Finding A Home

I finally found a home for my article, Potty Mouth. It was my assignment for the class I took with the Institute of children's Literature (ICL). I'm learning that it is easier to find a home for a story or an article when a publishing house works with a theme.

My article is a nonfiction piece on bad breath. I submitted my article to two magazines that published health articles. They rejected my article because it was not what they were looking for. Health is such a broad term so it is difficult to pinpoint what it is they want. Although I was hopeful, I wasn't discouraged by the rejection.

A few days later, I read a newsletter offered by ICL. I noticed that many students were being published by Stories for Children Magazine (SFC). So, I looked into it. SFC is not a themed magazine, but they have an idea calender that lists topics they'd like to publish. It was my luck to discover that SFC was looking for tooth fairy stories for their August 2009 issue in honor of National Smile Week. Even if my article wasn't a tooth fairy story, I thought that my dental health article would still tie in to the "idea." Apparently, they thought so too.

All my articles have been accepted by "themed" magazines. So, if you want to increase your chances of getting published, try looking into publishers working with a theme and write about that topic. Instead of finding a home, let the home find you.

Please check out my article titled, Potty Mouth, on their online magazine!

Writing My Passion

I went off on a tangent and submitted a story to Filipinas Magazine. It's a magazine, circulated worldwide, depicting Filipino life in the Philippines and abroad. Writing for the adult population is not my usual genre, but it's great exposure. I think that as long as you keep writing, no matter what you write, you become good at it. If it so happens that during the writing process, you realized you've created something special, the better.

Aside from writing, I also enjoy running. It was only natural for me to write about my passion. And that's one of the greatest tips given to me. You'll hear editors tell you, "Write from your heart." And so I did. That's what probably got me noticed. I write about my running experience on a separate blog: http://community.active.com/blogs/romelle, which has since changed to www.runninggirlsblog.blogspot.com. One of my friends, who has been following my marathon journey, enjoyed my blog. She suggested I share my marathon experience and submit it to Filipinas Magazine's First Person Column. The column features Filipinos who do extraordinary things.

I submitted my story in August 2008. Eight months later, it was published in the April 2009 issue of Filipinas Magazine. The two-page spread was complete with two photos of me and my parents who met me at the finish line of my marathon. That was one of my many great moments.