Thank you for your interest in sharing your work with us! At Exchange, we delight at the opportunity of bringing together stories and perspectives from across the early childhood world in rich, meaningful, and engaging conversation. A true ‘exchange’ of ideas!
On this page you will find information about our editorial intentions or themes, upcoming print submission deadlines, and a few notes on style. We hope that this helps you feel confident as you move forward in your work. That said, if you have additional questions please contact [email protected].
Please fill out this form to submit work for us. For consideration in either our print and/or digital magazine, we will ask that you have the following things ready:
- A completed article draft of between 1500 and 5000 words (excluding references, and ideally as a Word or Google Doc)
- Note, if you only wish to publish in the digital magazine, we recommend that you keep things under 1500 words.
- Your email and a brief author bio (under 150 words).
- Image files you would like to include in a high-resolution PNG or JPEG format. (Exception: If you are awaiting image releases or permissions and/or do not have images ready, still submit your writing and we will be in touch about images in due time).
Note: You can also learn more about and submit an ExchangeEveryDay by using our submissions form.
Submission Information – Due Dates + Editorial Themes
Our print magazine is published quarterly. Below are the editorial themes and print* deadlines for Exchange.
FALL (Aug.) 2025 – Storytelling for Advocacy and Inspiration
- Articles Due: May 1, 2025
“Facts bring us to knowledge, but stories lead to wisdom.”–Rachel Naomi Remen
To be human is to tell and be immersed in the world of stories. In this issue we are interested in many kinds of stories, such as: who we are as people and as educators; stories about children and who they are; stories about the early care and education field in general, including leading, teaching, and working in community.
We are also interested in articles about how you’ve used storytelling for advocacy. In the early care and education field, advocacy is a popular word. At its core, it involves action. Storytelling can be a tool to inspire the kind of action that leads to transformation, change, and lasting impact.
As you write, remember: stories are most effective when they are honest, authentic and brave. We look forward to reading your story.
*Note: Submissions for the digital magazine are accepted any time!
WINTER (Nov.) 2025 – Protecting Play
- Articles Due: August 1, 2025
“Play is the primary way children were designed to learn.”–Kathy Hersh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff
Years of extensive research support the fact that providing the time, space and appropriate adult support for children’s play leads to optimal learning and development. Yet, over the past decades, children’s play has been under threat as the focus on adult-directed activities has increased, time in nature has decreased, and educators feel increasing pressure to meet rigidly imposed learning standards.
In this issue our focus will be on creating a community of play advocates. We invite your articles on topics such as: effective ways to advocate for play; the benefits of play in multiple learning domains; ways to support educators in effectively scaffolding children’s play; strategies you’ve developed to help families understand the importance of play. We look forward to hearing from you.
*Note: Submissions for the digital magazine are accepted any time!
We are a small (yet mighty team) and appreciate your patience throughout the process. Our typical turnaround time is six weeks; and yet it may be shorter or longer depending on any plethora of factors. However, you will receive a reply and feedback about your work no matter what.
You can immediately expect a confirmation email letting you know your work has been received. Then, once we have reviewed the work, you will receive a decision.
- Acceptance: Congratulations! We are honored to be able to share your work! We will reach out to you to with any comments, questions, edits, and notes that surfaced as we engaged with your piece. We will also send you an author agreement and our copyright and permissions policies. Print authors receive a complementary issue of the magazine.
- Mentorship: Wow! We love this work and see potential in the piece you submitted. In addition, this piece may need more substantive edits to be a good fit for Exchange. We will email you and invite you to meet with us to chat about next steps and, we hope, get your work published!
- Not Selected: Do not dismay! Often, this decision is due to factors that have little to do with writing ability or style, let alone the level of interest we take in your content. You will still receive high-level feedback about our decision and our whole-hearted encouragement to submit again!
We Always Welcome These Topics
While each of our issues is grounded in a particular theme, there are certain things that always feel relevant to the work. Therefore, we always welcome work that relates to the themes below!
- Innovative + Inspiring Pedagogies
- Nature- and land-based pedagogies
- Indigenous and culturally-sustaining pedagogies
- Emergent and child-centered practices
- Visual and multimodal expressions
- Perspectives on / stories from family child care (FCC)
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, + Belonging
- Anti-bias and anti-racist practices
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Indigenous and culturally-sustaining pedagogies
- Multilingual learners and communities
- Working with and supporting children of diverse ability / with special rights
- Creating communities grounded in inclusion
- Social + Emotional Development
- Social and emotional learning (including expansive paradigms)
- Trauma-informed practices and perspectives
- Practitioner self-care
- Working with families
- Supporting families through life transitions
- Advocacy
- Participatory community work
- Early childhood issues and advocacy
- Strategies for taking action
- The Arts + Creativity
- Supporting creativity and innovation in children and in teachers
- Arts-based work, research, and practice
- Literacy + Storytelling
- Emergent literacy practices and perspectives
- Work that embraces an expansive approach to literacy / multiliteracies
- Selecting and curating literature for children
- Teaching + Learning
- Teacher stories and research
- Teacher training and formation
- Teacher practices
- Professional Learning + Growth
- Institutional + pedagogical leadership
- Professional growth and development
- Communities of practice and co-inquiry
- Mentoring, coaching, and team-building
We tend to gravitate toward AP style. Those who prefer some high-level guidance may find this list handy.
- References/Citations – AP Style
- Italicize book titles.
- Contractions – Typically, reserve these for for direct quotations.
- Periods – Single space after a period, please.
- Numbers – Spell out zero through nine, the word “percent”, and numerical figures when they start a sentence. Always use numbers when referring to age.
Please note, however, that not having a perfectly-formatted piece will in no way impact our decisioning process! We are honored to engage with your ideas and your stories! Please spend more time thinking about the ideas than the italics.