StarLight Magazine Writers Guidelines, Themes, and Style Guide

Generally, anything books, Bible and stars. Here are some starters…

January, February and March – Winter, new reading habits,

April, May and June – Spring, Easter, Lent, new life in Christ, baby animals, new ideas, new friends, new siblings (whether by birth or adoption), Days of Creation

July, August and September – Summer, vacation, fun in the sun, blessings of nature, summer sports teams and games, back to school, fun of learning new things, fall season, God’s gift of color in nature and in humankind,  new skills (like tying shoes, telling time, jumping rope, writing their name, learning multiplication facts, riding a bicycle), starting the new school year, new friends, new siblings, learning new things, Days of Creation, generosity, blessings

October, November and December – Thanksgiving Day, winter fun, snow and ice, Christmas, Advent, God’s greatest gift to us – Christ, the joy of giving, Christmas treats, Christmas traditions, Christmas, Advent, gifts, sharing, snow, snowflakes, fun in the snow, starting the new year right, setting goals

Fiction – Stories of 500 words or less, aimed at children 5 – 7 years old. Also, stories of 800 – 1000 words, aimed at children 8 – 10 years old. Stories should:

• Be about experiencing and learning in daily life.
• Express a variety of ethnicities and abilities.
• NOT be fairytales or fantasies, romances or crushes.

Stories can:

• (For younger children) have animals instead of children as characters.

• Be historical fiction. Include a list of your sources.

• Be futuristic or science fiction (no demons or sorcery).

Devotions – No longer than 300 words, including a short Scripture verse, and a short prayer. We use the NIV 1984 version.

Retelling Bible Stories – For the 2023 issues we accept retellings of Jesus’ parables. The story should be no more than 500 words in length. It should be true to the Biblical account, but can take some literary license to include dialogue, names of specific characters, etc. These are primarily for younger children.

For our 2024 editions we are accepting retellings of Jesus’ miracles.

Poems – Poems should be no longer than 12 lines. A wide variety of topics are acceptable. Capitalize in poems as follows. The first word of the first line of each verse or stanza is capitalized. Succeeding lines of each verse are capitalized only if they begin new sentences.

Short Fillers – Bible verse puzzles (word search, cross word, unscramble, etc.) Send pdf files – one with blanks, one with answers.

Bible quizzes on specific events, people, or stories in Scripture.

Quizzes or puzzles on godly character traits. Send pdf files – one with blanks, one with answers.

Bible Trivia – send no more than 6 bits of trivia in each email.

Puzzles can also specifically relate to Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Year’s Day, or the beginning of the school year.

Creature Feature – send no more than 100 words about an unusual animal, or surprising traits of familiar animals from a Creationist’s viewpoint.

Star Stuff – send no more than 100 words about a single heavenly body (a star, constellation, planet, black hole, galaxy, etc.) Write from a Creationist’s viewpoint.

Trivia –  50 words or less – fun facts about animals, plants, heavenly bodies.

All manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced (do NOT hit hard returns between lines), 12- point type, New Times Roman or Ariel font, black print.

Author’s name, address, phone number, email address, website address, social media links, type of submission, and word count should be on the first page, top left-hand corner (single spaced).

All pages should be numbered.

Email all submissions to editor@starlightmagazine.com. Put “Submission” in the subject line.

Use the New International Version 1984 of Scripture. (NIV1984)

Reading levels: articles for older students should be on a 3^rd/4^th grade reading level. Articles for younger students can be on a 1^st grade level OR on a level that adults can read to younger children (much like a picture book.)

Capitalize all references to God, Christ, Holy Spirit including pronouns.

Be consistent in your use of numbers and number words. If you use digits, use them consistently throughout the manuscript. Do not spell out dates or other serial numbers. Write them using digits, such as:

          August 9, 2019

          Rule 3

When dates or other serial numbers occur in dialogue it is best to spell them out, such as:

          “We arrived on June twenty-fifth,” she said.

          “Please read Chapter Three.”

Capitalize in poems as follows:

The first word of the first line of each verse or stanza is capitalized.

 Succeeding lines of each verse are capitalized only if they begin new sentences.

We value your contributions toward both our online magazine and the printables. Our magazine is a full-color, online publication. Our printables is a collection of coloring pages, mazes, and word puzzles.

We accept high-resolution (at least 300 dpi) funny or cute photos of pets in jpg or png files. Compress large files in a zip. These should be your personal property – not downloaded online. Request a release form via email before sending your photos. No children’s faces can be visible.

We use original, thematic, seasonal, and holiday coloring pictures, dot-to-dot pictures, and color-by-number pictures in pdf format. Do not send material you find on the Internet.

Any questions? I’d be pleased to work together. Please feel free to drop me a line at design@starlightmagazine.com.

• We require both electronic and print exclusive rights for 12 months after publication.         
• At this time StarLight Magazine is a non-paying market.
• All submissions accepted for inclusion are subject to editing.