A story e-book idea

[Ellen]

I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience compiling an e-book utilizing content (stories,) submitted by others? For example, "Chicken Soup for the Soul" is a book filled with real stories gathered from individuals, then compiled and published in book form.

I have an idea for an e-book which in my mind would be similar to a book of that kind, in the sense that it would contain stories submitted by real people. I'm somewhat stuck though, when it comes down to the actual story gathering process and what to offer in exchange for a story?

Some of my questions are:

~ How to approach the people I'd like to gather a story from, especially if they don't know me from Adam..er, I should say, Eve?

~ What to offer, short of cold-hard-cash, in exchange for their story? (I'm thinking links to their websites would be acceptable but not sure if that would be enticing enough?)

~ How to gather story submissions from those interested? Should I simply use a web form, perhaps with different form fields for entering specific information related to the story outline?

Any thoughts or suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated! Also, if you're aware of an e-book that has been compiled using others peoples stories, if possible, please do share a link.

Ellen

[Bonnie Lowe]

Hi Ellen,

I've done this before. The resulting product is at .

Here's the process I used to get people to share their stories in the e-book:

1. I asked people I already had relationships with if they'd be interested in participating (people I'd "met" online via forums, mostly).

2. I went to EzineArticles.com and read articles on the subject (in this case, "networking"). I selected the BEST articles, then visited the websites mentioned in the resource boxes. If the site AND the article convinced me the author was knowledgeable and capable of writing an interesting story, I contacted him/her.

3. When I contacted article authors (via e-mail), I'd first compliment them on their articles and websites. I'd include something specific about their article and/or site, so my message wouldn't seem "canned." Then I'd tell them about my project, and ask if they'd be interested in submitting an article/chapter to be included. Their contact info and links to their website would be included, too, of course.

4. I gave everyone a deadline for inputs. They sent e-mails to me or called and gave me their stories over the phone. I reformatted them all into a specific design. I let them review their sections before they were finalized.

5. I asked all if they knew of anyone else who would be interested in participating.

I had no problem getting plenty of people to contribute to this project.

It's been a while since I did that project, so I may be forgetting parts of the process. If you have any questions, just let me know.

[bopub]

[Bonnie Lowe]

[Ellen]

[Bonnie Lowe]

[Ellen]

[Bonnie Lowe]

[bopub]

Good job on the info Bonnie. And Ellen, the number 12 was only an example. Whichever you choose, the tactic here is to create interest. You can have more, or less. If the topic has many variables, then more is better. Remember, it's like short vs long. Forget about being too long. Details and a mental picture are all important to the reader who is interested.

Interested people want details, specifics, reasons, explanations, demonstrations, proof, etc. In other words, they have to be told EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING!

[Ellen]