Do YOU Have A Story for 'Chicken Soup for the Prosperous Soul'?

Jeanna and I were brainstorming after a phone conversation with Jack Canfield about stories we want for the new book, Chicken Soup For The Prosperous Soul®, that we are co-authoring.

Our intention is for this book to break all records of any Chicken Soup book to date for sales and for inspiring others to actions that change their life positively!

Jack is passionate about this topic. So are we! And we want your story! You do not need to be good at writing to tell your story. When it comes from the heart, it will unfold easily. You can either write your story, take from a story you've already written or in some cases, we can interview you and have it transcribed.

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 be sent via email to eva@coacheva.com. If you don’t have access to email, 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 each and every story.

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

4. Mail your submissions in a flat, 9x12 envelope if you aren't sending it by email.

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.

8. Stories must be received no later than August 30, 2006 to eva@coacheva.com.

Chapters

Why this book? Because your story will be inspiration and proof to the masses that ordinary folks CAN have all the prosperity they desire. It doesn't matter who you are or what your background has been up this point, prosperity is your natural way of being.

The information presented below will help you to better understand what this new book will be about. These are the topics we need your stories for.

Defining Moments in Life: Pivotal moments in your life in which you had a shift or aha around prosperity and abundance.

Acts of Faith: You took a risk or an action step where you had no physical guarantee of the outcome and you went it for it anyway.

Creating Space to Create Prosperity: Making space in your life to allow in more prosperity - whether it was time away from work, cleaning things out or making space on your calendar: being willing to take time out, even when you think you can't.

Perseverance and Commitment: Example: The original "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book was turned down by over 140 publishers before they got someone to say "YES!" When did you stay with something thru thick and thin to have the outcome be amazing?

Acting As If: You acted like you were already living your dream before it manifested. Example: Acting like a millionaire before the money is in the bank.

Inspired Actions: Only taking actions that felt inspired or you felt joyful about; following wild hair ideas that led to abundance.

Trusting Your Intuition: Even though it didn't make sense, you followed your gut.

Transforming Thoughts: You focused on what you wanted instead of what you didn't want and got more of what you did want.

Letting Go to Let It In: YOU stopped resisting, controlling, forcing and pushing your way to abundance and allowed it in.

Living Your Dream: How you followed your passion and prosperity came!

Attitude of Gratitude: How did gratitude impact your prosperity?

Givers Gain: By giving you began receiving. What was your gift from giving?

Impossible to Possible: Overcoming obstacles on your path to prosperity; Claiming prosperity as your birthright.

Also include a bio—a short paragraph (of about 50 words or less) about you, promoting your latest book, project, etc. It has been reported to us 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!

If the story you wrote is published, you will be paid upon publication of the story. Payment amount will be determined at that time.

It can take up to three or four years for Chicken Soup for the Soul® books to develop. Please be patient, as this is an important, yet time-consuming process. If your story is chosen for a future edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul® 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 letter due to the fact that there are future books for which it may be considered for.

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.

Sample Story

Please find a sample Chicken Soup for the Soul story below. We thought it would be helpful for you to see what kind of story we're looking for:

The Price of A Dream

I grew up poor - living in the projects with six brothers, three sisters, a varying assortment of foster kids, my father and a wonderful mother, Scarlette Hurley. We had little money and few worldly goods, but plenty of love and attention. I was happy and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, they could still afford a dream.

My dream was athletics. By the time I was sixteen, I could crush a baseball, throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and hit anything that moved on the football field. I was also lucky: My high-school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but taught me how to believe in myself. He taught me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction. One particular incident with Coach Jarvis changed my life forever.

It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and a friend recommended me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket - cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a house for my mother. The prospect of a summer job was enticing, and I wanted to jump at the opportunity.

Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn't be playing. I was dreading this, spurring myself with the advice my mother preached to us: "If you make your bed, you have to lie in it."

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was as mad as I expected him to be. "You have your whole life to work," he said. "Your playing days are limited. You can't afford to waste them."

I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his disappointment in me.

"How much are you going to make at this job, son?" he demanded.

"Three twenty-five an hour," I replied.

"Well," he asked, "is $3.25 an hour the price of a dream?"

That question, the plainness of it, laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I dedicated myself to sports that summer, and within the year I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play rookie-league ball, and offered a $20,000 contract. I already had a football scholarship to the University of Arizona, which led me to an education, two consensus selections as All-American linebacker and being chosen seventh overall in the first round of the NFL draft. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1984 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother the house of my dreams. --Ricky C. Hunley, Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan's Soul

With total bliss and appreciation,

Eva Gregory and Jeanna Gabellini