We purchased a subscription of Clubhouse Jr. for our daughter when she was four and have loved it ever since!
For those new to Clubhouse Jr., it is a magazine with Christian values for kids ages 3-7. There is a regular, Clubhouse magazine for older kids that I’ll talk about submitting to in a later post. There are puzzles and games in the Clubhouse Jr. magazines, the search and find is a good one, and cute stories to read out loud to her. It’s great.
What’s also great is that, as a writer, you can submit to them!
On their submission page (HERE), they give a list of what they’re looking for. What’s nice is that they also provide lists of what they aren’t looking for to better guide you on your short story development.
If you would like to buy a sample issue to get a better feel of the type of content they publish, you can purchase a single magazine on their website HERE.
So, let’s get into the details:
What Clubhouse Jr. is wanting
Fiction stories
- They are wanting stories that are between 800-1000 words
- A kid about the same age as the audience (3-7) should be the main character
- Humorous and contemporary are good
Rebus stories
- These should be about 200 words
- They are meant for encouraging kids’ reading skills
- For those who don’t know what a rebus story is, they are those short stories that have a picture in place of a word:
Nonfiction stories
- Depending on the type of nonfiction story you write, it can be anywhere from less than 250 words up to 400. I’ll explain:
- Stories about something great a child has done for their “Kids Like You” section should have a length of no more than 250 words.
- Crafts, recipes, and activities should have a word length of 300 words.
- Animal and nature nonfiction stories should be around 400 words.
- Photos are good
- All should have a Christian connection
On their submissions page (HERE), they offer lists of what they are not looking for as well.
If you are wanting to submit something that goes with a specific season, they recommend sending it at least eight months ahead of time. What I like to do, is write ideas and stories during a specific season (like Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc.), because that is when the inspiration hits the most. Then, I wait a few months before sending it in. That way, I’m taking advantage of the inspiration and sending my stories ahead of time to meet their seasonal deadline.
When you are ready with material to submit, they have information at the bottom of their SUBMISSION PAGE on where to send everything. They seem to only accept mailed in submissions.
Go forth and write!