The following is a list of literary journals and magazines that publish writing by children and teenagers.
Some of them accept submissions from adults – and all of them accept submissions from youth of various ages.
Compared to most of our lists, more of these markets are closed, because these journals have more limited submission windows.
Just Children
Stone Soup This magazine by and for children has been around since 1973. They publish work by and for kids under 13 year of age. They publish stories and poems. Their website contains a lot of helpful tips about what they are specifically looking to publish. Submissions to a few categories are free, but some have fees attached. Learn more here.
Magic Dragon They publish stories, essays, poems, and art by young people. They don’t have strict age limits that I could find, but most work seemed to be by children under the age of 12. Learn more here.
Teens and Children
Paper Lanterns A literary journal for anyone who is 19 or under the age of 19. Writers under 16 receive a book voucher as payment. Anyone older than 16 receives payment. Learn more here.
Press Pause Press This literary journal publishes work by adults and by those 18 and younger. If you are younger than 18, they do have special guidelines you must follow. You can learn more here.
Highlights A very established children’s magazine, they allow general submissions from those 16 and up, but younger children are encouraged to submit poetry and art here.
Fingers Comma Toes This journal focuses on publishing work by youth, and while they don’t have a strict age range in the past they’ve published work written by people between the ages of 4 and 26. They are not currently open to submissions. To learn more, go here.
HaluHalo Journal They are open to submissions from anyone, between the ages of 12-25, but they “give preference to submissions from writers and artists of Southeast Asian decent”. What sets them apart is they promise that “every submission will receive feedback from our editors”. Learn more here.
Teens (and sometimes up)
Bridge: The Bluffton University Literary Journal This magazine of arts and letters is compiled by Bluffton University’s Department of English and Writing Program. They only publish artists and writers ages 14-24. Learn more here.
the borderline An international online literary magazine publishing poetry, prose, photography, and visual art from youth creatives aged 13–26. They are currently open for submissions to their fifth volume. You can learn more here.
Cast of Wonders Cast of Wonders is a young adult short fiction market, open to stories up to 6,000 words in length, that they publish in a podcast format. They have detailed submission guidelines but are particularly open to work by young writers. They also have a special submission window every year for for writers ages 20 and under and you can see their schedule here, but they allow younger authors to submit even outside of that, as long as they include that information in their cover letter. Learn more here.
BALLOONS Literary Journal An online journal that publishes poetry, fiction, and art that is primarily aimed at young readers aged around 12-16, but is unconventional. They accept submissions from adults and teens. Learn more here.
Adroit Journal Adroit Journal was founded by a high school student over a decade ago now, and it is currently partially run by by high school and college students. Adroit publishes poetry, fiction, flash fiction, art/photography, and cross-genre works by adults and teens. They have a number of opportunities available to young writers, the most notable being the Summer Mentorship Program.
One Teen Story This magazine publishes three stories a year. Stories are written by teenagers and have to be submitted as part of their yearly contest. Entry is free, the winners are paid, and the next contest opens up in Fall 2024. Learn more here.
Élan They accept original fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, screen writing, plays and visual art from students ages 14 to 18. They publish two online and one print issue a year. You can learn more here.
Polyphony Lit This international literary journal run by and for teens is only open to submissions from high-schoolers. They have excellent covers. You can learn more here.
Levitate Once a year, the Chicago High School for the Arts publishes their literary magazine Levitate. They are currently closed to submissions. Learn more here.
Blue Marble Review A literary journal open to students ages 13-22. Learn more here.
And Galleons Submissions for this magazine are currently closed. Writers must be between the ages of 13-22. Learn more here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
