories they prefer. Many of them have sample stories online so this isn’t as hard as it might at first appear.

A List of Publications that Accept Short Fiction for Children

 Children's fiction - a list of publications

Aquila magazine publishes ‘intelligent reading for children from 8 – 12 years‘. They are a UK based magazine with a readership of 40,000 children. ‘Cool science and challenging projects. Exciting new topic every issue.’

Age group 8 – 12 years
Reading period/Themes Rolling/Yes
Word Limit/Response time 1,000 to 1,150 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit £90/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints No/They don’t want stories already published in UK
Multiple submissions/Samples available No/online sample available

Balloon online journal is a free to read journal that publishes children’s fiction from 12 years upwards. They are based in Hong Kong.

Age group 12 years and up
Reading period/Themes Rolling/No
Word Limit/Response time 2,000 words/3 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit No/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/No
Multiple submissions No

Bumples  is an online, interactive magazine specialising in illustrated children’s fiction about children and animals. They publish 2 magazines: Bumples (6 – 10) and Bumple Bud (3 – 5).

  • Bumples
Age group 6 – 10 years
Reading period/Themes Rolling/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 2,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit $30/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/No
Multiple submissions No
  • Bumble Bud
Age group 3 – 5 years
Reading period/Themes Rolling/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 800 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit $30/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/No
Multiple submissions No

Clubhouse – ‘Focus on the Family Clubhouse is a 32-page magazine designed to inspire, entertain and teach Christian values to children ages 8-12.’

Age group 8 – 12 years
Reading period/Themes Check their website/There are categories not themes
Word Limit/Response time 500 – 2,000/12 weeks
Payment to author/Fees to submit 15 – 25c per word/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints No/No
Multiple submissions No

Cast of Wonders  ‘Every week we present short stories (as podcasts) from some of today’s best genre fiction writers, featuring everything from hard science fiction, to urban fantasy, horror, steampunk, superheroes and more. We like fiction that makes us think, but the main elements should be thrilling entertainment, adventure and emotional connection.’

Age group 12 – 17 years
Reading period/Themes Check their website/Yes, in some of the magazines
Word Limit/Response time Up to 6,000 words/8 weeks
Payment to author/Fees to submit 6c per word/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Yes
Multiple submissions No

Cricket Media Literary Magazines These American literary magazines are for children from 6 months to teens: They produce 11 different publications ranging from ‘literature and art to science and technology.’ Each magazine has its own submission requirements for children’s fiction.

Age group 6 months – teens
Reading period/Themes Rolling/Yes, in some of the magazines
Word Limit/Response time Depends on magazine/3 to 6 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit Yes – up to 25c per word/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Yes
Multiple submissions Unknown

Literary Fiction

Nonfiction Magazines

Ember Magazine is a non-profit journal that publishes children’s fiction for 10 to 18 years. They are a ‘semiannual publication’. They accept fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction.

Age group 10 years to 18 years
Reading period/Themes Rolling/No
Word Limit/Response time Stories up to 12,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit Yes – up to 2c per word/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints Unknown/Rarely
Multiple submissions Unknown

East of the Web  ‘East of the Web receives about half a million unique visitors per month, so successful submissions are likely to be viewed by more readers than in almost any other short story publication. In addition, the site receives attention from agents, the press, film makers, schools, universities and other publishers.’

Age group Unspecified
Reading period/Themes Rolling/No
Word Limit/Response time Just says short story/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit No/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Unknown/Unknown
Multiple submissions 1 or 2

Frost Fire magazine publishes ‘original science fiction and fantasy’ for readers age 8 – 17. They do not accept bad language or adult themes. They are an American magazine published quarterly.

Age group 8 years to 17 years
Reading period/Themes Rolling/No
Word Limit/Response time 1,500 to 6,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit $15 ($8 for reprints)/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Unknown/Yes
Multiple submissions Unknown

Fun For Kidz They publish 3 separate magazines: ‘Boys’ Quest, Hopscotch for Girls, and Fun For Kidz maintains traditional values. The magazines promote sensitivity in the child’s relationship to animals, their peers, and the adult world. Philosophically, the material in these magazines emphasizes wholesome, innocent, childhood interests.’ Nonfiction.

  • Hopscotch Magazine: ‘Hopscotch for Girls began publishing in 1989. It was created by an elementary school librarian, Jane Evans, who was unable to find a wholesome magazine for her students.’
Age group 6 – 13 years (Girls)
Reading period/Themes Rolling/Yes
Word Limit/Response time 300 – 325 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit 5c per word/No
How do I submit? Mail
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown
  • Boys’ Quest Magazine: ‘Boys’ Quest was designed to inspire boys to develop an interest in reading at an early age.‘
Age group 6 – 13 years (Boys)
Reading period/Themes Rolling/Yes
Word Limit/Response time 300 – 325 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit 5c per word/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown
  • Fun For Kidz: ‘Fun For Kidz is an activity magazine that maintains the same wholesome values as the other publications.’
Age group 6 – 13 years (boys and girls)
Reading period/Themes Rolling/Yes
Word Limit/Response time 300 – 325 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit 5c per word/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown

Guardian Angel kids is a free ezine that publishes 6 times per year. They market themselves a s a ‘healthy and safe’ environment for children age 2 – 14 years. Each issue is themed – see their website for a current list. They prefer non-first person stories and buy all rights to your story.

