At U.S.Kids, we’re always in need of high-quality stories, articles, and activities with a broad health and fitness focus that includes kids’ emotional lives, interests, and educational needs.

We offer our readers material in a variety of formats: fiction, nonfiction, poems, puzzles, crafts, recipes, games, and activities. We are most interested in wholesome, positive, lighthearted, and well-written pieces that encourage and educate our readers and, in the words of our mission statement, promote their “healthy physical, educational, creative, social, and emotional growth in a format that is engaging, stimulating, and entertaining at each stage of development.”

Writers should be careful to present their material in a way that is appropriate for kids, but which does not talk down to them. Your work should be simple but not simple-minded for the youngest of our readers, who will sometimes be assisted by their parents or caregivers. For our older, more independent readers, the material should start at a basic level, but include nuggets of more advanced information to feed their growing interests.

All material submitted should reflect good values and healthy living.

Although our emphasis is on health, we certainly use material with more general themes, including holiday and seasonal poems. Please avoid reference to sugary foods, such as candy, cakes, cookies, and soft drinks. Please send seasonal material at least eight months in advance.
Reading our editorial guidelines is not enough. Careful study of current issues will acquaint writers with each title’s “personality,” various departments, and regular features. Sample copies are $2.95 each (U.S. currency) from U.S.Kids, P.O. Box 567, Indianapolis, IN 46206.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT

Manuscripts must be typewritten and double-spaced. The author’s name, address, phone number or e-mail address, date of submission, and the approximate word count of the material should appear on the first page of the manuscript. Title pages are not necessary. If you include a cover letter, please keep it brief. Keep a copy of your work. We will handle your manuscript with care, but we cannot assume responsibility for its return. Please submit to a specific magazine, not just to U.S.Kids. This aids in tracking your manuscript.

Please send entire manuscript. (No e-mail submissions.) All work is on speculation only; queries are not accepted, except for nonfiction pieces for Jack and Jill. The editors cannot criticize, offer suggestions, or enter into correspondence with an author concerning manuscripts that are not accepted, nor can they suggest other markets for material that is not published. Material cannot be returned unless it is accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope and sufficient return postage. If you do not wish the manuscript returned, please say so in your cover letter.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Please do not send drawings or artwork. We prefer to work with professional illustrators of our own choosing.

PHOTOS

We do not purchase single photos. We do purchase short photo features (up to 8 or 10 pictures) or photos that accompany articles and help illustrate editorial material. Digital format is best, with high resolution a must (300 dpi in an image size of at least 4 by 6 inches). When we buy photos, we purchase one-time rights, except that we reserve the right to use the images on our Web sites. Please include captions and signed model releases.)

REVIEW TIME

About three months are required to review manuscripts properly. Please wait three months before sending status inquiries. If a manuscript is returned, it should not be resubmitted to a different publication at this address. Each manuscript is carefully considered for possible use in all magazines, not only the one to which it was originally addressed.

RATES AND PAYMENT POLICIES

• Turtle: up to 35¢ a word fiction — up to 350 words nonfiction — up to 200 words
• Humpty Dumpty: up to 35¢ a word fiction/nonfiction, up to 450 words
• Jack and Jill: up to 25¢ a word fiction/nonfiction, up to 700 words
• Poetry: $25 to $50
• Photos: $15.00 minimum
• Puzzles and games: $25 minimum

RIGHTS

We purchase all rights, including Web use, and pay upon publication. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but should be noted as such. One-time book rights may be returned when the author has found an interested publisher and can provide us with an approximate date of publication.

CHILDREN’S CONTRIBUTIONS

Except for items that are used in children’s columns, the editors do not encourage submissions from children. Even highly talented young people are not usually experienced enough to compete on a professional level with adult authors. There is no payment for children’s contributions.

Turtle Magazine for Preschool Kids (ages 3-5):
We are accepting short fiction stories (350 words or less); nonfiction activities that introduce and reinforce measuring, counting, reading, nature, simple science, etc. (200 words or less); poems (4-12 lines); short rebuses (100 words or less); easy recipes; crafts; and finger plays/action rhymes (250 words or less).

Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine (ages 5-7):
We are accepting poems (4-12) lines; crafts; recipes; activities; rebuses; and simple, age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction of no more than 450 words.

Jack and Jill (ages 8-12):
We are accepting queries and full manuscripts for fiction, nonfiction, poems, puzzles, crafts, and activities. Fiction and nonfiction should not exceed 700 words. Poems should be no more than 30 lines. We are especially interested in profiles of regular kids in our age group who are engaged in unusual, challenging, or interesting activities. No celebrity pieces.

U.S.Kids

P.O. Box 567 • Indianapolis, IN 46206
317-634-1100