Your true stories may be in demand by Chicken Soul For the Soul.
Even if you've never been published before, submit a story. According to Ken & Dahlynn McKowen, co-authors of four Chicken Soup For the Soul books, including Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur’s Soul, “approximately 40% of the stories accepted by Chicken Soup are from unpublished writers.”
If your story is accepted you'll be paid $200, plus 10 copies of the book you're in.
Here are some STORY WRITING TIPS to help you get started, from Chicken Soup for the Soul's own Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Amy Newmark.
I recently had the privilege of being interviewed by Amy for her Chicken Soup for the Soul daily podcast and we talked about the transformative power of both writing and reading these stories:
These are the topics Chicken Soup for the Soul is currently accepting stories for (from their Possible Book Topics page) arranged by submission deadline date:
* Laughter Is the Best Medicine
**Please note: this title was changed from I Can't Stop Laughing!**
We are looking for stories about something that happened to you in your life - in your relationship with a partner or spouse, a parent or child, a family member or friend, at work or at home – that made you and the people around you laugh out loud. Did you mean for it to be funny? Did the other person mean to make you laugh? Did a situation just get out of control? Did a misunderstanding turn into a comedy of errors? We can’t wait to hear your true stories. We want them to be silly, outrageous and hilarious, and they absolutely must make us laugh!
Here are some suggested topics but we know you can think of many more:
- Laughing at “inappropriate” times
- Slip of the tongue - words that came out wrong
- Misunderstandings – I thought you said…
- Obsessions and Compulsions
- Pranks that worked – Gotcha!!
- Pranks that backfired – Oh no!
- Annoying habits - if you don’t stop doing that I’m going to scream!
- Aggravating pet behavior
- Embarrassing moments
- Wedding mishaps
- Funeral foul-ups
- Holiday meltdowns
- Kitchen/dinner party disasters
- Sports catastrophes
- Family foibles
- Zany vacations
- Moving-day mayhem
- Travel turmoil
**Please submit your story or poem using your real name but if your work is selected to be published in the book, we expect many of you to use a pen name and/or change the names of the people in your story to protect the innocent (or guilty!).
The deadline date for story and poem submissions has been extended to September 30, 2019.
* The Golden Years or Second Wind
So, you’re a certain age now, and you’re ready for what’s next. You might be enjoying an empty nest, or starting a second career, or winding down a first one. You might be downsizing, or traveling, or caring for elderly parents.
You might be going on the adventure of a lifetime or taking long walks in the woods. The one thing you know for sure is that you’re not ready to stop living! You feel energetic and young and there is still so much more to see and do and give and enjoy.
We are looking for stories about the humorous or serious sides of life after 60. Here are some suggested topics but we know you can think of many more:
- Time for a new career
- Trying new things
- Bucket lists and adventure
- Volunteering and mentoring
- Exercising and sports
- Sports cars!
- New love interests
- Internet dating
- The wisdom of age
- New passions
- Raising grandchildren… or still raising grown children!
- Moving to a new place
- Moving to an active retirement community
- Taking the time to do what you’ve always wanted to do
- Handling loss and illness
- Caring for elderly parents
- Using new technology
- Reinventing yourself, in big ways and small
- Handling a spouse’s retirement or new career
- Travel
- Downsizing and moving
- Divorce and recovery
The deadline date for story and poem submissions has been extended to September 30, 2019.
* You Go, Girl
Today's woman is independent, self-confident and feisty but at the same time, nurturing, loving and caring. Today's woman can be everything she wants to be.
Being a confident and strong woman does not mean being bossy or not needing others. It means being able to take care of yourself without having to look to others. It means having the confidence to make decisions without having to check with someone else for approval. You believe in yourself and are confident in your own skin.
