Tah Dah! A Tree, verse by me, Diana Ting Delosh with art by Marta Alvarez is published in the April 2023 issue of Highlights High Five magazine on Page 4.
The submission to publication journey for these 4 short lines began last spring, when I saw a call for submissions by Highlights for their Magazines in the May 2022 issue of Children's Book Insider. I actually almost didn't submit, A Tree, because it is sooo short and simple. But I did submit it along with 2 others in mid-May. About a month later, the editors passed on the 2 that I thought had a better shot. But no word about A Tree. I waited, wondering if it had been overlooked. Waited a bit more. Then on August 31, while I was on vacation, I got an email from Highlights saying that they are delighted to accept, "A Tree" for publication.
WOO HOO!
Then more waiting. Finally on December 12, I receive a PDF to check for typos on my verse and to let me know that it's scheduled for the April 2023 issue. All in all it took about 10 months from submission to publication.
YAY!
Note: Highlights use Submittable.com for all their submissions. You can do multiple submissions BUT each submission must be sent individually. What's nice for us, doing the submitting is that: Submittable sends a confirmation letter for each of your submissions and you can check on your submission status yourself. Submittable also sends you an email to let you know when the editor has reviewed and passed on your submission, title. You don't have any direct contact with Highlights until they accept your work.
