Writing Contests - 2018

From Reedsy, 

here is a curated list of writing contests for this year. 

Good luck! 

https://blog.reedsy.com/writing-contests/

Story Callout

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat

101 Stories about Our Feline Friends and What Matters Most

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Dog

101 Stories about Our Canine Companions and What Matters Most

We are making two books, but since they are similar in tone, 

we are describing them both to you in this one e-mail.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Dog will be both entertaining and heartwarming.

Our dog and cat titles are so very popular, and you have so many great stories to share with us, that we do new pet titles every eighteen months or so. Here is another chance for you to share a story or two about the member of your family who just happens to walk on four feet!

We are looking for first-person true stories and poems up to 1200 words. Tell us what your pet taught you. How he made you smile. How she "rescued" you after you "rescued" her. How she brought your family closer together, helped you find love, inspired you to change something in your human life. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. We can't wait to read all the heartwarming, inspirational, and hysterical stories you have about your dogs or cats and what you learned from them!

Here are some suggested topics:

  • Who rescued who?
  • Who trained who?
  • Do you sometimes think your dog or cat is human?
  • Insights from your dog/cat
  • Empathy from your cat/dog
  • Compassion from your dog/cat
  • How my cat/dog picked me
  • My dog/cat can almost talk
  • My therapy cat/dog
  • My cat/dog makes me laugh
  • My dog/cat understands
  • How my cat/dog changed my family
  • How my cat/dog changed my life
  • My dog/cat's interaction with other animals
  • From puppies to senior dogs, milestones, end of life
  • From kittens to senior cats, milestones, end of life
  • Your work at a shelter or rescue organization
  • Children and dogs/cats
  • Your dog/cat and holidays
  • Your dog/cat overcoming hardship, getting lost and coming home, being injured and recovering

When you go to our website to submit your story or poem, please be sure to select either the Life Lessons from the Dog title or the Life Lessons from the Cat title we have posted on the pull-down menu to be sure your story or poem gets to the correct place. Thank you!

All stories and poems need to be true — we do not publish fiction. Stories should be no longer than 1,200 words. If your story was already published in a past Chicken Soup for the Soul book, please do not submit it. We will not publish it again. If you submitted a story to one of our previous cat or dog book titles and we did not publish it, please do submit it to us again so we will be sure to consider it for one of these new titles.

Please remember, we no longer publish "as told to" stories. Write your story or poem in the first person. Do not ghostwrite a story for someone else unless you list that person as the author. If a story was previously published, we will probably not use it unless it ran in a small circulation venue. Let us know where the story was previously published and the approximate exposure it received in the "Comments" section of the submission form.

If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story and you will retain the right to resell it or self-publish it.

SUBMISSIONS GO TO OUR WEBSITE.

THE DEADLINE DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR LIFE LESSONS FROM THE CAT IS OCTOBER 31, 2018.

THE DEADLINE DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR LIFE LESSONS FROM THE DOG IS NOVEMBER 30, 2018.

Meeting this Saturday

NJCWG's Monthly Meeting

June 2, 10 am - 12 pm

Cornerstone Christian Church

in the Barn (second building on the right as you enter) 

495 Wyckoff Ave., Wyckoff

This Saturday, Susan will share information about connections and growing audience.

Whether you're an experienced writer or a wannabe, we welcome you,

Barbara

barbarahigbyhope.com

May's Focus Point

Blessed Repetition

In chapter 12, verse 12 of Ecclesiastes, the Teacher wrote, “Of making many books there is no end…” living in the digital age, we could expand that and say, “Of the writing of many words there is no end.”

I don’t know if Andre Gide ever read Ecclesiastes, but this quote could be taken as a response to that verse: “Everything has been said before. But since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.” (Andre Gide, Le Traite du Narcisse)

How many times have you heard a familiar message presented a different way and suddenly you got it? Or, how often have you spoken into a friend’s life to no avail and someone else comes along saying the same thing and it clicks?

I remember being discouraged because it seemed God was repeating a message to me over and over but I wasn’t changing. Unaware of my struggles, a sanguine friend (and we all need positive sanguines in our lives) was bubbling over with gratitude and said, “Isn’t it wonderful that God will keep repeating the same message until we get it?”

Prior to the Teacher’s comment about the abundance of books we find that it may not be as defeatist as it sounds. Read the verses right before it (9-11):

Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails — given by one Shepherd.

• He searched to find just the right words, 
• Writing what was upright and true 
• And his words were like goads, firmly embedded nails. 

Take home thought: “Of making many books there is no end…” (Eccl. 12:12) and I will add mine to the count, searching for just the right words—upright and true words—to prod my readers to stand firm in their faith.