You are in charge of your life and the decisions you make. A woman doesn't have to lose her femininity or become a bully. A woman doesn't have to be single or divorced to be looked upon as independent. Married women and women in relationships are independent, too. We are looking for your true stories on how you are running your life, how you became empowered and achieved independence. Your story will help young women feel stronger, more capable, and more confident... more empowered.
Here are some suggested topics but we know you can think of many more:
- Becoming your true self — not doing something because someone else thinks you should or because it is expected of you
- Balancing a relationship and independence
- Confidence — coming forward and telling the truth, like it is, regardless of the consequences
- Sexual harassment and how you fought back
- Self-esteem — understanding that you are terrific and can do anything
- Epiphanies — what motivates you?
- Being brave enough to take educated risks
- Equality in the workplace, in promotions, job responsibilities and pay
- Starting, owning, selling your own business
- Girls and women in sports — at school, college, professionally, Olympics
- Women in what used to be considered men's roles/jobs/occupations
- Thinking outside the box
- Becoming a role model or mentor for other young women. What role models helped you?
- Speaking up for your rights or the rights of other women
- Balancing marriage, kids and your own independence
- Self-motivation — waiting for no one to get it done
- Following your passion
- Accepting help graciously/Asking for help when necessary
- Raising sons and daughters who are feministsEducating family workers, colleagues, friends as to women's rights and abilities
Please remember, we no longer publish "as told to" stories. Write your story or poem in the first person. Do not ghostwrite a story for someone else unless you list that person as the author. If a story was previously published, we will probably not use it unless it ran in a small circulation venue. Let us know where the story was previously published in the "Comments" section of the submission form.
All stories should be true — we do not publish fiction — and should be no longer than 1,200 words. If your story was already published in a past Chicken Soup for the Soul book, please do not submit it. We will not publish it again. If you submitted a story for one of our previous books and we did not publish it, please feel free to submit it to this book if you think it will fit. That way we will be sure it is considered for this new edition.
The deadline date for story and poem submissions is December 15, 2019.
Stories about Self-care and Me Time
Do you ever say that you’ll take care of yourself AFTER you finish your to-do list? That’s what we did until we started putting ourselves ON our to-do list, right there with the other people we care for.
Self-care is what we all neglect most. And we’re waking up to its importance. We care for children and partners and parents and friends. We care for pets and homes and volunteer organizations. But, in order to take care of others you must first take care of yourself. And that is not being selfish.
Taking care of yourself is not just about your physical health but includes your emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing too. Self-care includes that all-important “me time” whether that means exercising or reading or meditating or having lunch with friends. Whatever your psyche needs is your “me time.”
We are looking for your stories about how you neglected your self-care and then how you realized its importance and so you now engage in it.
Here are some ideas to get your creative juices going:
- When you realized you were NOT engaging in self-care, realized how important that is and what that realization was like
- How you turned the situation around and found your self-care and your me time
- The consequences of NOT taking care of yourself
- The benefits of proper self-care and me time
- The benefits of getting enough sleep
- The consequences of being sleep-deprived
- How do you handle your self-care and me time? Share your tips and examples.
- Have you made a difference to friends and family members too by encouraging them to take care of themselves?
- Your favorite ways to spend “me time”
- How do you relax and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul?
- Self-care for physical wellbeing, whether it’s proper nutrition, exercise, environment, making those doctor appointments, addressing addictions (including the legal ones)
- Self-care for emotional and mental wellbeing, whether it’s stress reduction, editing your calendar, changing who you spend time with, cutting back on obligations, seeing a therapist
- What’s your strategy for including self-care in your daily life?
- What have you added to your life?
- What have you eliminated from your life? '
- WHO have you eliminated from your life? Self-care includes removing negativity and toxic people from your life, too!
The deadline date for story and poem submissions is December 31, 2019.
* The Magic of Cats
Our cat titles are so very popular, and you have so many great stories to share with us, that we do a new cat title every eighteen months or so. Here is another chance for you to share a story or two about the member of your family who just happens to walk on four feet!
