We owe most of our success to writers like you for the wonderful contributions of inspiration, hope, overcoming life’s challenges and realized dreams.
We hope that this letter finds you well and sitting atop a plethora of stories that you just don’t know what to do with. We welcome stories from contributors of any age.
Recipe for A Winning Chicken Soup for the Soul® Story
A Chicken Soup for the Soul® story is an inspirational, true story about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is a story that opens the heart and rekindles the spirit. It is a simple, inter-denominational, living art piece that touches the soul of the readers and helps them discover basic principles they can use in their own lives. They 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 stories have a beginning, middle and an ending that often closes 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 story that causes tears, laughter, goosebumps or any combination of these. A good story covers the range of human emotions.
The most powerful stories are about people extending themselves, or performing an act of love, service or courage for another person.
Guidelines for a Chicken Soup for the Soul® Story
1. Tell an exciting, sad or funny story about something that has happened to you or someone you know. Make sure that you introduce the character(s).
2. Tell your story in a way that will make the reader cry, laugh or get goose bumps (the good kind!) Don’t leave anything out — how did you feel?
3. The story should start with action; it should include a problem, issue or situation. It should include dialogue and the character should express their feelings though the conflict or situation. It should end in a result, such as a lesson learned, a positive change or pay-off.
4. Above all, let it come from your HEART! Your story is important!
What a Chicken Soup for the Soul® story IS NOT:
1. A sermon, an essay or eulogy.
2. A term paper, thesis, letter or journal entry.
3. About politics or controversial issues.
4. A “My Grandma Just Died, and Let Me Tell You What A Wonderful Person She Was” or “Let Me Tell You About My Disease or Operation” or “I Gave a Bum Some Money, Aren’t I Incredible?” or “Why My Dad Is the Best Dad” or a personal testimony that may mean nothing to the reader.
Story Specifications
1. It is preferred that all submissions are sent via e-mail.
2. Please be sure to type the author’s name and contact information on the first page of each and every story.
3. Stories should be non-fiction, ranging in length between 300-1200 words.
4.Email your submissions to dfirman@comcast.net with subject heading "Fathers & Sons"
5. No anonymous or author unknown submissions please.
6. Send only one copy of each submission.
Chapters
Stories are invited for the following chapters, though we encourage you to submit all stories as chapter headings may change. Stories are invited about fathers and sons and grandfathers, step fathers, adopted sons, father-substitutes, and all father/son like relationships. That special Uncle, the little boy next door who was almost a son..... all of these may work. And stories for every chapter are welcomed from women, the people who see and love all those boys and men.
1) A Father's Love: This chapter contains stories that describe acts of love and kindness; the healing power of love; acts of tenderness and compassion; acts of generosity; and the deep bond that fathers and sons feel for each other.
2) When We Were Young: This chapter offers stories about fathers and sons in their youth: men looking back to their own childhoods, fathers looking back to when their sons were young, memories of grandpa and more.
3) Through Women's Eyes: These are stories by the women who have given birth to sons, married men who became fathers, saw their brothers and fathers grow and love: any woman who has that special slant on seeing fathers and sons.
4) Tough Roads, Great Achievements: This chapter gives us stories that demonstrate how fathers and sons have triumphed over personal obstacles and supported each other through those hard times. Stories that speak to the triumph of love and will over adversity.
5) Father/Son Legacy: Stories of the torch passed on, the way fathers and son are alike, the gifts that each bestows upon the other and the legacy that remains.
6) The Love of a Son: Sons, young and old, offer stories of their relationship to their fathers and how the love they feel is the deepest truth in the relationship, even in times of trial or difficulty.
7) The Wisdom of Aging: The wise old man, grandfather, the elder. In this chapter we hear their stories seen through their own eyes or those of people who love them and have learned from them.
8) The Call to Healing: This chapter contains stories about healing relationships that have suffered. It is about righting the past, finding the good, freeing oneself from anger and guilt into love and forgiveness. It is about miracles big and small.
If the story you wrote is published, you will be paid upon publication of the story. Payment amount will be determined at that time. If your story is not published in this volume, it will be considered for future Chicken Soup books. Notification of the status of your story will only be made when it is being considered for this or another book.
Feel free to submit more than one story if you’d like. If you do not have a personal story of your own, but have a pre-published favorite or a story written by someone else, these stories are welcomed as well. Don’t forget to include who the author is, source, etc.
Submission Details: You may submit father/son stories directly to the co-authors to dfirman@comcast.net with the subject heading "Fathers & Sons" or you may submit to Chicken Soup via their website at www.chickensoup.com