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Interview: Joanna Marple on uTales.

Darshana Shah Khiani‘s interview on her Children’s Book Review site, “Flowering Minds”, with new children’s picture book author, Joanna Marple, is revealing on lots lof levels.

Joanna and Darshana met on children’s writer and illustrator FaceBook site, 12 x 12 , a very lively, supportive, share and learn community set up by Julie Hedlund. When Joanna released her very first picture book, a collaboration with the very talented Maja Sereda, Darshana jumped in with the interview offer.

“Snow Games” is a fun tumble and rumpus in winter’s wonderland aimed at 3 to 7 year olds. Maja’s wonderfully endearing little animal characterisations beautifully complement the story.

Joanna  shares what it was like to collaborate with Maja to create “Snow Games”. Close collaboration between author  and illustrator is a circumstance largely [and sadly] foreign to most traditional print publishing. For Joanna and Maja it was a fun and very rewarding experince. But the interview goes beyond the creation of  ”Snow Games”. It also details Joanna’s experience of the uTales website and her thoughts on traditional and digital publishing.

Joanna mentions my collaboration with noted animal and wildlife illustrator, Muza Ulasowski, a story about surviving change, “The Sea Cat Dreams”. Muza was one of many wonderful illustrators I met on the uTales Facebook group and have since worked with to create a varied range of children’s books.

I have found the opportunity to collaborate with illustrators something eminently rewarding, an experience that  enriches both participants and results in a more vibrant and much richer work. My first picture book, “Mending Lucille” was also a result of a collaboration. Working with the amazing Sarah Davis was inspirational! I have gone on to collaborate closely with illustrators all over the world to create numbers of other picture books, some digitally published**, some in process with p

Take a peak at what we are doing -
http://www.theartofpuro.com/Toofs.htm
Monica Rondino and Andrea Pucci are creating the images and J.R.Poulter has written the humorous story with rhyming elements, Estelle A. Poulter is the co-author and childcare practice adviser.
What is it about – how to cope with a biting baby!

A great source of ongoing opportunities is Hope Clark’s weekly/fortnightly newsletter: “FFW Small Markets”

The opportunities below, come from her newsletter for 15th April.

HOPSCOTCH MAGAZINE
http://funforkidzmagazines.com/hs_guidelines
—
HOPSCOTCH looks for articles, fiction, nonfiction, and
poetry that deal with timeless topics, such as pets,
nature, hobbies, science, games, sports, careers, simple
cooking, and anything else likely to interest a young girl.
We leave dating, romance, human sexuality, cosmetics, fashion,
and the like to other publications. Each issue revolves
around a theme. HOPSCOTCH is a magazine created for girls
from 6 to 13 years, with girls 8, 9, and 10 the specific
target age. Ideally prefers articles around 500 words.
We will pay a minimum of 5 cents a word for both fiction
and nonfiction, with additional payment given if the piece
is accompanied by appropriate photos or art. We will pay a
minimum of $10 per poem or puzzle, with variable rates
offered for games, crafts, cartoons, and the like.

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FUN FOR KIDZ
http://funforkidzmagazines.com/ffk_guidelines
—
Fun For Kidz is a magazine created for boys and girls from
6 to 13 years, with youngsters 8, 9, and 10 the specific
target age. The magazine is designed as an activity
publication to be enjoyed by both boys and girls on the
alternate months of Hopscotch and Boys’ Quest magazines.
We are looking for lively writing that involves an activity
that is both wholesome and unusual. We are looking for articles
around 500 words as well as puzzles, poems, cooking, carpentry
projects, jokes, riddles, crafts, and other activities that
complement the theme. Articles that are accompanied by good
photos are far more likely to be accepted than those that need
illustrations. We pay a minimum of five cents a word for both
fiction and nonfiction, with additional payment given if the
piece is accompanied by appropriate photos or art. We pay a
minimum of $10 per poem or puzzle, with variable rates offered
for games, carpentry projects, etc.

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CAT FANCY
http://www.catchannel.com/magazines/catfancy/writers_guidelines.aspx
—
CAT FANCY, the most widely read consumer magazine dedicated to
the love of cats. Length: 100-1,000 words. Query first.
Several columns to include profiles of people who champion cats
and rescue stories. 500 words for columns.

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YOUR CAT MAGAZINE
http://www.bournepublishinggroup.com/mag_yourcat.html
http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Contact-us/Your-Cat-contacts/
—
The magazine for caring cat owners, covering health and behaviour
issues, general care advice, breed information, and other practical
issues. Your Cat is also about the emotional pleasures of owning a
cat, with plenty of fantastic photographs of cats, readers’
letters and true cat tales.

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COLUMBIA KIDS
http://columbia.washingtonhistory.org/kids/fall2009/guidelines.aspx
—
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. Features
are 800-1,200

Writers:

Basics of Life anthology open till 28th Feb – Austlit http://auslit.net/2010/11/27/australian-literature-anthology-basics-of-life/

Artists/Illustrators/Poets, Short story writers ++ :

Going Down Swinging taking submissions till 28th February – http://goingdownswinging.org.au/submissions/

Poets, Artists and Illustrators:

Haijinx still open for submissions till 1st March! Haiku, haiga, renku, sumi-e and haibun – http://www.haijinx.com/I-1/

Writers:

Peter Cowan 600 Short Story Competition open -http://www.pcwc.org.au/index.php?p=1_10

This series of links were included as part of an article I wrote for WQ Magazine,”Markets – from woe to go and getting a foot in overseas! ” [March issue 2011] . Sadly, the actual links had to be removed due to space restrictions so I have placed most of them here.

This list of resources, sources and publishing opportunities on the internet and elsewhere is far from exhaustive. Please do contact me if you have or know of a resource that can be included!

Review Blogs and sites

Book Review blogs

Debra Sloan – The Picnic Basket http://www.thepicnic-basket.com/

Carol Denbow – A Book Inside http://abookinside.blogspot.com/ Magdalena Ball – Compulsive Reader http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/

Susan Whitfield http://susanwhitfield.blogspot.com/

Jo Linsdell – Writers and Authors http://writersandauthors.blogspot.com

Betty Dravis & co-bloggers  - Dames of Dialogue http://damesofdialogue.wordpress.com/

New Zealand Writer – http://new-zealand-writer.blogspot.com

Sarah Chavez-Detka        http://minorreads.blogspot.com/

Kerry Neary  http://kerryneary.blogspot.com/

Free Press Relese DIY site - http://www.prlog.org/submit-free-press-release.html

Sites

All genres:

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/

Children’s Literature:

Terry Doherty Reading Tub http://www.thereadingtub.com/

Reading Tub Blog http://readingtub.wordpress.com/

Magazines that publish short stories and poetry

[I have submitted a list of online journals most on Facebook, some with links - http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150093435850908 and growing.] New additions

Leaf Garden Press http://leafgardenpress.blogspot.com/

http://leafgardenpress.blogspot.com/2009/01/submissions-open.html

Dash Literary Journal

Rose and Thorn http://www.roseandthornjournal.com/Home_Page.html

Cross genre:

Good Reading – http://www.goodr