“Always remember one thing. If you respectfully ask for help, you give the other person a chance to be a good guy. You’re giving as well as getting. Don’t ever apologize or embarrassed to be part of that process.” — Hap Glaudi
Excerpt from “A Sportcaster’s Advice,” Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Note from Marlene: I love the concept of “give the other person a chance to be a good guy.”
Do you think submitting stories to Chicken Soup For The Soul books are for someone else, not for you? Do you think you have no chance of your writing being selected?
Well, I know three people who have had their writing accepted.
So, why not you?
One of the key things is to follow their guidelines.
Thank you, John Lesjack, for letting me know about the holiday topics (deadline 5/1/22).
John has been published in Chicken Soup books over ten times.
Nancy Julien Kopp has been published in Chicken Soup books over 20 times!
Crazy, eccentric, wacky lovable, fun families (4/30/22)
Cats (deadline 5/30/22)
Dogs (deadline 5/30/22)
How stepping outside my comfort zone changed me (deadline 7/31/22)
Chicken Soup Holiday Topics
Are the memories from this past holiday season still fresh in your mind? We sure hope so! That’s why, just a few days into the new year, we are sending this request to you for holiday stories. And we mean the entire season — from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Hanukkah to Kwanzaa to Boxing Day to New Year’s. We want stories about every one of them.
We want holiday stories that share your traditions and memories of normal times — pre-pandemic. We want your holiday stories that share how your traditions and celebrations changed because of the pandemic. Please remember to make sure your submissions are “Santa safe” so we don’t spoil the magic for our precocious readers!
Here are some suggestions but don’t let these limit you. We know you can think of many more.
• New holiday traditions started — and to be continued? • Thanksgiving — holiday fun, disasters, and family bonding • Hanukkah — all by itself or incorporated into your Christmas tradition • Kwanzaa — traditions and celebrations • Boxing Day — traditions and celebrations • The weeks leading up to Christmas — anticipation, energy, the kids • Using technology, Zoom or FaceTime gatherings instead of meeting in-person • Decorating — oh, how we love to do that! • Undecorating — oh, how we hate to do that!! • Shopping and finding the perfect gift • Shopping on-line only — hits and misses! • Staying home instead of traveling • Holiday humor — things that went wrong • Holidays through the eyes of the children • Around the table — eat, eat, eat and be merry • Family reunions • Unique gifts, creativity, the best gift you ever gave or received • Unique gifts, creativity — the worst gift you ever gave or received! • Regifting • Happy New Year! • Holiday miracles, amazing coincidences, answered prayers • Gratitude, counting your blessings • Seeing the silver linings • Forgiveness and how you used it during the holidays • Family dynamics — milestones, tender moments, epiphanies • What you learned during the holidays
About Chicken Soup for the Soul, from their website:
Chicken Soup for the Soul, the world’s favorite and most recognized storyteller, publishes the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. With well over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada alone, more than 250 titles, and translations into more than 40 languages, “chicken soup for the soul” is one of the world’s best-known phrases and is regularly referenced in pop culture. Today, over 25 years after it first began sharing happiness, inspiration and hope through its books, this socially conscious company continues to publish a new title a month
Please visit Story Guidelinespage, which will answer many of your questions about subject matter, length, and style. Following the guidelines will give you the best possible chance of being accepted.
For a list of new topics, complete with descriptions and deadlines, please visit Possible Book Topicspage.
There are many Chicken Soup for the Soul books in development. If you have a great story or poem you want to submit but it doesn’t fit with any of the topics below, please save it and check again to see if a topic has been added that’s a better match.
Chicken Soup for the Soul is always looking for new talent. So whether you are a regular contributor or new to their family, please share your story or poem with them.
Some of the current topics for Chicken Soup for the Soul:
Age Is Just a Number 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. Deadline: June 15, 2020.
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.
We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1,200 words. Tell us about your cat. Tell us how he made you smile. How she “rescued” you after you “rescued” her. How she brought your family closer together, helped you find love, inspired you to change something in your human life. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. We can’t wait to read all the heartwarming, inspirational, and hysterical stories you have about your cats! Deadline:November 30, 2020.
Making “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. Deadline: September 30, 2020.
Miracles & Divine Intervention 101 Awesome Stories about Hope, Miracles, Angels, Amazing Coincidences, Unexplained Happenings, Answered Prayers, Miraculous Healing, and Messages from Heaven
Miracles are all around us if we’re open to them. Sometimes we just can’t explain how good things came about. Are they celestial, otherworldly, heavenly? However they happened, these events give us peace and comfort, guidance, hope and faith.
These true stories can be religious or non-religious. We just want them to make people say “wow”—stories that will give our readers chills, in a good way! Deadline: August 31, 2020
What are you writing these days? Some people find it difficult to concentrate. Others are filling pages with poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and creative nonfiction.
It might be a perfect time to chronicle what is going on in your life . . . if you write this as a journalist would . . . just the facts, that’s nonfiction.
If you add vignettes and personalize your story, that’s creative nonfiction.
