Freelance Writers Should Try Chicken Soup for the Soul

By definition, freelance writers write for money, but there are many out there who do not consider themselves to be freelancers. For whatever reason, they cannot pull the trigger and declare to the world that they are a professional writer.

That’s fine! I’m going to assume that those writers are not against making some money, no matter what they call themselves. You can call me Johnson, or you can call me Johnny, or you can …….

Okay, maybe that old comedy bit is too obscure. The point is that I doubt there are many of you out there who would not want an extra two-hundred bucks, and that’s what this article is all about.

Two-hundred dollars!

Beats the heck out of the pennies you make on sites like HubPages, doesn’t it?

Welcome to Chicken Soup for the Soul, a wildly popular series of books that is comprised of articles written by writers like you.

Did I mention that they pay two-hundred dollars if they accept one of your articles?

The first thing you do is go to their website, and you can find that here. Then scroll down to “submit your story” and click.

Here’s what they are looking for:

• An exciting, heartwarming or funny story about something that has happened to you or someone you know.
• All stories must be written in first person.
• Stories must have a “Wow Factor.” In other words, your story should bring people to tears or laughter.
• Stories should grab the reader right out of the gate. No lengthy introductions. Concentrate on action from the get-go.
• Speak from your heart.
• Stories should be 1,200 words or less.
• The story must be true.

And they also accept poetry! Here are the guidelines for poems:

• They love poems that tell a story, and the more emotional that story is the better.
• Do not focus on rhyming but rather, focus on the message.

New Chicken Soup books are being printed constantly, so the categories for future books change on a regular basis. Only submit a book under one of the desired categories. As of the writing of this article, the current categories are:

• Dreams and Premonitions
• Inspiration for Nurses
• Living a Life of Purpose by Volunteering
• Make Your Own Luck
• Stories about the Christmas Season
• Support for Therapists/Mental Health Professionals
• Think Possible (the Little Engine that Could mentality)
• Time to Thrive

There is an online form to use in downloading your story. It is so simple that this writer navigated it quite easily, so rest assured you will have no problem.

Once you fill out the form and download your story, a screen will appear telling you that your story has been accepted for review.

And if your story is accepted, you will be notified and you will receive payment one month after that book is published.

It is just that easy!

I can think of two main reasons why any writer should at least consider doing this.

Did I mention the two-hundred dollars?

Besides the money, though, there is the business of a byline. The byline, to a struggling freelance writer, is huge. Having an article appear in a well-known book series, with your byline, is beyond huge.

Other than that, submitting a story to this publication is great experience. This is a no-lose situation. Even if you don’t get chosen, you will have made the effort and maybe gotten over a bit of your “stage fright” with regards to submitting your work. This process doesn’t cost you a penny, and it takes maybe ten minutes tops to do if you already have an article written.

And that’s the other thing that HubPages writers should pay attention to. The word limit for Chicken Soup is basically the preferred article length of Hubs, so check some of your old Hubs and see if any fall under any of the categories mentioned earlier in this article. You just might have two-hundred dollars already sitting on your HubPages profile page.

There is no need for me to babble on, so I’ll keep this short. I think this is a great opportunity, and I think most of you would benefit by going through the experience….but I can’t force you. Do it, don’t do it, makes no difference to this freelancer….but I hope you do.

2014 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”