What Goes Well with Chicken Soup

What Goes Well with Chicken Soup Lots of writers ask me how to get published in the bestselling, â€Å"Chicken Soup for the Soul† book series. That’s because I’m very lucky to be a frequent contributor. In the past few years, they’ve published 40 of my stories.    Submitting is simple. You go to their website: www.chickensoup.com, fill in your name, address, etc., and then just paste your story. Authors receive $200 plus 10 books per story. CSS editors receive over 5,000 submissions per book. The editors want stories, not essays. I keep the term â€Å"a Chicken Soup moment† etched in my brain. At this point, I’m acutely aware of when I’m experiencing a Chicken Soup moment. Or notice that someone else is. I was reading a friend’s Facebook post. On her FB page, she posted a beautiful picture of a Christmas decoration she kept up all year and wrote, â€Å"I hung these three angels from my dining room chandelier at Christmas two years ago and they have never left.† Her caption for her picture: â€Å"Angels Watching Over Me.† The instant I saw that, I e-mailed her, suggesting that was a perfect Chicken Soup moment. Your life is filled with Chicken Soup moments. You just have to see them. Those moments do not need to be huge, as in a miraculous medical recovery. You can find them in the simplest of experiences. Although I have had stories accepted about my spinal cord injury, simpler topics have included: â€Å"The Appointment,† about my husband falling apart when our dog got groomed for the first time, â€Å"Little Things Matter,† about not celebrating Valentine’s Day because we didn’t want to bother, â€Å"My Husband is on a Diet† about family humor, â€Å"Mud-dling Through,† about how I stopped to help an old dog get up from a mucky sandbar. I’m seeing a slight trend of CSS accepting more humor, as well as just a tiny touch of edginess. In â€Å"Chicken Soup for the Soul: Shaping the New You,† my humor story has the following dialogue. Last night he screamed from the bathtub, â€Å"I’ve got it!† I called out from the den, â€Å"Geez Bob. I hate to think what you mean In another book, â€Å"Think Positive,† I tell a story involving my husband having x-rays. The technician forgot to remove whatever they call those things that are placed over nipples so that nipples don’t show up as suspicious spots on the films. I have this dialogue: â€Å"What are people going to think if you’re wearing nipple buttons?† I grabbed his nipples and started yanking. A year ago, I would have edited those parts out before submitting. Although the editors have published my reprints, as long as the columns ran in a very small venue, they prefer originals. I retain rights to my stories. However I do agree to give permission to CSS to use my story in various venues. That’s part of the contract. This works in my favor. My stories have appeared in www.beliefnet.com, which is a huge inspirational website. Several of my works have been picked up, also via CSS, Your chances of acceptance are increased if you submit something unique. You can predict the most common topics. A terrific writer/friend submitted a story about finishing his first marathon for the book: â€Å"Runners.† He didn’t get accepted. He’s such a great writer, but one’s first marathon was likely the topic of plenty of stories for that book. CSS editors prefer diversity, and your life is full of it, trust me.