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Submission Guidelines for Stories.....

To submit a story:

1. Use our preferred and easy to use story submission form that will keep your story from possibly being filtered as spam.

2. Stories should be non-fiction (true), ranging in length between 300-1200 words (approximately).
    
3. We do not return submissions, so please don't send the original.
    
4. The stories should create emotion, making the reader laugh, cry or get goosebumps or all of the above. If you are not familiar with Chicken Soup stories, we suggest you go to the bookstore or library and read several until you get the gist of the format. We have included a couple here, to give you the idea.
    
5. Please also send me any already published inspirational stories or quotes you have come across in your reading by or about the African American experience and where you found it and the author so that, if selected, we can obtain approval from the author and include it in the book.
    
6. Please note that these stories are not for email blasts, as they are copyrighted material. They may be forwarded as a part of the story submission request to anyone you think would be a great contributor, or better yet, please refer your friends to this web site!

Writing Suggestions:

Go to the bookstore or library and READ, READ, READ Chicken Soup stories before you begin!!!!! This will give you the FEEL of what we are looking for.

Often the best layout is to start with action, include a problem, issue or situation. If possible include dialogue. End it with some sort of solution, a lesson learned, or a positive transformation. Let it come from your heart.

The most impacting stories, although not necessarily, tend to be about a particular moment in time, or one experience that then transformed the character or situation. Time spans stories (like life histories) don’t seem to be as effective unless masterfully handled in the writing process.

Be sure to introduce the characters and make sure that you include feelings—how did you (or the other characters) feel?

The story should NOT be a sermon, essay, eulogy, term paper, thesis, letter or journal entry, political or controversial. This SHOULD NOT be a self-help passage or lecture.

This should not be a story about how devastating the death of a loved one was nor about overcoming an illness unless there is a MAJOR twist to your story that is uplifting and transformational in nature.

PLEASE DO NOT spend 90% of your story "in the valley" devoting only 10% ...or the last sentence...to hope, joy, inspiration. We found that far too many stories waited too long to hit that turning point.

THIS BOOK IS INSPIRATIONAL, not depressing. It is REAL, too, but we need to focus on the upward journey, not the downward one.

Keep in mind that the story should mean something to the reader—especially the African American reader—not just to the people involved.

If you want to write about how wonderful your mother is, SHOW US through a specific story rather than TELLING us about her whole life. Show us, make us feel it, rather than telling us and expecting us to believe you.

SHOW don't TELL: An example of Telling: "The room was a mess." An example of SHOW: "The room smelled like like a dirty clothes hamper and had garments hanging from the doorknob and piled on the floor. A plate of left over food sat untouched for days beside the bed."

An example of TELL: "My mother is the most wonderful woman who ever lived. She gives money to homeless people without a care to herself." An example of SHOW: "My mother looked at the homeless woman with the small baby holding a cup out looking for change.

Mom reached into her pocket and took out the meagar tips she'd gotten from hours of serving hot coffee all day. It was as if I could see her assessing what she would be able to do with that money and weighing it out with what the homeless woman would use it for.

Then, as if there was no comparison, she dropped the money into the cup and thanked God for the opportunity to be of service."

If you have great African American quotes, please feel free to submit those as well, along with credit.

Below are sample topics to help trigger your story memories. If you think of a category that I have not included here, by all means, feel free to make the suggestion! Thanks!

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Possible Story Topics/Memory Triggers….

Triumph and Resiliency
Share the story of how your race provided a story to share
The story of how you rose from the dust
The story of how Success was not an option/They said I couldn’t do it but I did!
The story celebrating the Sheroes—a tribute to mothers and grandmothers
The story paying honor to the Heroes, Fathers, brothers, grandfathers

What is your story as an African American Man
Your struggle to stay strong
Your Victory over societal affliction
Your gift of lessons learned
Your Journey in Corporate America
Your victory over poverty and it’s mindset
Our plight with incarceration

What is your story as an African American Woman
The birth of your family
The challenge and victories of being a single mom and expected sister soldier
The battle of our weight and its struggle
The resiliency to keep our families together
Our plight with incarceration

What is your story as An African American Teenager
The pressures that you must overcome
The challenge and opportunity
Overcoming a tragedy, and fear, a loss of someone special
A lesson learned
A friendship that has broken boundaries

Praise and Worship
Stories of Church Folk – Sister Marie and Brotha Otis
Can I get a witness? Church experiences that touch the heart
Faith of a Mustard Seed – The power of faith to change and restore

Song and Dance
How music has healed your soul
The role that music has played in keeping us dancing in times of trial
A story of Our Dancing like they ain’t watching

Laughing and Humor
How laughter and comedy has help to heal you
Humor that heals
Laugh until it stops hurting

Athletes and Sports
Saving ourselves through sports
Let us shine
Born to fly, Born to soar Any other story that you feel will inspire is welcomed

Corporate America
What have your inspiring experiences in the work or entrepreneurial world?