Guidelines for Stories:

Do you know that Oprah, Shania Twain, J.K. Rowling and Halle Barry have a lot in common? They have all overcome a very difficult start and found their life callings.

The “Chicken Soup for Transforming Women” book will feature stories about women who overcame obstacles and achieved success. I’m interested in women who didn’t have privileges, big money or royalty behind them -- not a Jackie Kennedy story.

What kind of stories?
Stories of overcoming obstacles, of frustrations finally conquered, of perseverance, of belief in a dream, of beating the odds. This story can be about you or anyone you know. It must be true, of course -- that’s where we all draw our inspiration. Think about your mother, your grandmother, aunts, great-aunts, sisters, friends. We are surrounded by unsung heroines! What a great way to forever honor them.

Our focus is on stories about women who have traveled a good distance: perhaps from poverty to a college degree, or from high school dropout to professional, or from welfare mom to best-selling author, like J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. But the accomplishment doesn’t need to be lofty. If recognized success in life can be talked about in terms of a scale of 1 - 100, I’m looking for stories about women who started with 1 - 40 in terms of opportunities, and who attained 60 - 90 on that scale.

Types of Obstacles Overcome
This list is intended to give you some ideas. There are many, many more obstacles amazing women have overcome that might become a great story!

School Dropout . . . . Unwed Mother . . . . Poverty . . .
Abuse . . . . Weight Problem . . . . Addictions . .
Neglect . . . . Battered Woman . . . . Homelessness . .
Chronic Illness . . . . Family Disapproval . . . . Rape Survivor . .
Terminal Illness . . . . After Great Loss . . . . After Prison . . .
Disability . . . . Difficult Parenting . . . . Being a Foster Child . . .
Age Prejudices . . . . Language Barriers . . .

A Few Types of Achievements
Again, there are many, many more that you know about!

High School Diploma . . . Becoming a Teacher . . . Becoming an Artist or Writer
College Degree . . . . Help others Became a Foster Parent
Ph.D., M.D., J.D. . . . Start a business . . . . Buy Her own Home
Become a Professional . . . . Achieve business success
Become a Business Executive . . . . Reach a Dream . . . . Travel
Become a Professor . . . . Join the Peace Corps . . . . Make a leap of faith
Sports Achievements

Some Chapter Headings
What She Did For Love: How a passion or person inspired her to go beyond herself.
Finding Her Calling: Finding the courage to live her dream.
Achieving Education: School, apprenticeship, self-teaching her way to a better life.
Despite Illness: Coping courageously while moving forward.
Amazing Parenting: Finding the strength to deal with handicaps and difficulties.
Overcoming Chains that Bind: Escaping the weight of poverty and restrictions.
Business Brilliance: Entrepreneurship, business management, business achievements.
Building Her Nest: Creating a room of one’s own -- buying ,building, being inventive.
Unsung Heroines: Ordinary, but not ordinary -- surviving, thriving, growing
With a Little Help from my Friends: over the hurdles and on to the dream with helping hands
From the Top to Somewhere Better: leaving security to seek a higher goal
Challenging the Stereotypes: working in male-dominated fields; breaking the glass ceiling

Send Me as Many Stories and Ideas as You Can!
Feel free to submit several stories! If you don’t 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. Just include the author’s name, the source, and relevant information.

If you have a story in mind, go ahead and write it. If you don’t feel that you have great writing skills, share the story with someone who likes to write or send it in rough form. If the story is promising enough, we will advise you further. It should follow the Chicken Soup format of 300 - 1200 words (1 - 4 pages double-spaced). If you would like feedback on whether a particular story fits what we’re looking for, please email me: liah@lifekraft.com and I’ll respond to the topic. How you tell the story is up to you, although it must have a beginning, middle development, and an end with a punch that shares the emotion of this accomplishment, breakthrough or success.

Send your stories in as soon as you can, of course!

For fastest results, I encourage you to submit stories to me at liah@lifekraft.com.

You can submit your story three different ways:

1. Best – as a Word document attachment
E-mail: liah@lifekraft.com

2. Second Best –
Mail: Chicken Soup for Transforming Women
Attn: Story Submissions
370 River Lake Dr., Suite 300
Eatonton , GA 31024

3. Or, least preferred -
Fax: 650-745-3357

Please also include a bio—a short paragraph (of about 50 words or less) about you. It has been reported to Chicken Soup that those paragraphs have been great advertisements for sales of books and other endeavors. Dr. Cherie Carter Scott, author of If Life is a Game, These are the Rules, has sold hundreds of thousands of books as a result of people writing her after reading her bio in A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul. She also appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show as a result of this!

When we receive your story, we will e-mail an acknowledgment to you. Keep in mind that it can take up to three or four years for a Chicken Soup for the Soul book to develop. Please be patient, as this is an important, yet time-consuming process. If your story is chosen for “Chicken Soup for Transforming Women” or any other projects, you will be notified by mail and your permission to print it will be requested. However, if your story is not chosen, you will not receive a rejection letter due to the fact that there are future books for which it will be considered.

Many, many thanks for considering sending me your stories! I look forward to hearing from you. If you choose to read further, you’ll find do’s and don’ts on writing stories from the founders of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books.

Sending Light and Laughter to You, Liah Kraft-Kristaine

READ ON FOR MORE GUIDELINES:

Story Guidelines from Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield

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 Mother Is the Best Mother” or a personal testimony that may mean nothing to the reader.

 

Story Specifications

1. It is preferred that all submissions are sent via my email liah@lifekraft.com.. If you don’t have access to the Internet, please submit your stories preferably typed on plain white 8 1/2” x 11” paper, in 12-point Times New Roman font.

2. Please be sure to type the author’s name and contact information on the first page of the story.

3. Stories should be non-fiction (true!), ranging in length between 300-1200 words.

4. Mail your submissions in a flat, 9x12 envelope if possible.

5. No anonymous or “author unknown” submissions please.

6. Send only one copy of each submission.

7. We do not return submissions, so please don’t send the original.