Share Your Story

Click this link to share your story. (This link opens in a new tab.)

What kind of story should I share?

The name of the series is Getting Happy, right? So we're looking for stories about encountering a life event, getting unhappy because of it, and then working your way back to getting happy. Of course, it does have to be a true story.

Now, before you get freaked out about sharing your story in public, let me reassure you that "your story" never gets shared publicly. After we collect your story through interviews and emails, all the names can be changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

The whole idea of sharing your story about encountering a life event, and overcoming it, is to help other people facing the same event. Your story can help other people live a better life. That's a good thing to do, right? But sometimes, our stories are painful or sad. If that's the case for your story, we can change the names of the people involved. It's still a true story, and your privacy is protected.

Can my story be about just anything?

Just as Mark and Jack made different versions of their Chicken Soup books, we're doing the same thing with Getting Happy. We've already planned versions for Veterans, post-divorce, and losing a loved one. You can see a list of planned titles at the bottom of this page. So you're welcome to suggest other versions, and please do send us your story. We all need to know there are people like you who have been challenged and found a way to get happy.

Let me be clear about one thing: The story you share must be your story.

Each story in the series must be true. That means we have to verify details, and get different perspectives, from other people in your story. Then we mesh it all together into one, full length, true story.

Another important part of the series is that a workbook goes with each story book. When Jack and Mark wrote the Chicken Soup series, they used 101 stories of 1,500 words or less in each volume. Those books were written strictly for inspiration and motivation, and the series was tremendously successful. Jack has shared some emotionally moving stories about the effect the Chicken Soup books had in people's lives. The Getting Happy series aims for the same result in a slightly different way.

We are so radically "inspired" these days, people are coming up with some strange ways of getting things done. Parents remove every obstacle from their children's lives to the point of us ending up with adults who take their parents to job interviews is one example.

Each volume in the Getting Happy series tells one inspirational story about a person working their way through a life event to the point of getting happy. It's a story with all the warts. The person starts out as a normal person. Then she encounters a life event and it makes her distinctly unhappy. The story shows her working her way through that life event. For example, the divorce story tells my story of divorce. There are some parts where you might think I got a raw deal, but it's pretty clear the divorce happened because I was too immature to be married and behaved like a jerk.

This is why each volume in the series also comes with a workbook. I could really have used some advice for doing things better the first time I got divorced. The workbook is there for everyone who reads the story and decides they want a little bit of help making some practical progress.

What stories are we working on now?

The stories we are collecting now are about divorce and being a veteran. We are looking to publish these volumes in mid-2023.

I have been divorced twice, so I have the guy perspective covered. Now I'm looking for a woman's perspective, and I want to find a couple who faced divorce and worked their way through it to stay together. So you know, the story is being written from the perspective of what is best for the children.

The veteran's story is likely to split into several stories based on two criteria:

The branch of service (army, navy, air force)
The arena of service (where you served)

Just in case you're thinking that means you are required to have served overseas, the answer is no. When I was in the army, there was a thing happening called Forced Reduction Plan. Canada was deliberately (and foolishly, in my opinion) reducing the size of the armed forces.

There was a mechanic master-corporal (a rank between corporal and sergeant) who had served for 22 years. He was being forced to retire because he had more than 20 years of service, and had yet to achieve the rank of sergeant. He was 41 and an excellent mechanic.

He was also terrified of having to leave the military because he had always lived in the barracks. He had no experience buying groceries, paying rent, or even having bills in his name. He even had zero credit history. You can see how being forced out of the army made him very unhappy.

The only requirement for your story is encountering a life event, getting unhappy because of it, and you have worked your way back to getting happy.

Click this link to share your story. (This link opens in a new tab.)

How long does my story have to be?

There is no hard and fast rule for story length, but let me reassure you there is no effort to write anything as long as War and Peace. There is also no need for you to the actual writing. You can leave that to me and my team.

You can look forward to about six Zoom calls to collect your story (maybe less). The first two calls might be a little longer because that's when you tell your story, but most of the calls are an hour. We do some calls after you tell your story to fill in details can clarify anything that needs it. Then there are calls with other people in your story to get their perspective so it can be incorporated into the story.

It's important for you to know you get to keep the rights to your story. A lot of publishers take the rights to your story when they publish it. Publishers often claim rights to media that has yet to be invented. They even stop you from doing speaking gigs about your story unless you get written permission from them (which they never bother to give because your speaking gig makes no money for them).

The Getting Happy series is professionally published by Cranium Ex Rectum Institute of Happiness Studies (CERIOHS). The copyright is held jointly by you and CERIOHS. You are allowed to do anything you want with your story. Turn it into a course, speak at conferences, or anything else so long as it reflects well on CERIOHS. So they would get very upset if, for example, you decide to turn your story into a porn film.

CERIOHS (you can pronounce it as Cheerios if you want) makes every effort to ensure your story is true and accurate. This is why people involved in your story are interviewed, too. Everyone involved in the story is also encouraged to review the final manuscript before publication. All of this is reviewed in detail before your story is included in a volume of the series.

Click this link to share your story. (This link opens in a new tab.)

Share Your Story for Future Titles

These are the titles we've thought of so far. Please feel free suggesting another title that more closely fits your story. You're also welcome to subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with progress on the book series.

Addiction

Getting Happy... with alcohol
Getting Happy... with cocaine
Getting Happy... with crack
Getting Happy... with food
Getting Happy... with heroine
Getting Happy... with marijuana
Getting Happy... with prescription drugs
Getting Happy... with sex

Click this link to share your story. (This link opens in a new tab.)

Business

Getting Happy... at work
Getting Happy... in a partnership
Getting Happy... when a partnership fails
Getting Happy... when you ARE the boss
Getting Happy... when you’re NOT the boss
Getting Happy... when your boss is an ass
Getting Happy... with venture capital

Click this link to share your story. (This link opens in a new tab.)

Death

Getting Happy... when your brother dies
Getting Happy... when your cat dies
Getting Happy... when your daughter dies
Getting Happy... when your dog dies
Getting Happy... when your friend dies
Getting Happy... when your grandfather dies
Getting Happy... when your grandmother dies
Getting Happy... when your husband dies
Getting Happy... when your sister
Getting Happy... when your son dies
Getting Happy... when your wife dies

Click this link to share your story. (This link opens in a new tab.)

Illness

Getting Happy... as Muscular Dystrophy progresses
Getting Happy... in a wheelchair
Getting Happy... on a diabetes diet
Getting Happy... when Alzheimer’s invades (this title is expanded to cover the issue from multiple points of view – father, mother, son, daughter, etc.)
Getting Happy... when cancer strikes (this title is expanded to cover specific types of cancer)
Getting Happy... when Parkinson’s steals your nerves (this title is expanded to cover the issue from multiple points of view – father, mother, son, daughter, etc.)
Getting Happy... with a disabled brother
Getting Happy... with a disabled child
Getting Happy... with a disabled father
Getting Happy... with a disabled mother
Getting Happy... with a disabled sister
Getting Happy... with MS

Click this link to share your story. (This link opens in a new tab.)