THE POWER OF STORY
Have you read a story about connecting to a child or teen that stays with you to this day? Something that made you feel so deeply that you remember it still? Maybe you could write a story like that of your own, about your own powerful experience of connection with a child. If so, we would like to hear from you.
The Neufeld Institute is gathering a collection of personal stories written by parents and other adults who care for children and teens. For years caregivers in our circles have been exchanging stories – in person, in courses or on our campus forums, and through our website’s editorials. Through these stories we have created a shared experience of raising our children. We have built a community bound together both by our struggles and our moments of pure connection with the children and teens in our lives. Now, we would like to publish some of these stories in book form and share them more widely with others.
We are looking for short personal stories from you – parents, teachers, grandparents, foster parents, coaches, and others – about your connection with the children in your lives. Sometimes that relationship is strong – we are sure of ourselves and able to lead our children, to be a shield and a place of rest for them. At other times we feel apart and struggle to regain our place in the lead, to be their safe place again. Whether you’re sharing about an experience that didn’t work or a connection with a child or teen that went smoothly, we would like to read the story that touches your heart the most and thereby allows others to feel the moment with you – your deep connection and confidence, your sadness, your tears.
CONSIDERATIONS
Our focus is on the role of caring for children and teens, and on our awareness of the relationship between ourselves and the children and teens in our lives. To get a sense of the Neufeld Institute, please peruse the rest of our website.
WRITING VOICE
Just write your story in your own words. We are not looking for anything technical. We want people who have not studied Dr. Neufeld’s work to understand and enjoy your writing, too. Tell us about your own experience – not what happened to someone else you know. Reading some of our editorials might help spark your own ideas.
LENGTH
Aim for between 700-2,000 words.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Submissions must be received via email to publishing@neufeldinstitute.org on or before October 15, 2017.
Please follow standard manuscript guidelines (double-spaced, Times or Arial font) and submit your essay as a Word document (.doc or .docx).
You are welcome to submit as many essays as you wish, but please submit each separately.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS (a.k.a. “the fine print”)
Writers will be notified by January 31, 2018 if their work is selected and asked to sign a release. We do not accept material that has been previously published outside of the Neufeld Institute – online or in print. We accept simultaneous submissions, but appreciate being notified if your story gets accepted somewhere else. We ask for first serial rights. All other rights revert back to the author after publication. (In future reprints, we just ask that you mention that your story was first published with the Neufeld Institute.) By submitting your story, you agree to allow the Neufeld Institute to publish it in one of its books, e-books, or editorials and promote it on its websites, in courses and at events, and on social media. Upon request, stories may be published under an anonymous byline, but must still be submitted with a name and email address so that we can contact you about your submission. We do not publish anything profane, political, or religious in nature.