YOU Can Write for Chicken Soup for the Soul

 

Yes, YOU can write for an anthology. Chicken Soup for the Soul is one of the longest-running and most popular of all of them. There have been others, but they seem to run for a while, then quit. New ones pop up now and then; some make it and others don't. 

However, Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology has had approximately 275 books published, each with a different theme. They have sold 110 million books in the USA and Canada. Even more amazing is the fact that they have published in 43 languages, and in 100 countries. The grand total of books they have sold worldwide is around 500 million. Phenomenal? Yes!

I've submitted many stories to Chicken Soup, and 24 of them have been published. Many others were not. Submitting to this publisher is no different than when sending your work to others in hopes of being published. 

You do not have to be a professional writer, one who works at this craft for a living. I'm a Hobbyist writer, but many of the stories in these books are written by people who have no background in being published. So, yes, YOU can write for Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies. 

FIRST:  Go to www.chickensoup.com and look at the home page on their website. Then, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Submit a Story. You'll be taken to a page that has three parts to it. The first page gives you information on books the company is working on and needs stories submitted. Under each title is some information as to what they are looking for, a deadline date, and a list of prompts that might trigger a story in your mind. 

SECOND:  Go to the upper left of this page and click on Guidelines. You'll find a treasure trove of information there. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to study the guidelines. Read them several times. The editors are very particular about the stories fitting within the guidelines given. If you are submitting a story, check it with these guidelines to see if it fits before you submit.

THIRD: Choose a book title and write a story that will fit. Write it, edit, revise, and proofread your first draft. The same with the second draft, or more if necessary. You'll want to send your best effort. 

FOURTH: On this same initial page, you'll find a third choice. Submit a Story. Click on it and fill out the form. Then upload your story from your Documents file. Be sure to fill out all the information asked for. 

MORE HINTS: The editors like a little dialogue, some humor (if fitting), something that will touch your heart, maybe even make you shed a tear or two. They indicate this in the guidelines. It also needs to be a 'story' with a beginning, middle, and ending. Not a tribute to someone, not an essay, not a sermon. A story!

THEN: The long wait begins. Chicken Soup does not send rejection letters or emails. Personally, I would like to have one if my story didn't make it. Then, I know for sure and can move on. Usually, if you have not received a notice of being on the short list by two months after the deadline date, your story probably didn't make it. Ah yes, the short list. If you receive notice that you are on this, the chances are very good that your story made it. But even so, a small number will get cut before the final list is made. They usually publish 101 stories per book. Choosing from the thousands of submissions cannot be an easy job. 

The stories are about everyday people in everyday lives. So, yes YOU can write for Chicken Soup for the Soul. 

You Can Write For Chicken Soup

Chicken Soup for the Soul sent out a call for submissions for a new anthology recently. This book is called Curvy and Confident. Nice title--that was my first thought. Women who don't have the much-desired perfect figure--maybe a size 8--can go through a gamut of emotions. They can be defensive, depressed or delighted with their own image.

This book will speak to the joys and sorrows of being more curvy than you might like. Body image is a hot topic in today's world among teens and adult women. Even tweens and younger are concerned with body image far more than ever before. I would hope that the stories in this book will all be confidence builders.

Here's your chance to tell a story to help others who may not have the perfect body and maybe increase your own confidence level at the same time. We are all unique individuals and don't look at at topic with the same perspective. So many things come into play--the way our mothers raised us, the experiences we had at school and as we moved into the working world or marriage and motherhood.

One thing I'd like to stress is that you do not have to be a professional writer to get a story accepted in the Chicken Soup anthologies. Everyday people have stories to tell and can write of their life experiences. If they need editing, CS editors will help.

Another important item is to read the guidelines carefully. If you've never submitted to this anthology series, read and study--see that word, it's study--those guidelines. They are given to you for a purpose. Every story needs to fit those guidelines, all of them, not just a few.

If you want to read more about what the editors are seeking for this book and a list of others in the works, check here.

