American Educator: Spotlight Market
For this week’s spotlight market, we look at American Educator, a professional magazine published by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Spotlight markets are opportunities for writers to submit their writing to markets open to submissions.
For this week’s spotlight market, we look at American Educator, a professional magazine published by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Spotlight markets are opportunities for writers to submit their writing to markets open to submissions.
American Educator: Spotlight Market
Established in 1977, American Educator is a professional magazine published by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). It reaches more than 900,000 public school teachers, higher education faculty, and education researchers and policymakers. The magazine concentrates on significant ideas and practices in education, civics, and the condition of children in America and around the world.
A few recent stories on their summer issue include "Supporting Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences," by David Murphy and Vanessa Sacks; "Teaching in a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom," by Patricia A. Jennings; and "Understanding the Needs of Children with Incarcerated Parents," by Kristin Turney.
This magazine pays $300-1,000 for unsolicited nonfiction articles of 1,000-5,000 words, depending on the topic. The editors advise, "Avoid overwriting. A well-written article of 1,500 words, for example, has a much better chance of being accepted than a lengthy, rambling story."
What They’re Looking For: Their submission guidelines state, "We are interested in articles on a wide range of topics, including new trends in education, politics, well-researched news features on current problems in education, education law, professional ethics, and thoughtful or thought-provoking essays that explore current social issues relevant to American society. We also welcome articles on international affairs and labor issues of interest to teachers as AFT members."
Personal narratives of classroom experiences are read with interest, but few find publication. Those that do are typically concise and timely. Articles involving a study or research project should explain the significance of the research and summarize its findings while avoiding education and research jargon. The editors say, "We do not publish research papers, doctoral theses, etc., as articles."
As with most magazines, it's advisable to read a few issues to get a sense of appropriate style and focus for your target audience.
How to Submit: The editors prefer queries to manuscripts. When sending manuscripts, writers should avoid sending their only copy. Editors try to respond within 2 months. Remember to include contact information.
Submissions can be mailed to editor Amy Hightower, American Educator, 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001-2079, or sent via email to ae@aft.org.
Writer's Digest Annual Conference | August 22-25 | New York City
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
