We are so fortunate to have Sylvan Baker with us to share some information about Frostfire Worlds magazine. Welcome, Sylvan! Would you please begin by telling us a little about how FrostFire Worlds got its start? Thank you! My name is Sylvan Baker, and I am the Lead Editor for FrostFire Worlds. The magazine started up in August 2013 and has run every quarter since then. It got its start as an intention to bring about a view on the worlds beyond ours, to open up the minds of young readers, and writers too. Most of all, the magazine was created to provide outer-realm and fantastical enjoyment guided towards the pre-teen and adolescent audience. What do you love most about your editor job? What do you find challenging about it? I absolutely love being able to see the immense amount of imagination that flows in other's works. To be able to read someone's raw work at its core shows me just how many viewpoints there are out there, even before initial publication. In saying that, it becomes a challenge pulling away enough to find which of those imaginative worlds can be accepted and which must be declined. For those who might not be familiar with Frostfire Worlds, tell us a bit about it. What sets it apart as a magazine? FrostFire Worlds, as I briefly stated before, is a magazine to open new realms. It is a place where writers are given the freedom to let his or her imagination soar, roar, rumble, or anything else it may want to do. It also gives the readers a chance to see that freedom and in turn receive escapism into those worlds. I hope that through the writers' works, the readers may also one day decide they would like to write with freedom, so that the vast worlds just keep on coming. You have very helpful submission guidelines on your website. Is there anything else you can share with us about what you particularly look for in a submission, the sorts of things that get you excited? To be honest, I think every submission pulls excitement in its own way. My best suggestion is start pulling in the very first lines. Hook your readers from the get-go so that the story cannot be put down until the end. The beginning and the end of the story, you will find, are the parts that readers will remember most. Catch them at both, and your world will remain attached in that reader’s memory for a very long time. What things turn you off to a submission? Any pet peeves? I find that I am a fairly laid-back reader, but when it comes to editing, what really gets me is sentence structure and grammar. The two of those are the hardest to ignore because each sort of corrupts the plot, in a way. If the sentences do not flow as they should, the story itself becomes jumpy and hard to follow. Anything that distracts me from the story itself becomes a pet peeve because, as I said, I am a sucker for being engrossed in the work from beginning to end. I would not want to be slapped in the face with a run-on or an outrageously misspelled or misplaced word midway through the great climax of the work! Any tips for writers and illustrators who might want to break into FrostFire Worlds? Suggestions that will increase their chances of acceptance? All I have to say is, open your mind! Do not be afraid to get wild and adventurous with whatever may be in your imagination. If you have that moment of "Oh, wouldn’t that be a cool story?" Do it! Go for it, because if you don't then someone else might. And why not make it a world of your own? Any other information about FrostFire Worlds you’d like to share with us? I would like to let each and every writer and illustrator know that we appreciate his or her consideration in us for submissions. We are grateful to the people who make us what we are. Even if we decline a piece of work, it does not mean it was not good enough for us. I think everyone has the chance to have his or her realm seen, and I am proud to be the editor who gets to see to it that some of those worlds are able to bloom. Thank you so much, Sylvan, for taking the time to share with us this helpful information and for being a part of creating such an engaging magazine for young people. For you writers who are now inspired to submit something to this wonderful publication, submission guidelines are here. This is a paying market. Writing for Children's Magazines, May 2016