Here’s what guest blogger Nancy Julien Kopp says about fiction, creative nonfiction, and fictional narrative.
Most people are aware of the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is made up, nonfiction is true.
There is, however, a differentiation between nonfiction and creative nonfiction. Nonfiction is generally expository in that it describes, explains or is informative. If you wrote about leaves in a forest in Montana, your readers would probably learn a great deal about the topic. You would write it as straightforward as possible after doing some research and using your own knowledge of leaves in this part of our country.
Creative nonfiction is true, can be informative, and written in story form using fiction techniques. It would probably include some dialogue, description of the place and people and relate a story—a true story.
Memoir writers are writing creative nonfiction. So are those who write Family Stories. Inspirational writers might use this form, too.
I was reading an article about writing for children recently. They used a different term for true stories told with fiction techniques. They called it ‘Narrative Fiction.’ It is a way of teaching children factual material by telling stories. For instance, if a children’s author wanted to write about the Chicago Fire of 1871, incorporating stories of real people who had experienced that tragic event, it would bring the facts to life for any child reading it. Writing nothing but the facts would make the piece strictly nonfiction, but telling about a boy who helped someone during the fire brings it into narrative form and heightens interest.
I’ve written countless family stories, and many of you have, too. They are far more than just reporting the facts of what happened. We want to show the people, the place, and what occurred. By adding dialogue, we bring the people to life, and we add feelings which helps the reader relate. We’re writing creative nonfiction.
I like to think of Creative Nonfiction as telling a true tale with the human element first and foremost.
Nancy Julian Kopp lives in Manhattan, KS where she writes creative non-fiction, fiction for children, personal essays, articles on the craft of writing, and poetry. She has been published in 22 Chicken Soup for the Soul books, newspapers, magazines, and ezines, and several anthologies including The Write Spot: Possibilities (available in both print and as an ebook at Amazon).
Nancy was Prose Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Kansas Authors Club.
Today’s guest blogger, Nancy Julien Kopp, has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul books 22 times! Her story:
A good many years ago, I submitted to a Chicken Soup for the Soul book for the first time. The story was a simple one, a childhood memory, that I thought might work for the Fathers and Daughters book. Maybe.
I hesitated to send it. Why? My pride told me it was impossible because rejection hurts a lot.
Experience added that I hadn’t been writing very long, and the Chicken Soup editors received hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more, submissions for each book. My chances were pretty slim.
Reason stepped in and sneered at me as it said it was pointless to submit this story. What would it matter to the rest of the world? Then they laughed and I whimpered.
All three had ganged up on me, and then a funny thing happened. My heart whispered softly in my ear. Your story is something others can relate to. Go ahead and give it a try. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I pushed pride, experience, and reason out the door. I liked what my heart told me.
I sent the story. Many months later, I received a notice that the story had made it to the finals. My heart did a happy dance. I waited a few weeks longer before learning that the story had made it into the book. What a thrill to hold the published book in my hand a few months later.
That story was “Love In A Box,” about a Valentine box my dad made for me when I was in the second grade. At age seven, I suddenly realized that my hardworking father truly loved me. That fact came as a startling discovery, one that left a life-long impression on me.
Apparently, readers related to it and responded positively,
so much so that the story has been published multiple times in English and some
foreign languages.
What if I hadn’t listened to my heart? What if I’d let those three bullies push
me into a corner?
Have you ever had a project that you wanted to submit
somewhere but held back for one or more of the reasons above? What kept you
from sending it? Were those three bullies-pride, experience and reason-invading
your space, too?
Don’t let them push you around. Remind yourself that you wrote a good story or
poem or essay and that it deserves a chance.
Get the submission ready, hit the Submit button and laugh at
the three bullies.
Listen to your heart. Your heart knows you better than those
three twerps who try to place blocks in your way.
Remember this: If you don’t submit, you cannot be published.
Nancy Julien Kopp has been published in several anthologies including The Write Spot: Possibilities, newspapers, magazines and ezines. Her writing includes award-winning fiction for children, creative nonfiction, poetry, travel and personal essays. She was named Prose Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Kansas Authors Club.
We have many Chicken Soup for the
Soul books in development and we frequently add new titles. If you have a great
story or poem you want to submit but it doesn’t fit with any of the topics listed
below, please save it and check back to see if we have added a topic that’s a
better match.
If you have a story or poem that
you think fits two of the topics below, you may submit it to both. Then let them
know in the Comments section that you’ve done so. Also, you may submit more
than one piece for each book.
We are always looking for new talent. So whether you are a regular contributor or new to our family, please share your story or poem with us. If this is your first time, please visit the Story Guidelines page, which will answer many of your questions about subject matter, length, and style.
Topic and deadline:
Be You –
January 31, 2020
The Magic of
Cats – January 31, 2020
The Magic of
Dogs – January 31, 20210
Listen to Your
Dreams – February 28, 2020
Stories about
Self-care and Me Time – April 30, 2020
Christmas Is in
the Air – April 30, 2020
Age Is Just a Number – May 31, 2020
Note from Marlene: You know what to do. Write your story. Revise. Ask someone for feedback. Revise again. Polish to the best of your ability. Submit!
