Blogview with Linda Jo Martin and Literature For Kids
Literature For Kids is a new online children’s magazine. The creator and editor is Linda Jo Martin. Linda, herself, is a children’s author, but she works hard each month to put together a quality product for children, their teachers and caregivers. This magazine is a good addition to a homeschool’s toolbox. Let’s get to know a little more about Linda and Literature For Kids.
Linda, what inspired you to take on such a huge monthly project?
Linda: I wanted to develop my website, Literature For Kids, and decided this was the best way to get steady content there. I work well with deadlines. The monthly schedule forces me to get new pages on the web regularly.
Literature For Kids is a long-time project for me because I love children, and love children's literature. The idea of having a website called Literature For Kids first came in 1996. I had a site by that name back then, on a third-party website provider's domain. Later I purchased my domain name and started a blog there, then decided it wasn't what I wanted to do.
The current project is a lot more interactive, and I love being able to offer a small amount of money for stories, articles, and poems. I like to let children's authors know their work is appreciated.
What elements can readers expect to find in the magazine each month?
Linda: Currently I'm keeping it very simple. There will be three or four stories, two poems, a few articles for children, and a longer multi-page “book” offered each month. In addition I post two or three articles intended for adults - either for parents and teachers, or for writers of children's literature.
How do you choose which stories, poems, and educational materials to use in each issue? Do you work with a theme each month? (This month's cover art by Jeffery E. Doherty, click to cover to visit his site)
Linda: There's a monthly theme. The themes are listed on the Literature For Kids submission page. When I read submissions, if an article, story, or poem is well-written I look on my editorial calendar, which is a spreadsheet, and try to fit it into one of the themes. Occasionally I create a new theme to fit the piece. I did that recently for an article about music. Right now themes are planned until July 2012.
What is one difficult aspect of publishing a magazine that you didn’t expect?
Linda: I don't like to reject anyone's work! Every time I open an email I hope it is something I can use. I try to work with writers, to encourage them to edit and resubmit. So far I've tended to accept almost everything so long as it is well-written and fits into one of my themes... and so long as my budget permits more acquisitions. I expect that eventually I'll have too many submissions to be able to do that.
What have you enjoyed the most about publishing your magazine?
Linda: I've enjoyed meeting more writers and publishing their work. I love being able to accept submissions of new writers - people who never before got an acceptance or payment for their work.
What other projects are you involved in?
Linda: I'm a busy web worker. Literature For Kids is only one of the websites I work on. I own quite a few, plus I write for third-party websites like Squidoo and HubPages. I earn all my income online as a content writer.
Aside from that, I write novels - mostly for children and teens. Two are ready for submission and there are several others in revision.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Linda: To potential writers... if you suspect you may have a problem with spelling, grammar, typos, or any other aspect of writing, get into a critique group and share your stories with critique partners before submitting. I would like to sponsor more critique groups similar to the group I belong to, so if you want a critique group, drop me a line - my email address is linda at literature4kids.co (be sure to format the email address correctly). Put “Critique Group Request” in the subject line so it won't get mixed in with the submissions.
Thank you, Linda, for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk with us about your newest project, Literature For Kids. I wish you the best of luck with it going forward!