StarLight Magazine Writers Guidelines, Themes, and Style Guide

Be sure to read and follow our Style Guide at the bottom of the page.

Click HERE to read a sample issue of StarLight Magazine.

StarLight Magazine is a quarterly magazine designed for children ages 5 – 10 years old. Our mission is to shine God’s truth through children’s literature. Our goal is that each issue provides readers with fun activities, faith-filled messages based on Bible truths, fiction that delights, and factual information about God’s created world and/or influential Christians throughout history.

Your job as a contributor to StarLight Magazine is to provide these elements. We want them infused with fun, excitement, action, and humor all from a Christian perspective. We ask you to provide material designed to please both parents and children.

At this time StarLight Magazine is a non-paying market.

We accept electronic submissions only. Send them to Editor@StarLightMagazine.com. Put “Submission” in the subject line.

We require both electronic and print exclusive rights for 12 months after publication.

We are seeking the following:                            

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, July 4^th, Veteran’s Day, Juneteenth, New Year’s Day, beginning 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.

Graphics – Art

We accept high-resolution (at least 300 dpi) funny or cute photos of pets in jpg or png files. These should be your personal property – not downloaded online. Request a release form via email before sending your photos. Send no more than 3 photos in one email. No children’s faces can be visible.

If you are a graphic artist, we, from time to time, need specific projects. They need to be vector images. If you are interested in providing any of those (on a non-paying basis at this time) please email us with “Graphic Art” in the subject line.

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.

Receipt of Submission

We will respond with receipt of your submission. Since we publish only four times each year it can be three months before we let you know whether or not we can use your manuscript. We will let you know in advance in which issue your work will appear.

The best way to stay informed about StarLight Magazine is to subscribe to our informational  newsletter on our website: https://www.starlightmagazine.com .

All submissions accepted for inclusion are subject to editing.

Thank you.

2022 – 2023 Themes                             

November 2022 – Thanksgiving, Christmas, gratitude, seasonal fun

March 2023 – Spring, Easter, Lent, new life in Christ, baby animals, growing things, new adventures

June 2023 – Summer, vacation, fun in the sun, blessings of nature, summer sports teams and games

September 2023 – Back to school, fun of learning new things, fall season, God’s gift of color in nature and in humankind, Thanksgiving Day, new skills (like tying shoes, telling time, jumping rope, writing their name, learning multiplication facts, riding a bicycle)

December 2023 – Winter fun, snow and ice, Christmas, Advent, God’s greatest gift to us – Christ, the joy of giving, Christmas treats, Christmas traditions.

2024 Themes

March 2024 – Easter, Lent, new life in Christ, baby animals, new ideas, new friends, new siblings (whether by birth or adoption), Days of Creation

June 2024 – July 4^th, summer fun and games, sea creatures, the sun and sunlight, Days of Creation, places to vacation

September – starting the new school year, new friends, new siblings, Veteran’s Day, learning new things, Days of Creation, generosity, blessings, Thanksgiving Day

December 2024 – Christmas, Advent, gifts, sharing, snow, snowflakes, fun in the snow, starting the new year right, setting goals

StarLight Magazine Writers’ Submissions Style Guide (2022)

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.