My mom found this in whatever papers she’s been organizing and mailed it to me:
I believe this was my first attempt ever at having something published? I was nine years old at the time. I remember physically mailing a drawing to Highlights Magazine and knowing that was it– that was the only copy. In return, they sent this letter.
The internet existed at the time, but there was not yet a cheap, easy, accessible way to scan images, email them, upload them, etc.
Within about three years of receiving this letter, I figured out things like how to email fan art to RPGamer using the scanner in my art teacher’s room.
Just over ten years after receiving this letter, I was in a relationship with someone I met online because we were both self-publishing art and writing on DeviantArt, and I booked a flight to the UK to meet up with him. That’s how quickly things changed in wild and unpredictable ways.
There’s something so warm and personal about a magazine editor sending these letters out to every child who sent in a picture even though they received “thousands of drawings” every month. Re-reading this now, I can see how much they wanted their readers to feel encouraged to keep doing things like that.
I had four different magazines subscriptions as a child: Highlights, Ranger Rick, Kids Discover, and Cricket. I can still remember dropping everything else to read those when the new magazines came in every month! I would also keep all the old editions, and my parents would bring the back issues from each month around again year after year.
Eventually, I got a bit too old for my magazines and found a homeschool family to gift them to. The mom was super excited about it because of the quality of the old magazines, and I’m sure that they’re still in circulation among various homeschool groups even now.