The other day, I mentioned that now is the time to write your holiday stories and submit them. Chicken Soup for the Soul has just sent a call for holiday stories for the 2020 book. Believe it or not, the deadline to submit is January 20, 2020, so you have a lot of time to come up with a story, or stories, for this book.
The book is centered on December holidays, but the majority will most likely be Christmas themed if this book runs like the previous ones. They are also asking for stories about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day and New Year's festivities. I suspect that, if you submit a story on one of the celebrations other than Christmas, you'll up your odds of being accepted.
One of the main guidelines that you should pay strict attention to is that they want a 'story' not a reflection or an essay or a slice of life. Your submission should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Is there a problem? Does it get solved? Readers love to be confronted with a problem and then read on to see how it turns out. Hopefully to the good. Add a little tension or maybe some humor. Don't simply 'report' what happened. Bring the reader into your story. Make them laugh or cry or be angry or sad. You want to write in such a way that you bring emotion to your reader. The story must be true.
The second new call for Chicken Soup for the Soul is a book that will be titled I Can't Stop Laughing. The deadline for submissions is July 19, 2019, which gives you plenty of time to write a new story or polish up an old one if it fits this theme. We've all had hilarious happenings in our lives. Weddings and funerals can both be a background for things that make us laugh, for it seems that mishaps occur often at both those events. What about funny things that have happened while on vacation or during a graduation ceremony?
We can all recall a humorous time, one that got us to rollicking with a full belly laugh. Remembering it and writing about it so that your reader is highly amused is not an easy task. I've seen writers who think they are writing something funny, but it falls flatter than a pancake. Guest Blogger, Kaye Curren, wrote about humor in personal essays. What you're aiming for here is an actual story, but much of what Kaye says in her post about humor in writing can work for either. Read it here.
Do a search on writing humorous stories if you feel you need a bit of extra help. Erma Bombeck was a master at writing humorous columns. Read a few to get a feel for how she did so well.
You can read more details about both these calls at the Chicken Soup for the Soul website. You'll also find a few other books that still need stories. Pay attention to the deadlines. Don't wait until the last minute to submit. When the editors find a story they like, they are ready to accept. When those 101 needed stories are ready to go, they are not going to take those last minute subs. That is, not unless they have trouble finding the quality of story they want, and one of the last minute subs might be just right. Still, I would suggest submitting well before the deadline.
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