Getting Published by Being Me

Today marks the latest book release for Chicken Soup for the Soul. This book, Be You: 101 Stories of Affirmation, Determination and Female Empowerment is chock-full of beautiful stories written about women by women.

I'm lucky enough to be in this book as well! This is my second tantalizing publication with Chicken Soup and I can't tell you how grateful I am for the opportunity.

In my opinion, the title of the book and my story work well together.

The story I submitted, and the one they took, was about how I started my vintage-selling business. It went through my reasons for starting my shop, why I wanted it, and the difficulties I knew I'd face once I began.

As the sage advice goes, "Write what you know."

I know how to go about selling vintage clothing online, and I'd like to think I know how to write about it. If it meant a story turned out that merited a chance at publication, then so be it.

Well, that's exactly what I did and I suppose exactly why they published it. I was just being me.

Side note: This was the second time I submitted this story to them and with five years between them. What does this say? Be persistent. Write better (I rewrote the story three times). And do this every day until you succeed.

Anyway, there's much encouragement in this book. Check it out! 

While I'm honored to be a part of it, the truth is, the sum of this book is greater than anything I could ever write on my own.

-HJS