Age group 2 – 14 years
Reading period/Themes Rolling/Monthly themes posted on website
Word Limit/Response time Up to 500 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit 3c per word/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints No/No
Multiple submissions 2 per issue

Highlights for Children An American publication that produces 3 separate monthly magazines, Hello (0-2), High Five (2-6), Highlights (6-12). They purchase all rights.

  • Hello ‘Highlights Hello is a magazine for loving adults to share with infants and toddlers ages 0-2. The majority of our subscribers are ages 1-2.’
Age group 0 – 2 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/Unknown
Word Limit/Response time Up to 50 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit Up to $175/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints No/No
Multiple submissions Yes
  • High Five Magazine ‘We are looking for stories and poems that can be read aloud to our youngest readers, and can also be read alone by our older, beginning readers. Rhyme, repetition and patterned texts are particularly welcome.’
Age group 2 – 6 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/Unknown
Word Limit/Response time Up to 170 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit Up to $175/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints No/No
Multiple submissions Yes
  • Highlights – ‘Highlights has a circulation of about 1.2 million and is published monthly.’
Age group 6 – 12 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/Unknown
Word Limit/Response time Depends on age/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit Up to $175/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints No/No
Multiple submissions Yes

Hunger Mountain ‘Hunger Mountain is an annual print journal of the arts. ‘We publish fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, visual art, young adult and children’s writing, and literary miscellany.’ They host the Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing.

Age group 8 – 17 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 8,000 words/4 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit $50/$3
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints Unknown/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown

Root and Star Magazine– ‘are looking to build a beautiful, meaningful magazine for children and for the people who read this magazine to them.’  See their website for a sample magazine.

Age group 4 – 8 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/Yes – on the website
Word Limit/Response time No more than 5 double-sided pages/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit Two copies of the magazine/No
How do I submit? Submittable
Simultaneous/Reprints Unknown/No
Multiple submissions Unknown

Shortkidstories– This website has a goal ‘to deliver significant author exposure to tens of thousands of unique visitors per month visiting the site from all over the world.’ Writers retain full copyright. Stories published online in an easily accessible catalogue.

Age group 1 – 15 years
Reading period/Themes Ongoing/No
Word Limit/Response time 200 – 3,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit No/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions 3 stories per submission

Smarty Pants Magazine

Age group Unspecified
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 800 words/4 weeks
Payment to author/Fees to submit US$15/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Unknown/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown

Stinkwaves Magazine is a division of Handerson Publishing. They advise checking their website or following them on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter for updates. They are looking for all genres of fast-paced, literary short stories.

Age group Adults, plus 13 – 17 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 3,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit No/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown

Storgy Kids are looking for original, unpublished short fiction. They don’t mind the genre as long as they are ‘amazed, thrilled, amused or engaged.’ Stories published on their online platform.

Age group  years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time 1,000 – 5,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit No/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown

Spaceports and Spidersilk ‘Spaceports & Spidersilk is an online magazine. The genres for Spaceports & Spidersilk include fantasy, science fiction, and a category we are going to define as ‘shadow stories’.  Shadow stories are mild horror.  We want spooky, not terrifying.  Most of all, we want ADVENTURES!  And especially SF or fantasy adventures.’

Age group 8 – 17 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 3,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit $6 per story/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints No/Yes
Multiple submissions Unknown

The Caterpillar is a literary magazine (from Ireland) for children age 7 to 11 years-ish. They publish four times a year.

Age group 7 – 11 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 1,000 words/4 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit No/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Unknown/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown

The School Magazine First published in 1916, The School Magazine is the world’s oldest continually running literary magazine for children. Based in Australia, they publish four magazines 10 times each year.

Countdown: 8 – 9 years

Blast Off: 9 – 10 years

Orbit: 10 – 11 years

Touchdown: 11 +

Age group 8 – 11 + (see above)
Reading period/Themes Check the website/Yes
Word Limit/Response time Up to 2,000 words/Unknown
Payment to author/Fees to submit Yes/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions 12 submissions within a 12 month period

US Kids are part of the Children’s Better Health Institute and produce 2 magazines, Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill. They publish ‘humorous, playful and witty stories that kids would love to read – not stories that grownups think kids should read.’ See their website for copyright details and submission guidelines. They purchase all rights.

Age group 2 – 6 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 450 words/3 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit Yes/No
How do I submit? Email or mail
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown
Age group 6 – 12 years
Reading period/Themes Check the website/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 2,000 words/3 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit $25 and up/No
How do I submit? Email or mail
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions Unknown

Yarn Closed up in June 2019. Young Adult Review Network was a literary journal for young adults, 14 years and up. The website still has some wonderful stories.