We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1200 words. Tell us about the magic of your cat or the magic of a cat you know. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. We can’t wait to read all the heartwarming, inspirational, and magical stories you have about a cat and the magic that cat brings to your life or the life of your family!
Here are some ideas to start you out:
- My cat warms my heart and makes me smile
- My cat seems to be able to read my mind at times
- My cat improves my life
- My cat can almost talk – and I understand
- My cat makes me laugh
- My cat shows me unconditional love
- My cat can forgive and forget
- My cat shows empathy and an understanding of many situations
- My cat thinks he is human
- My cat has expectations that she assumes, as her human, I will follow up on
- My cat has some peculiar habits
- My cat loves the holidays… sleeping in the sun… riding in the car… having a bath… loud noises… my significant other… etc.
- My cat hates the holidays… sleeping in the sun… riding in the car… having a bath… loud noises… my significant other… etc.
- And any other things you can think of…
The deadline date for story and poem submissions is January 15, 2020.
* The Magic of Dogs
Our dog titles are so very popular, and you have so many great stories to share with us, that we do a new dog title every eighteen months or so. Here is another chance for you to share a story or two about the member of your family who just happens to walk on four feet!
We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1200 words. Tell us about the magic of your dog or the magic of a dog you know. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. We can’t wait to read all the heartwarming, inspirational, and magical stories you have about a dog and the magic that dog brings to your life or the life of your family!
Here are some ideas to start you out:
- My dog warms my heart and makes me smile
- My dog seems to be able to read my mind at times
- My dog improves my life
- My dog can almost talk – and I understand
- My dog makes me laugh
- My dog shows me unconditional love
- My dog can forgive and forget
- My dog shows empathy and an understanding of many situations
- My dog thinks he is human
- My dog has expectations that she assumes, as her human, I will follow up on
- My dog has some peculiar habits
- My dog loves the holidays… taking a walk… riding in the car… having a bath… loud noises… my significant other… etc.
- My dog hates the holidays… talking a walk… riding in the car… having a bath… loud noises… my significant other… etc.
- And any other things you can think of…
The deadline date for story and poem submissions is January 15, 2020.
Thank you!
* Stories about Christmas
Everyone loves holiday stories and our contributors write great ones. They are so good that we create a new edition for the holiday season every year. We are now collecting stories for our HOLIDAY 2020 book and we are looking for stories about the entire December holiday season, including Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and New Year’s festivities too.
We want to hear about your holiday memories and traditions. The rituals of the holiday season give a rhythm to the years and create a foundation for our lives, as we gather with family, with our communities at church, at school, and even at the mall, to share the special spirit of the season, brightening those long winter days. Please share your special stories about the holiday season with us. Be sure that they are “Santa safe” so that we don’t spoil the magic for precocious readers!
Here are some suggested topics, but we know you can think of many more:
- The True Meaning of the Holidays
- Holiday Traditions
- Memories of the Holiday Season
- The Love of Family
- Family Reunions
- Holiday Humor
- Gift Giving
- Gift Receiving
- Regifting
- Decorating
- Eat, Eat, Eat... and Be Merry
- Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child
- Christmas Through the Eyes of Your Pets!
- Here Comes Santa Claus
- Things that went wrong!
- Holiday food and traditions
- The weird things your family does
- Funny anecdotes
- ... and any other stories you would like to share
If we published your story in a previous Christmas book please do not submit it again. We will not publish it. If you submitted a story and we did not publish it and it will fit in this book, please do submit it again.
The deadline date for story and poem submissions is January 30, 2020.
Hooked on Hockey
If you love hockey, if you play hockey, if you are a hockey fan, we are looking for stories from you! We are looking for stories for this book written by and for hockey fans and families. The book will include stories from everyday hockey players and fans like you, as well as revealing personal stories from some of your favorite NHLers and hockey insiders. The deadline for story and poems submissions is January 30, 2012.