If you have written your memoir, or are in the process, and it’s not shaping into what you envisioned, you could transform it into a personal essay.
It might be easier, at some point, to concentrate on writing a personal essay, rather than a book-length manuscript.
There are many posts on The Write Spot Blog about how to write personal essays. (Please scroll down for the how-to posts).
You may be writing vignettes to satisfy your desire to write family stories. You can publish these with the help of many do-it-yourself publishing companies.
You can submit your writing to be included in anthologies. Conduct an internet search to find anthologies that are currently accepting submissions. An online search for “submit to anthologies” yielded thousands of results. You can also find anthologies that are looking for submissions in the back pages of Writer’s Digest magazine.
And of course, you can check in at The Write Spot Blog anytime to find publications that accept personal essays, just click on “Places to Submit.”
You can subscribe to The Write Spot Blog and not miss a single post. When you subscribe, posts will be delivered to your email inbox. Just fill out the information on the home page of The Write Spot Blog — Right side, scroll down.
Have you wondered how Chicken Soup for the Soul chooses their stories? Do you have a story you think might qualify for selection for being published? What you need to know about Chicken Soup submissions:
Recipe for A Winning Chicken Soup for the Soul submission
A Chicken Soup for the Soul story is an inspirational, true story about ordinary people having extraordinary experiences. It is a story that opens the heart and rekindles the spirit. It is a simple piece that touches our readers and helps them discover basic principles they can use in their own lives. These stories are personal and often filled with emotion and drama. They are filled with vivid images created by using the five senses. In some stories, the readers feel that they are actually in the scene with the people.
Chicken Soup for the Soul stories are written in the first person and have a beginning, middle and an end. The stories often close with a punch, creating emotion, rather than simply talking about it. Chicken Soup for the Soul stories have heart, but also something extra—an element that makes us all feel more hopeful, more connected, more thankful, more passionate and better about life in general. A good story causes tears, laughter, goose bumps or any combination of these.
Submit Your Story
Visit the Chicken Soup Story Guidelines page, which will answer many questions about subject matter, length, and style. Following these guidelines will give you the best possible chance of being accepted.
For a list of current topics, complete with descriptions and deadlines, please visit: Possible Book Topics page.
Note from Marlene: Don’t worry if “your” topic isn’t listed. Check every month or so, your topic might be on their new list. Follow submission guidelines.
When submitting, it’s very important to follow submission instructions. Do exactly what they want. If you don’t, your piece will be disqualified no matter how fantastic the writing is.
Chicken Soup for the Soul is “always looking for new talent.” That’s you, my friend. Keep writing and revising and have your piece ready when your topic pops up.
My dear friend, Arlene Mandell, asked a question the other day that I’ve been pondering. What happens to our scraps of writing? What can we do with our journal writing and our freewrites?
I just read “The Secret Life of a Teenage Author” by Amy Zhang in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Writers. Zhang’s honesty and confession led me to want to learn more about her.
Her blog, “A Story of a Dreamer,” is inspiring and delightful. The October 10 post begins, “If You Give an Author Some Chocolate …to encourage her to revise, she’ll eat it. She’ll eat it slowly because there is an art to eating chocolate bars. She’ll try to revise while holding the chocolate bar in one hand, but realize that she can’t revise without proper music.
If you let an author look for proper music, she’ll decide that her normal revising playlist simply isn’t good enough, and she will use up a good half an hour trying to develop a new one before finding the perfect one on 8track.”
Your details might be different, but you have probably been in the same situation as Zhang. You sit down to write, but one thing leads to another. You eventually get back to writing, but it’s a circuitous route.
“Last Sunday, my local newspaper wrote a story about me…and my writing…and stuff. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I used to be very, very secretive about writing. I never talked about it. So this week was WEIRD and awkward and generally hard for me, but on the bright side, I FINALLY get to write this post! I’ve always wanted to. ”
Here’s where you come in, my writing friends, . . . you know those free writes and short-shorts you have written and don’t know what to do with? Turn them into short stories, or combine them, as Zhang did:
“UNTITLED (we’ll just call it that for now–isn’t it easier?) actually began as two short stories–one about an abandoned imaginary friend, and one about a girl who tries to commit suicide. UNTITLED is their lovechild. I’m not sure where the ideas for the two original short stories came from, but I knew there was a connection between them and I knew I wanted to develop that connection into a full-length novel.”
Your turn: Select excerpts of your writing, turn them into a short story. I’ll suggest where you can submit your writing in future posts
You can subscribe to The Write Spot Blog and not miss a single post. When you subscribe, posts will be delivered to your email inbox. Just fill out the information on the home page of The Write Spot Blog — Right side, scroll down.
Note from Marlene: Don’t worry if “your” topic isn’t listed. Check every month or so, your topic might be on their new list. Follow submission guidelines.