Announcing Ask ebooks!

This month we're launching two new Ask ebooks, available for Kindle, Nook, and iPad—part of the new digital Cricket list!  We've pulled together some of our favorite stories and cartoons about mad scientists and inventions and reformatted them for the smaller screens of e-readers. Check them out, and let us know what you think!

2013 Themes

We plan to set issue themes for 2013 in March; send me an email if you'd like a copy of the list once they're final. (They will also be posted here.) But if you have a really great story,  don't be shy to pitch it any time—sometimes a great story will inspire an issue theme instead of the other way around.

April, May/June, July/Aug content set

I know summer seems like a long way away, but we're usually working 6-8 months ahead in this business. And now we're up to fall again!  Thanks to everyone for the many excellent pitches on Electricity, The Census of Marine Life, and Bubbles and Balloons! Especially bubbles—we got SO many great ideas it was painful! As usual, we wish we had 10 more magazines so we could put them all in.

And Then What?

So you've sent me your pitch, and then...what happens? When it's time to set the issue contents, we look through everything to come up with a good mix that will make a really interesting and varied read. Eventually, after some pie throwing, we get an issue set, and I'll let you know if we want you to write something for us.
But what about the pitches we don't use? Ask gets a lot of pitches, many of which are really excellent, but we can't use everything.
In a perfect world, I would write a thoughtful personal email to everyone who sends in a story idea--but if I haven't managed to keep up with my email, you can check the status of issues here.

Pitching

If anything on the article theme list grabs your interest, send me a pitch!  At this early stage of the game, before we set the issue contents, I'm looking for anything and everything that might make an interesting magazine. The wackier and more thought-provoking the better!
If you're new to pitching, a pitch is just an email telling briefly me about your idea for the article in very general terms. What story will it tell (not just what subject it's about)? Why would make it a good Ask article? If it's unusual, how might it fit into or open a different perspective on the issue theme?

Welcome!

Welcome to the Ask author's page. I'm hoping this will be a simple way for the Ask editor (me) to share things with you, the cunning and talented Ask authors. This is something of an experiment--so let me know if it seems like a good idea, or if it's just one more blog to ignore. I've put the issue theme list is in it's own little box over there on the right, which I'll update as we move forward.