Ready to Read
Guidelines for contributors
About Ready to Read
Scripts
Editorial considerations
Illustrations
Photographs
Presentation of scripts
Dealing with your script
Payment
Address
Ready to Read is a graded reading series published for the Ministry of Education to support reading programmes in junior classes (children aged 5 to 8 years). Ready to Read texts feature situations, characters, and language that reflect the lives and interests of New Zealand children. The series includes single titles, big books, and poem cards, as well as tapes, CDs, and support material for teachers.
The series includes books in a range of text forms including narratives, personal recounts, photo articles, reports, explanations, and instructions.
We would like to see more non-fiction material in the series. If you have an idea for a topic, we’d be happy to talk with you about it by phone or email. Note that we don’t commission Ready to Read scripts.
In considering material that is sent to us, we look closely at the following points:
• Will children want to read it? Does it hook the reader in, stimulate their thinking, pose a problem to be considered, raise questions and ideas in the readers’ mind? Does the topic make connections to the children’s experiences?
• Is the style appropriate? Is the text written from a child’s point of view? Does the writing draw the reader into the text?
• Is the language suitable? Ready to Read is a natural language series. Children draw strongly on their knowledge of oral language when they’re learning to read so it’s important to use words (and grammar) that children feel comfortable with. Scripts, particularly those for beginning readers, also need to have a high proportion of high-frequency (easily recognised) words to interest words. This doesn’t mean using language that is flat or dull. Language that is new and interesting provides a challenge for the reader and often makes a story one that will be read again and again.
• Is the shape and structure of the story appropriate? Is the text clearly structured? Are the ideas linked logically? In a narrative, is there a clear beginning, middle, and end? In a report, is there an introduction, a series of clear points, and a conclusion?
• Will the story or article work in the form of a book? Most of our Ready to Read titles have 7, 11, or 15 pages of text. Can you imagine the size and structure of your story working in this amount of space? Ready to Read texts at the beginning levels have approximately 30 to 50 words (and often only one line of text per page), those at the early levels have 50 to 150 words, and texts for more fluent readers may have up to 500 words. It’s helpful if submissions include a word count.
In general, artwork for the material we publish is commissioned by one of our art editors. If you have ideas on what you think the pictures should look like you can send these in with your work, but the way the text is edited will affect the final illustrations that are needed for the book. It is rare that illustrations (apart from photographs) are accepted with a manuscript. If you wish to be considered as an illustrator, read the Artwork guidelines
Photographs for Ready to Read texts are generally commissioned. If you wish to submit a text with photographs, please contact a Ready to Read editor first, to talk it through. You will need to have signed consent from all of the people shown in the photographs.
If you want to submit a script that captures an actual event (that can’t be reconstructed) please aim in the photographs, to cover in detail, the same ground as your script. If there is a person at the centre of the article, that person’s face needs to be seen clearly in at least some of the photographs. Remember that children will only be interested in looking at photographs that reflect a child’s point of view. You would need to provide lots of high-quality photographs (more than we could actually use) for us to select from. If you supply photographs, please don’t write on their backs.
For more information on photographs read the Suggestions for amateur photographers
Scripts may be posted to us (typed on one side of the page only) or sent by email. Please don’t do both. If posting scripts, please also include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for its possible return. Please tell us if the work has already been published somewhere else, or if it is also being considered by another publisher. Please don’t send the same script to different editors at Learning Media. If we feel a script would be better suited to a series other than the one it was submitted to, we will pass it on to the appropriate editor – and let you know.
As soon as we receive your work an acknowledgment will be sent to let you know that it has arrived safely. We try to let you know about acceptance or rejection as soon as possible after that. This is usually within twelve weeks.
When a script is accepted for the Ready to Read series, a contract is drawn up and we pay an advance against future royalties. This contract is an exclusive licence and means that the script may not be published by anyone else. We also make a one-off payment for the audio rights. All Ready to Read scripts are also produced as audio versions on CD and schools are permitted to make copies of the audio tracks.
Please send your scripts to:
The Editor
Ready to Read
Learning Media
Box 3293
WELLINGTON
Email: readytoread@learningmedia.co.nz
About Ready to Read
Scripts
Editorial considerations
Illustrations
Photographs
Presentation of scripts
Dealing with your script
Payment
Address
About Ready to Read
Ready to Read is a graded reading series published for the Ministry of Education to support reading programmes in junior classes (children aged 5 to 8 years). Ready to Read texts feature situations, characters, and language that reflect the lives and interests of New Zealand children. The series includes single titles, big books, and poem cards, as well as tapes, CDs, and support material for teachers.
