Chance to Submit Your Story for New Guideposts Books

I received this email regarding two new nonfiction books being compiled by James Stuart Bell (not to be confused with James Scott Bell). James' assistant, Jeanette, is happy to have me pass the info on to my blog readers.
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Dear Writer:

We are now in phase four of the Extraordinary Answers to Prayer series published by Guideposts. You are a valued writer and I welcome you to join us by contributing to volumes nine and ten of a series dealing with various aspects of prayer and how people from every walk of life have been transformed through God’s responses to their prayers. Recent titles include Expecting Miracles and The Healing Touch. These books will be mailed monthly as part of a book club promotion, and will be exclusive to this readership.

You may have contributed to some of the first eight titles or perhaps to my Cup of Comfort, Life Savors, or Love is a Verb brands. Or perhaps I am contacting you for the first time and will have the privilege of including your story with other powerful answers to prayer. Whatever the case, I am sure that God has worked in your life at some point in the areas of Closer to God, volume nine, and The Power of Praying Together, volume ten.

For volume nine, how has God answered your prayers for your loved ones, or even enemies, to draw them closer to God? Maybe they don’t yet have a personal relationship with God and your prayers helped bring them to the Lord. Perhaps they have just wandered away and lost their need for Him. Or perhaps they are having major trauma and need to grow spiritually in order for God to bring change for the better. Parents pray for their adult children, adults pray for their kids, and other combinations to build spiritual relationships, go to church, and to grow in their spiritual disciplines. The list is endless. We want to focus on the positive when the prayer for a closer walk with God is answered.

For volume ten we want to demonstrate the added power of Christians praying together for the same petition. This joint prayer can be congregational, small group, couples, friends, prayer chains, etc. How did the addition of one or more people help in getting amazing answers from God? The prayer can range from serious issues of a global nature requiring large numbers, like the devastation in Haiti, to small needs that still can’t be met with only one person praying. How were the lives of those who prayed drawn together and changed? What type of prayer was used in different groups and venues?

We would be pleased to accept as many stories as you wish to submit related to these two volumes. We’re accepting stories of up to 2,000 words and strongly prefer them not to be under 1,000 words. The stories should have a creative title, an attention grabbing introduction, main body with a conflict or challenge, and a clear, satisfying resolution. They need to be descriptive, rooted in a time and place, compelling personal experience stories with true-to-life characters. They need to be stories in the fullest sense, rather than mere testimonies, or focusing on mere feelings or mental states. The effective power of prayer needs to be clearly demonstrated.

We strongly prefer original stories but you may also submit previously published stories in which the full rights have been returned to you and not currently in print with a major publisher. The payment is $25 for stories under 1,200 words and $50 for stories over 1200 words. You may retain the rights to publish the stories in magazines and books with less than national distribution and not carried in nationwide bookstores.

We are accepting manuscripts for volume nine, Closer to God, until July 1, but the sooner you submit the better chance you have of acceptance. If you are considered as a finalist you will be sent a permission form around the middle of September. Manuscripts for book ten, The Power of Praying Together, are due by August 15, with permission forms being sent around early December.

It’s very important that you list the current status of rights at the top of the manuscript above the title of your story. If it’s an original story it should be listed as first rights. If you have received full rights back from a publisher it needs to be listed as reprint rights. We would also like details of what book it appeared in, the publisher, and the date of publication.

It is also important to put a 30 word or less biographical sketch on the actual manuscript because this will be included at the end of the book. We do not want it submitted separately. Also include within the manuscript – not in a separate email - your full name as you wish it to appear in the book, also your address, phone number, and email address.

Please direct all inquiries and manuscript submissions to my colleague, Jeanette Littleton, at incredibleprayers@earthlink.net. If this email has been forwarded to you, and you can’t submit to this call, but would like to be notified about other editorial needs, please send us your email address and we’ll add you to our notification list (we do not distribute these email addresses).

Blessings to you and yours,

James Stuart Bell
Compiler, Guideposts Extraordinary Answers to Prayer series