We Welcome Your Stories and Poems!
Baby Hearts Press is adding a new title:  
The Heart of a Heart Warrior: Stories by Adults born with Congenital Heart Defects.  
Please read the following helpful information to increase the likelihood your piece will be chosen.

We are always looking for new talent. So whether you have contributed to The Heart of a Mother or The Heart of a Father or whether you are new to our family, please share your story or poem with us. If this is your first time, please visit our Guidelines for Your “Heart of a Heart Warrior” Story or Guidelines for Your “Heart of a Heart Warrior” Poem, which will answer many of your questions about subject matter, length, and style.

Please scroll through the topics listed below to see what we're working on!
Then click on the Submission Form to actually submit your story or poem for consideration.

Formula for a successful “The Heart of a Heart Warrior” submission
1. Your story is written in the first person and is a story with a beginning, middle and an ending that is inspirational.
2. Your story is a true story about you – an “ordinary” person who has had remarkable experiences.
3. You use all your senses to give the reader the opportunity to feel they are right there with you in the story – create vivid word pictures using sight, touch, taste, smell and sound.
4. Your story has emotion and perhaps even a sense of drama – there is something about your story that will make it memorable and something that other people can relate to or learn from.
5. The best stories make us cry, make us laugh and make us think.
6. The most powerful stories are about people going outside of themselves to do for someone else – performing an act of love, service, kindness or courage.
If we publish your story or poem, you will receive two free copies of the book your story or poem appears in. You will also become part of the Baby Hearts Press family and you will be entitled to buy books from us at a discount.

Guidelines for your "The Heart of a Heart Warrior" story
1. Remember that this is a book about “Heart Warriors” so the story needs to have something to do with the congenital heart defect community, congenital heart defects or living with a congenital heart defect; however, you should tell your story in an exciting, tender, heartwarming or funny way.
2. People need to be able to relate to your story – it should make them cry, laugh, feel inspired, surprised or educated.
3. Write in an active tense; start your story with what is happening and do NOT tell us what you’re going to tell us and then summarize what you said; make every   word count.
4. Make it personal; your story should be from your heart for the heart of your reader. If you are concerned about mentioning certain places or names, you may change them and you may use a pen name.
5. All stories should be 1200 words or less. Be concise and make sure your writing is tight. Edit, edit, edit. The best writing is rewriting.
6. Your story needs to be as true and as factual as possible. No fiction or creative writing. Stick to the facts.

Guidelines for a “The Heart of a Heart Warrior” poem
1. Poems are another way of telling a story. Make sure your reader has learned something about you through the poem.
2. The poem may or may not rhyme; what’s important is the story.
3. The poem needs to be 500 words or less.  

A few more tips about submitting
1. The only way to submit your stories or poems to us is via our website. If you have any problems when trying to fill out the form and submit your work, please contact our webmaster, Brenda Vignaroli at: brenvignaroli@gmail.com. Responses from the webmaster usually take several days, so be patient.
2. Our webmaster cannot help you with your personal computer problems. If you have questions, such as, “How do I attach my story to the submission form?” please ask a friend or relative, not our webmaster.
3. Please submit only stories or poems that have not been previously published. The only exception to this is if your work has only been published in a small local 
publication with limited circulation or on your own blog.
4. Please do not send us any book manuscripts in this form; however, feel free to enter the Baby Hearts Press Literary Book Competition. 

Six possible Topics or Themes for "The Heart of a Heart Warrior"
Sometimes getting started is the hardest part of writing! I know that I do better when I know what to write about.
Being able to write about ANYTHING can be daunting. Here are SIX suggestions for possible topics/themes:
1. Milestones (graduating from school, getting married, getting the job you always wanted or your very first job, becoming a parent, etc.)
2. Overcoming Obstacles -- especially if it's heart-related (such as joining a particular sports group, finishing college, surviving a particularly difficult medical situation, etc.)
3.  Advocacy -- especially if it's about becoming your own advocate, an advocate for someone else or helping to be an advocate for the CHD community
4.  Faith -- especially if you've had a crisis of faith in the course of your life and if your CHD had a hand in coming to grips with your situation
5.  Lessons Learned -- there are so many things that you could write about in this category! We'll be especially interested to read about lessons you've learned because of your CHD or because of circumstances that you found yourself in related to your CHD
6.  Everyday Triumphs -- in this category you could write about certain things that people might think were difficult for a person with a CHD but how you've found creative ways to triumph over a potential problem

What happens after I submit my story or poem?
Please be patient after you press the SUBMIT button. Wait for the next screen to come up with a message that says:  Thank you for your submission to Baby Hearts Press! This is your confirmation that we have received your story or poem and that it has been entered into our database. This is the only confirmation you will receive. There is no separate e-mail message from us. An “Error” message will come up if your submission does not go through.

How will you know if your story is selected?
We will send notification to each author prior to the publication date via email; therefore, it is extremely important to make sure your email address is typed correctly in the submission form.
It can take many months or even a few years for a Baby Hearts Press book to be completed. Please be patient, as the selection of stories and poems is a time-consuming process. Please do not contact us to ask for an update about your story unless you need to know whether we are considering it because another publisher is interested in it, too.
If we choose your story or poem for a future project, we will notify you by email and request your permission to print it. We never publish anything without written permission from the author, and we get your approval for any edits we make as well.
If your e-mail address changes after you submit your story, be sure to let our webmaster know by emailing brenvignaroli@gmail.com. You need to let her know which book you submitted to so that she can update your information.
If we publish your story, your name will be presented as the byline along with your story, so it is important for you to note the name you prefer to use with the story. If you prefer to use a pen name and not the name you used to submit your story, you must let us know. You will also receive two free copies of the book your story or poem appears in. You will also become part of the Baby Hearts Press family and will be entitled to buy books from us at a discount.

                                                                                       Good luck!

Submission dates have been changed!
We will keep the contest open until June 1, 2019 Central Time (USA).
  Winners will be notified no later than June 1, 2019.