Age group 14 + years
Reading period/Themes Closed indefinitely/No
Word Limit/Response time Up to 6,000 words/5 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit $25 and up/No
How do I submit? Email
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions No

Zizzle ‘is a literary magazine devoted to publishing quality, innovative fiction for young readers. We believe honest, engaging fiction nourishes young, inquisitive minds and helps foster a lifelong passion for reading and learning.‘ Online and print.

Age group 9 – 14 years
Reading period/Themes Rolling/No
Word Limit/Response time 500 – 1,200 words/5 months
Payment to author/Fees to submit $100/No
How do I submit? Online
Simultaneous/Reprints Yes/Unknown
Multiple submissions No

That’s it for now.

Have you had any success writing children’s fiction? I’d love to hear from you.

Alys

Related Posts

A List of Publications that Accept Speculative Fiction

A list of Publications that Accept Flash Fiction

23 thoughts on “Children’s Fiction – 33 Publications that Accept Short Stories for Children and YA”

  1. Good morning Alys,
    My wife has started writing short stories. She is Nigerian and her stories are traditional tales about village life in Africa. Would the magazines that you list publish stories which are set in Africa and about African families and traditions or should she concentrate on sending her stories to publishers based in Africa. Thank you John

    • Hi John, absolutely! I think the magazines/journals would be very much interested in your wife’s stories. I have often written stories based in the countries I’ve worked and lived in. Best of luck, Alys

  2. Alys,

    Many thanks for this very useful information. I wonder if you have ever compiled a list of publishers specifically of story picture books. I write a lot of rhyming tales and would like to know where to send them.

    Also, I have a grandson who writes. Do you know of any publishers that accept work from children?

    Any response would be gratefully received.

    Robin

    • Hi Robin, I’m very sorry for the late reply. I seem to have missed your comment!! I think it’s a great idea to create a list of publishers for picture book authors. I will definitely consider it, though I do tend to say yes to everything. A bad habit. As far as publishers who accept work from children, I’m sorry but I don’t. I have seen some that do occasionally have opportunities or competitions. But I haven’t heard of any that have a dedicated submissions process. Good luck with that! Alys

  4. Hi Alys,
    Thanks so much for sharing the list. I am looking for publishers/journals/magazines that accept children’s creative writing. My eight-year-old loves writing and has produced some short stories and poems and would like to get some writing published.
    Wishing you all the best with your writing!
    Vivian

    • Thanks for the feedback, Vivian. There are also quite a few competitions that might be worth trying – that’s how my daughter got published at the age of eight. Melinda Tognini has a website (Treefall Writing) which may list some useful ones – sorry the link doesn’t seem to want to work. Best of luck! Alys

  5. Alys I just want to say thanks as I just printed out the list above. Publishing our work is never an easy task but it helps to have resources to cut down on the frustration involved in the submission process.. Honestly, I wish you so much success for offering this veteran a new genre to in which to offer my stories.

    • Thank you so much for the feedback, Jo. It’s great to know that my lists are proving useful! Best of luck with your writing. Alys

  6. Thanks Alys. It is very generous of you to share your knowledge. In the last two years, I’ve had four stories published by The School Magazine, which is very encouraging. I might try some of the magazines you have suggested here as well.
    I also have a manuscript, which is looking for a publisher. I just need to keep trying and not give up hope.

    • Thanks Beth. It’s so great to hear from other writers. I’ll keep a look out for your stories in the School Magazine. And I totally relate to your comment about not giving up hope. It can be hard going at times but when it goes well… Best of luck Alys

  7. Ms Jackson** Thank you for this list. I have written a bit for a while, but have not seriously pursued publishing until recently. In your descriptive columns what do you mean by “Themes”? **PL

    • Thank you PL, by themes I mean that the publication is looking for stories that fit into specific categories. Examples of recent themes (from Aquila and Cricket magazines) include,fantasy/historical fiction/folktales/animal behaviour/music/evolution…You will need to check each publication to find their current requirements. I hope this helps. Alys

  8. Thanks for this excellent resource. However, I’ve just discovered that Zizzle does indeed charge a submission fee, so alas, I cannot submit to them as I am morally opposed to any form of pay to play.

    • Thank you for the heads-up Peter – I will add that piece of info. to the blog list. Good luck with your writing. Alys

    • I am a bit curious why is a submission fee not good. I was under the impression that most publishing companies require a submission fee so they can edit and put together a book.

      • Hi Maria, there’s a big difference between submitting a short story and a book as far as paying a fee. I don’t mind paying a small submission fee to submit to a magazine, however, publishing companies don’t usually charge authors for editing and putting together books. Publishing companies that ask authors to pay some of the costs are known as Vanity Publishers. Some are just scamming authors. If you don’t mind paying for your book to be published, maybe consider self publishing. There is a lot of information out there for authors who are considering this. Best of luck Alys.

  10. Pingback: 24 children’s publishers accepting unsolicited submissions | Alys Jackson Writer

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