Freelance writing, Columbia Kids, pays $200 for features

What is COLUMBIAKids?

COLUMBIAKids is a free online magazine that features exciting, interesting, and informative articles and stories based in Pacific Northwest history. Our target readers are children up to age 14 who live in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska, but we also welcome subscribers from all over the world. As the name of our organization suggests, our central focus is on Washington state and the general Pacific Northwest, so only well-researched submissions that feature historic Washington and Pacific Northwest subjects will be considered for publication.

A (little) sister publication to the Society’s print journal COLUMBIA: the Magazine of Northwest History, COLUMBIAKids is a sponsor-supported publication. The Washington State Historical Society is a non-profit organization.

Helpful Hints for Submitting Your Work

Writers please send a complete manuscript with a self-addressed-stamped-envelope (SASE) if you wish your work to be returned. All submissions that are not accompanied by an SASE will be recycled.

Illustrators and photographers please send samples only, not originals, for our file. You may send specific submissions of artwork or images to be considered for "NW HotSpot," but please identify them as such. If you wish to have any of your samples returned, please include an SASE. Note: We highlight one Featured Illustrator per issue. Works that are developed by the Featured Illustrator for a specific issue become part of the Washington State Historical Society’s collections.

We are now accepting submissions via both email (no attachments) and USPS. If we purchase an article, story, image, or illustration, we will ask you to email an electronic version.

* We pay for all material on publication.
* We buy First World Electronic Rights and Archival Rights. All rights may be requested on certain submissions.
* We do not pay writers younger than 18 years of age for their submissions. We do, however, encourage young writers to submit contributions to "NW Book Swap" in particular.
* Please indicate known availability of photographs or other images at the time of submission.

Send submissions to: COLUMBIAKids-Manuscript Coordinator 1911 Pacific Avenue Tacoma, Washington 98402

Queries and illustrator web links may be sent to: COLUMBIAKids@wshs.wa.gov. No attachments, please.

Guidelines for Features and Departments

Accuracy is essential. We believe that children deserve the best and most accurate portrayals of past people, events, and places that we can provide in as fun and engaging a format as possible. Writers are encouraged to use primary sources, including but not limited to those held by WSHS, as well as interviews with eyewitnesses, historians, and specialists in a particular field. Writing should be original, fun, lively, and kid friendly. Check out http://columbia.washingtonhistory.org/kids for examples.

When preparing your manuscript for COLUMBIAKids, please make sure to include a list of sources and target one of the following areas. Please note that our editorial team reserves the right to reposition articles within an issue as well as to request rewrites and additional information.

FEATURES

Length: 800-1,200 words each
Pay: $200

Notorious NWESTERNERS

This feature is about PAST (non-living) Washingtonians or Pacific Northwesterners who have impacted or inspired present-day children; these biographies can be about artists, inventors, writers, scientists, sports stars, civil rights activists, tribal leaders, or even kids who dared to make a difference.

What is THAT?

What is that thing you see every day? Where did it come from? Why is it there? This feature is an investigation of how something was made, used, practiced, or invented in the Pacific Northwest. Examples can be anything from rationing tickets to rivet guns, sawmills, fish traps, roadside art, butter churns, bee smokers, or even Mount St. Helens ash.

ONE DAY in History: Historical Fiction Shorts

This is our only fiction feature. Submissions for ONE DAY must be fictional retellings of an event in Pacific Northwest history—or U.S. history that impacted the PNW—told from a kid’s point of view. The research for period and place must be accurate, but the characters and dialogue are fictional. Authors should also include a reader note explaining what is fact and what is fiction. Excerpts from a longer work may also be submitted as long as they fit the above guidelines.

DEPARTMENTS

Length: 200-800 words each

NW Legends ($100)

This department is devoted to both original stories and retellings of legends and myths about particular features, creatures, or momentous natural events in the Pacific Northwest.

Making HISTORY (Pay: $100)

Short bios of PRESENT-DAY (living) Washingtonians who either make reproductions of historic objects, are participating in expeditions or research that will be considered a great feat of the 21st century, or who record events or social phenomena in Washington through the arts or sciences.

Pod Puzzle (Pay: $100)

Here at COLUMBIAKids, pod puzzles are inspired by the old "mystery theater" radio programs. They challenge the reader/listener to ponder a puzzle from the past by listening to a monologue or dialog delivered by charismatic characters. Writers must submit hard-copy scripts of no longer than 5 minutes. Subjects may include ghost stories; travel adventures; lost treasures; bi-lingual stories; or even "history sound" puzzles. Best to query first.

NW HotSpot (Pay: $100-$500)

This is an illustration or photograph of a place or "thing" from the Pacific Northwest. The illustration must include approximately five "hotspots" (clickable areas) that allow deeper investigation into the past of the subject. For each hotspot, short explanations and historical sources will be revealed, bringing up a magnified image of an object, piece of ephemera, animal, plant, dialogue bubble, photograph, etc., to help kids learn to look closer and dig deeper when investigating images as "evidence." Best to query first.

Word PLAY ($25-$100)

This is one of our "secret sections" discovered only through the magnifying glass in the COLUMBIAKids logo. Submissions may be poetry, word games, jokes, riddles, or rebuses.

Amazing PLACES (Pay: $50)

This "secret section" is found by clicking the compass rose in the COLUMIBAKids logo. It includes short stories or quizzes about intriguing places in the Pacific Northwest (to kids!). We like places that have been repurposed from their original use and turned into parks, theaters, camps, etc., but any place is fair game. Be sure to include compass coordinates (latitude/longitude).

Contact Information:

For inquiries: columbiakids@wshs.wa.gov

For submissions: COLUMBIAKids-Manuscript Coordinator 1911 Pacific Avenue Tacoma, Washington 98402

Website: http://columbia.washingtonhistory.org/kids/fall2009/default.aspx