Send stories for these other books, too:

• Angels and Miracles
• Best Mom Ever
• Blended Families
• College Student Stories (written by college students)
• Dreams and Synchronicities
• Parent to Parent
• Stories About Cats
• Stories About Dogs
• Stories About Teachers and Teaching
• The Joy of Christmas
• Spirit of Canada

Will professional writers have a better chance at being accepted? The simple answer is probably a Yes. The reason is that a professional writer knows how to follow guidelines, how to include emotion, sensory details and active verbs. She/he knows how to open with an interesting hook, how to build tension and how to bring the story to a satisfying ending. If you aim at those things and have a good story to tell, even though you are not a professional writer, you have a very good chance of being accepted. As mentioned earlier in this post, if your story is a good one but not perfectly written, CS editors are willing to help make it fit their guidelines.

A Surprise For Me In A New Chicken Soup for the Soul Book

A few days ago, the UPS delivery truck pulled up in front of our house, the driver zipped up to the front porch and dropped a box of books. Inside were ten copies of the newest Chicken Soup book that has one of my stories in it. I had Ken take a picture of me holding the book, a bit blurry but it's me and the book--my 15th story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

The book is titled Reboot Your Life and my story is "Forgiveness and Freedom" which is in a section called Adjust Your Attitude. I'm delighted to have the story published but it got there in a roundabout way.

I had a vivid dream one night about my father, who had died many years earlier. In the dream, Dad said something to me that struck a nerve. I couldn't forget about it for days. When I finally faced the situation and made a decision, I did have a new way of looking at some long-festering feelings. And I knew that my life would be better for it.

Later, I wrote the story and submitted it for consideration in a Chicken Soup book on Forgiveness. The story would be perfect for this particular book. Or so I thought. Silly me! Imagine my surprise when I received a notice that my story had made the final cut in the Reboot Your Life book. What?

Apparently, someone read my story when they were reading for the Forgiveness book and decided it would work well in the other book. So, the story jumped the book lines and landed in one I'd never considered submitting to.

Several years ago, Chicken Soup selected one of my stories for their Christmas stories book. It wasn't one I'd submitted for the book that year. Instead, it was one I'd submitted 2 or more years earlier. They had kept it in their files and ended up using it. You can imagine my surprise when that happened.

These experiences show that Chicken Soup editors will put a story where they think it fits best and they will look back for earlier stories to use much later. I think it's part of what makes this anthology publisher so successful. They work hard to make sure the stories fit the book. It also gives hope to writers to know that, even if their story did not make it right away, it could pop up later. Believe me, when that happens, it's a delightful surprise. I'm guessing it doesn't happen frequently, but it does happen.

Reboot Your Life is to be released September 16th. The retail price in most bookstores is $14.95. You can pre-order on Amazon for a discounted price on the paperback and another special price to purchase it for your Kindle reader. Check it out here. Holiday gift giving season is closer than you think. Need I say more?

More Chicken Soup

Awhile back, I wrote about receiving notice that one of my submissions to Chicken Soup for the Soul books had made it to the finals. The editor said that the book would be released in December and final stories selected and writers notified in November. The book's title is Shaping The New You.

So, I was surprised to receive a letter with my story attached, saying it had made it into the book and asking me to check any edits they had done, sign the contract and return. March seems a whole lot more reasonable, since putting a book together for publication is not done in less than a month. When I checked the story, I was pleased to see that they had not changed a word.

This will be my tenth Chicken Soup for the Soul book. An even dozen would be nice, so I'm working on a new story for the grandmother book.

Check out the website http://www.chickensoup.com/ to see what books are still in the works. It might trigger a story idea for you. Be sure to read the guidelines carefully. Any story that doesn't fit within those guidelines will be eliminated immediately. When I received the first notice from the editor saying my story had made it to the finals, she mentioned that only 5% of the stories submitted had made it that far. I'm willing to bet that many of those that didn't make it were good stories but the writers did not follow the guidelines.