Writers--Call for Submissions

 

                                 

I checked the Chicken Soup for the Soul site yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to see calls for submissions for new books the anthology series is planning for the coming months. 

The list of old and new calls with deadline dates follows:

• Angels   June 1, 2021
• Christmas   May 15, 2021
• Counting Your Blessings  April 30, 2021
• Crazy Family  August 31, 2021
• Dogs  August 31, 2021
• Grieving, Loss, and Recovery  August 31, 2021
• Humorous Stories August 30, 2021
• Kindness  August 31, 2021
• Messages from Heaven  August 31, 2021
• Miracles  August 31, 2021

Ten books need stories, some have been asking for a while, and others are brand new calls. I found it interesting that so many had August 31 deadlines, with one at August 30! Also, there are three books with deadline dates looming closely.

As always, remember to read their suggestions for the topics. Doing this small task can act as a trigger to a memory that would work well for a story. Read the list, then give yourself time to ponder. Your subconscious mind may pull up old memories or ideas. Give it a little time.

Read the lengthy Guidelines page again. Yes, you've read it over and over, but do it again. When a publisher offers such detailed guidelines, they want you to follow them. As I've said many times, 'study them' not merely 'read' them. When your story is finished, go back and double-check that it fits those guidelines.

Usually, the finished book comes out around two months after the deadline for stories date, but with the same date for so many books, that may not be the case for these books. 

Please do remember that they also accept poems for the books. However, the poem must tell a story. 

Spend some time going over the call for submissions for these ten books. The more stories they need, the better your odds are of being selected. 

Lastly, do not wait until just prior to or on the deadline date. The editors start selecting stories long before that date. Your odds are better if you submit earlier. 

Please share this post with ohter writers.

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Two Calls For Submissions

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.