The series includes books in a range of text forms including narratives, personal recounts, photo articles, reports, explanations, and instructions.
Scripts
Scripts are chosen for impact, and appeal and for text features that have instructional value, to teach specific skills and strategies. They feature topics and storylines that will engage children’s interest and foster a love of reading. Scripts that portray a child’s point of view help readers to make connections with their own experiences.We would like to see more non-fiction material in the series. If you have an idea for a topic, we’d be happy to talk with you about it by phone or email. Note that we don’t commission Ready to Read scripts.
Editorial considerations
In considering material that is sent to us, we look closely at the following points:
• Will children want to read it? Does it hook the reader in, stimulate their thinking, pose a problem to be considered, raise questions and ideas in the readers’ mind? Does the topic make connections to the children’s experiences?
• Is the style appropriate? Is the text written from a child’s point of view? Does the writing draw the reader into the text?
• Is the language suitable? Ready to Read is a natural language series. Children draw strongly on their knowledge of oral language when they’re learning to read so it’s important to use words (and grammar) that children feel comfortable with. Scripts, particularly those for beginning readers, also need to have a high proportion of high-frequency (easily recognised) words to interest words. This doesn’t mean using language that is flat or dull. Language that is new and interesting provides a challenge for the reader and often makes a story one that will be read again and again.
• Is the shape and structure of the story appropriate? Is the text clearly structured? Are the ideas linked logically? In a narrative, is there a clear beginning, middle, and end? In a report, is there an introduction, a series of clear points, and a conclusion?
• Will the story or article work in the form of a book? Most of our Ready to Read titles have 7, 11, or 15 pages of text. Can you imagine the size and structure of your story working in this amount of space? Ready to Read texts at the beginning levels have approximately 30 to 50 words (and often only one line of text per page), those at the early levels have 50 to 150 words, and texts for more fluent readers may have up to 500 words. It’s helpful if submissions include a word count.
Illustrations
In general, artwork for the material we publish is commissioned by one of our art editors. If you have ideas on what you think the pictures should look like you can send these in with your work, but the way the text is edited will affect the final illustrations that are needed for the book. It is rare that illustrations (apart from photographs) are accepted with a manuscript. If you wish to be considered as an illustrator, read the Artwork guidelines
Photographs
Photographs for Ready to Read texts are generally commissioned. If you wish to submit a text with photographs, please contact a Ready to Read editor first, to talk it through. You will need to have signed consent from all of the people shown in the photographs.
If you want to submit a script that captures an actual event (that can’t be reconstructed) please aim in the photographs, to cover in detail, the same ground as your script. If there is a person at the centre of the article, that person’s face needs to be seen clearly in at least some of the photographs. Remember that children will only be interested in looking at photographs that reflect a child’s point of view. You would need to provide lots of high-quality photographs (more than we could actually use) for us to select from. If you supply photographs, please don’t write on their backs.
For more information on photographs read the Suggestions for amateur photographers
Presentation of scripts
Scripts may be posted to us (typed on one side of the page only) or sent by email. Please don’t do both. If posting scripts, please also include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for its possible return. Please tell us if the work has already been published somewhere else, or if it is also being considered by another publisher. Please don’t send the same script to different editors at Learning Media. If we feel a script would be better suited to a series other than the one it was submitted to, we will pass it on to the appropriate editor – and let you know.
Dealing with your script
As soon as we receive your work an acknowledgment will be sent to let you know that it has arrived safely. We try to let you know about acceptance or rejection as soon as possible after that. This is usually within twelve weeks.
Payment
When a script is accepted for the Ready to Read series, a contract is drawn up and we pay an advance against future royalties. This contract is an exclusive licence and means that the script may not be published by anyone else. We also make a one-off payment for the audio rights. All Ready to Read scripts are also produced as audio versions on CD and schools are permitted to make copies of the audio tracks.
Address
Please send your scripts to:
The Editor
Ready to Read
Learning Media
Box 3293
WELLINGTON
Email: readytoread@learningmedia.co.nz