I clearly remember envying those in high school who could dig deep into their guts and pour all the world’s angst and turmoil out onto the page and into a poem that figuratively knocked my socks off. Oh, how I wanted to be able to tap such raw emotions!
But that’s not who I was, nor who I am today. For the most part, I’m a fluff writer.
I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing. The world has enough angst and turmoil on the evening news every day, and I like to think my writing provides some welcomed furrowed-brow relief. Some of the best writing advice I ever received was “Don’t fight what you write,” and I work to embrace that concept.
Just a few days ago, I was informed that Chicken Soup for the Soul has accepted another one of my stories. This is number 29. Twenty-nine acceptances in the past five years. That’s pretty amazing, considering that they receive an average of 1500 submissions for every book, and select only 101 stories for inclusion.
So it’s something that makes me darn proud. I’m happy that I found this niche; it’s a good fit for me. I didn’t have to alter, modify, or change a thing in the way I write. My style was “good enough” all along.
Twenty-nine Chicken Soup stories places me among the most prolific of their writers. Being of a highly competitive nature (a character defect I’m still working on), I asked the editor I work with how many stories have been written by their top writer. She told me the number was somewhere around 35, but that the writer is still writing for them.
Ahhh… It’s much harder to hit a moving target! But I’m not discouraged; I’ll just keep writing and submitting and enjoying watching my own numbers climb. My goal this year was five acceptances, and I had eight, with four books represented.
But one of these days, I have faith that “people” will discover my own collections of writing, which are filled with the very same feel-good, uplifting kind of inspiration and encouragement found in the Chicken Soup brand name.
And that’s my real goal—to have my books be popular all on their own.
Shameless plug:
To order the softcover online: www.JanBonoBooks.com
To download the eBook: www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JanBonoBooks