December 04, 2002

The Holidays = Article Ideas in Abundance! By Angela Hoy

As we all deck the halls, light the Menorah or Kinara, or simply stare in awe at snowflakes prancing through the air, it's the perfect time to start keeping a list of memorable holiday moments that will make great articles in print next year. Pull out a small notebook and keep a journal of each holiday happening. Just a few moments of reflection and note-taking at bedtime will provide you with plenty of material! Then, in January, review what you've written and start composing queries.

We've played with the search engines and found some markets that publish seasonal materials. To find more, search for these terms in your favorite search engine:

"writer's guidelines" seasonal
"contributor's guidelines" seasonal
"editorial calendar" seasonal

Paying Markets That Publish Seasonal Material

Alive Now - Pays $35 and up
A devotional magazine. "Seasonal material, both theological and liturgical, is appropriate."

City Lights Magazine - Pays $0.05-$0.10/word
Interdenominational, evangelical magazine covering ministry news and features, spirituality, Christian living, testimonies and true life stories of good news, faith, hope, courage, inspirational articles, community calendar and marketplace. "Submit seasonal material anytime-if accepted will drop into the proper season."

CSS Publishing Company - Pays royalties
A religious publisher producing 60 titles annually. Items published include: "Easy-to-perform dramas and pageants for all age groups. Our drama interest primarily includes Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Easter. We do not publish lengthy dramatic works."

"Decision" Magazine (Billy Graham) - "The amount of payment varies according to the extent of required editing and the published article length. Payment is made on publication."
"Seasonal material should reach us 10 to 12 months prior to publication date."

Our Little Friend and Primary Treasure - Pays $25-$50
Spiritually-oriented magazines written for children. "Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mothers', Fathers', and Grandparents' Days are the holidays for which we want stories. We usually have plenty of Christmas stories, few of the others. De-emphasize the commercial aspects of all holidays, please. We need to receive holiday and seasonal stories approximately seven months early."

Sharing the Victory (STV) - Pays $50
"Sharing the VICTORY combines athletics and faith, encouraging and enabling athletes to take their faith seriously on and off the field. Submit seasonal and holiday (mainly Christmas and Easter) material three to four months in advance."

St. Anthony Messenger Press - Pays $0.16/word
Publishes articles, fiction, poetry and books. "Seasonal stories (Christmas, Easter, etc.) should be submitted at least six months in advance."

Standard Publishing - Pays royalties
Publishes "books of program ideas for Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas."

Story Friends - Pays $.03 word for stories and articles, $10 per poem on acceptance.
Magazine for children 4-9 that reinforces Christian values. There are many publications listed on this page, but only Story Friends states a payment amount.

Vibrant Life - Pays $75-$300
"We especially like features on the latest breakthroughs in medicine, health, nutrition, and exercise; interviews with leading personalities on health topics; and seasonal, health-related material written in a readable style."

Yoga Journal - Pays $800 to $2000 for features, $400 to $800 for departments, $25 to $100 for Om Page and Well-Being, and $200 to $250 for book reviews.
Reports on "the expansion and revolution of the yoga movement. Yoga Journal has been there, serving yoga teachers and the ever-growing yoga community. Requires four month lead on seasonal material."

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the free marketing emag for writers, featuring new jobs and paying markets every Wednesday. Subscribe today and receive the FREE ebook, How to Be a Freelance Writer (includes 103 paying markets) at: http://www.writersweekly.com