One of My Stories is NOT Included in the latest Chicken Soup for the Soul Collection.

So why am I thrilled?

Cover art. Photo used with permission.

I’ve been a pro writer for decades and one of my favorite paying markets is Chicken Soup for the Soul. They put out a great product, bring your work to millions of readers, pay $250 for each story they publish (plus 10 free copies) — and they use previously published work.

[embed]I’ve Been In 19 Chicken Soup Collections. If You Want to Break In, Here’s My Advice When they learn that I’ve been in 13 Chicken Soup for the Soul collections, writers often ask me for advice about how…medium.com

When I realized last January that I’d been included in nineteen Chicken Soup for the Soul collections, I decided that my writing goal for 2025 would be to make that twenty.

It was a goal that seemed within reach when the editors announced that they were looking for stories about being a grandma for an upcoming book.

Becoming a Grandma Roz was one of the best things that ever happened to me. (As a friend said when he heard the news, “Welcome to the world’s best club!”) And it’s provided me with great material. Ever since my first grandson was born, almost nine years ago, I’ve been writing about the joys and challenges of being a grandma.

[embed]Being a Grandparent Isn’t Just a Blessing It’s an Addictionmedium.com

After a quick review of these stories, I submitted eight of them to Chicken Soup. With so much material to choose from, I was hoping that the editors would fall in love with one. Maybe even two!

But, as it turns out, they didn’t decide to include one of my stories in Being Grandma.

They decided to include five!

One day last December, I got five emails, one after another, telling me that a story I’d submitted had been selected to appear in the book.

Yippee!

Hurrah!

You’d better believe that made my day.

It meant thousands more readers for my work! Plus a check for $1,250. Not to mention fifty free copies. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure that I’ve now got bragging rights for being the writer with the most stories included in any one Chicken Soup collection.

But it gets even better.

I’m an editor who helps writers improve and publish their work. I always recommend Chicken Soup to my clients as a great paying market, and I’ve helped dozens of them craft tales that have made it into a Chicken Soup collection.

[embed]Writing Prompts That Pay! Make $250 on stories about everything from Cats to Christmasmedium.com

On the same day that I learned that five of my stories would be included in Being Grandma, Jody Alyn, a writer I’d worked with on a story that she then submitted to Chicken Soup, emailed me with the news that all of the hard work she’d put into drafting and redrafting Hand in Hand had paid off.

Her story was going to be included in Being Grandma!

I’d suspected that it might. I’ve been working with writers who want to break into Chicken Soup long enough to recognize a winner.

[embed]“I Smell Money” One of the benefits of working with a writing coachrosalindwarren.medium.com

But I’ve also put together eight anthologies myself, and I knew that every terrific story isn’t going to make it into the book. I felt good about Jody’s chances, but you never really know until Chicken Soup emails you with:

Congratulations! Your story has been selected to appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul. The book is now on its way to the printer!

As every good editor knows, when a client’s story makes it into a great paying market? It’s every bit as thrilling as if that story were your own.

Being Grandma comes out on March tenth. I can’t wait to get my box of free copies, hold the book in my hand, give a copy to my sister and donate a copy to my local public library.

Then I’ll sit down in a comfy chair and enjoy some good reading.

Writing a good story — and finding the right market for it — takes plenty of time and effort. But sometimes all that effort pays off.

*(**Roz Warren, who writes for everyone from the Funny Times to the New York Times,** has been featured on both The Today Show and Morning Edition, [and has been included in 20 Chicken Soup for the Soul collections](https://medium.com/ask-an-editor/ive-been-in-10-chicken-soup-collections-if-you-want-to-break-in-here-s-my-advice-9ef3612aacd9?sk=6c27d62414166cd590200f19316115bb), is a **Writing Coach who specializes in helping Medium writers craft and publish better stories. Drop her a line at roSwarren@gmail.com. (That’s Ros with an “s,” not a “z.”)***

[embed]Need a Good Editor? Get in Touch Is There Anything Wrong with Creating a Medium Post That’s Just an Ad for My Services as a Writing Coach?medium.com

This post was published on Ask an Editor: Advice from Writing Coach Roz Warren on Everything from Punctuation to Publication, a Medium publication that collects my posts about writing and publishing, with an emphasis on succeeding on Medium.