special report

cricket

Readership: boys and girls ages 9 and up

SUBMISSION SPECIFICS:
from their guidelines

“CRICKET, for readers ages 9 to 14, publishes original stories, poems, and articles … In some cases, CRICKET purchases rights for excerpts from books yet to be published. Each issue also includes several reprints of high-quality selections.” Note exact word count on each manuscript, except in the case of poetry when you should note the line count on the manuscript.

WHAT THEY WANT:

“Fiction: realistic, contemporary, historical, humor, mysteries, fantasy, science fiction, folk tales, fairy tales, legends, myths. 200 to 2000 words. Pays up to 25 cents a word.
Nonfiction: biography, history, science, technology, natural history, social science, archeology, architecture, geography, foreign culture, travel, adventure, sports. 200 to 1500 words.
(A bibliography is required for all retold folklore and nonfiction articles. Be prepared to send other backup materials and photo references—where applicable—upon request.)” Note: Having sold nonfiction to CRICKET, I would recommend you make copies/photocopies of all sources at the time of your research. You’ll save time. And back up all Internet facts with at least one credible print source.
“Poetry: serious, humorous, nonsense rhymes. Not longer than 50 lines. Pays up to $3 a line.
Other: crossword puzzles, logic puzzles, math puzzles, crafts, recipes, science experiments, games and activities from other countries, plays, music, art”.

Pays on Publication. Prefers to buy all rights.

Send manuscripts (NO QUERIES) to:

Associate Editor: Julia M. Messina
CRICKET Magazine
Carus Publishing Company
P.O. Box 300
Peru IL 61354

Note: Until you’ve been published in CRICKET four or five times, all submissions will be processed by a manuscript coordinator who sends them to advanced readers before sending to the specific editors. So, if you haven’t worked with a specific editor in the past, CRICKET prefers manuscripts be sent to “Submissions Editor.”

ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC ISSUE

Contents:
CRICKET
July 2004

Letters. Always read reader letters, you never know what you can find. From this set, I learned that CRICKET printed a nativity poem in the December issue.

The Best Summer Night Is... [Jill Esbaum] Poem, 39 words/19 lines. Rhymes dark/park and white/night. Uses onomatopoeia such as BOOM and pop pop pop. Also uses metaphor of falling fireworks sparks being like glitter stitches in the quilt of night.

The Fourth of July. [Roberta Wiegand] Reprint from book. Protagonist sounds quite young for a CRICKET story (I would have guessed her younger than 9). The story does contain physical danger to the child, though, so that would push it to CRICKET rather than SPIDER and the language is fairly complex. Story is written in third person with young female protag. [6 pages in magazine.]

Fourth of July Smoothies. [Julia Messina, staff written] Recipe. Format has one sentence blurb about the recipe, then subheading “What You’ll Need (which just includes ingredients, not appliances) followed by numbered list of “What to Do.” Four steps. Recommends asking adult and reading manual to safely use blender.

A President’s Bumpy Ride: [Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge]. Creative nonfiction about Martin Van Buren and the national road from Cumberland, Maryland to Vandalia, Illinois. Funny and very tightly focused. [3 pages in magazine, about 800 words]

Salute to Jack Jouett: [Ralph W. Seager] Long story poem, bears story form and length similarities to “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” but totally different rhythm and rhyme. Written as a story told by a tavern keeper. [5 magazine pages]

Runaways on the River: [reprint by Katherine Ayres]. Adventure/action story about a tugboat that must stop 2 runaway barges before they crash into a train bridge with a train on it. Written in third person with young female protagonist, who is essential to solving the story problem. [5 pages in magazine.]

Summertime Books: [Adam Oldaker, staff written] Book choices tie into magazine content.

Taking the Horns. [Jan Adkins] Creative nonfiction about a riverboat race in 1870. [7 pages in magazine.]

A Rock Under Water Dreams of Swimming. [Sue Cowing]. Lyrical nonrhyming poem in first person that personifies a rock pushed by the waves – contains a play on “stone unturned.” [21 lines]

The River Rises. [Mark Twain] A sleepwalking riverboat pilot. [4 pages]

Crossword.

Chief Sunrise, John McGraw and me. [Timothy Tocher, reprint from book] A boy plays baseball for a traveling girl’s professional team. Humor. Written in first person with 15-year-old male protagonist [7 pages]

A Dragon for Lord Marquand [Justin Stanchfield]. A wild sheep girl and an alchemist’s helper use a dinosaur fossil to create a dragon. Fantasy/humor. Written in third person with 12-year-old male protagonist [7 pages]

The Scales of Justice. [Jeff Mondak] Funny poem where a dragon pleads his innocence in court. First person. [20 lines]

Lohengrin: The Tale of the Swan Knight, Part 1, adapted from the Opera by Richard Wagner. [Aaron Shepard] CRICKET often publishes long stories in multiple parts. This retelling includes lots of showing and dialogue – not a “once upon a time” style. Third person, omniscient narration though more drama style rather than head-hopping. [6 pages]

Cricket League. In this issue they introduce a photo contest and show winners from a previous art contest.

Old Cricket Says. Short nonfiction about how fireworks made in different countries will look different.

This page last updated on 01 September 2004