BorderLines--the quarterly newsletter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Midsouth Region

BorderLines contains helpful articles for those who are interested in the children's publishing industry. It features tips for writers and illustrators, industry news, information on Midsouth events, "Good News" from our region, and illustrations provided by our talented Midsouth artists.

BorderLines is published four times each year: March, June, September, and December. There is no charge to access our newsletter. You may download the current issue as well as the previous three issues by clicking on the links below. You must have Adobe Reader to be able to open the file. If you don't have Adobe Reader, you may download it here.

Writers, artists, and others interested in children's media are invited to submit articles, illustrations, and other information for publication in BorderLines. Inquiries about advertising in BorderLines are welcome also. For information on rates, email the editor.

Illustrators:

 
Send your illustrations in .jpg format to the editor at this address: p.d. wiles at gmail dot com. Include a brief bio of 25 words or less for the "contributing illustrators" sidebar. We are also accepting articles for the Illustrator's Corner section. If you are submitting an article for the Illustrator's Corner, please follow the guidelines for writers as listed below.

 
Writers:

• Articles must pertain to the craft of writing for children. They can be how-to or inspirational. No fiction. Poems can be accepted if they are short and specifically about writing for children or the life of the children's writer--keep in mind, however, that space is limited and if we use poetry it will be sparingly and most likely as filler or a sidebar. Reviews of books about the craft and business of writing and illustrating for children are welcome; however, we are unable to publish reviews of current children's books.
• Articles should be no more than 1200 words. It is important that you include a *brief* bio at the end of your article, brief meaning about 25 words or so.

Format requirements:

• Use 12 pt. Times New Roman font only. No fancy fonts. No excessive use of bold or italics. However, do properly format such things as titles of books (italicize). If you are uncertain, use a style guide, such as The Elements of Style or The Associated Press Stylebook. (I use the latter for reference when editing BorderLines.) You can also find style guides online.
• Use as little formatting in your piece as possible. No centering, no bold headings. (Bulleted lists are acceptable.) If you are sending information for a sidebar or an advertisement, don't format it to look like a sidebar or ad--just send the information.
• You have two options for sending the document: 1) as a Microsoft Word attachment, or 2) pasted in the body of an email. Please do not send anything in WordPerfect, pdf, or Mac programs.
• Submit your articles to the following address: p.d. wiles at gmail dot com. Articles submitted without following the above guidelines will be sent back to the author, with a request to resubmit after changing the article to meet the guidelines.

Copyright:

Copyrights to written works and illustrations appearing in BorderLines remain with the creators. By submitting your work for inclusion in BorderLines you are granting us the one-time right to publish your work.

Payment:

We are unable to pay for articles or illustrations at this time.