Chicken Soup for the Soul is usually a little more forgiving about grammar and punctuation errors than many other publishers, but it’s still important to make your story as error free as possible.

The editors have particularly complained about writers confusing similar words, such as lie/lay. Sit/set is another common pair. Be sure you’re using the correct word and the correct past tense or past participle.

Another common error I’ve seen, even in books published by major publishers, is the incorrect use of pronouns. A particular pet peeve of mine is “Me and Nellie went to the store.” This is wrong on two levels. First, “me” is the objective form of the pronoun (should be used as a direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition). “I” is the subjective form (used as a subject) You would never say, “Me went to the store,” so why would you say “Me and Nellie” just because it’s a compound subject? Second, the rule has always been to put yourself last. So the correct sentence would read: “Nellie and I went to the store.”

In addition to grammar, double check your punctuation and spelling using Microsoft Word, Grammarly, etc. (just don’t make other changes that constitute rewriting by AI).

Finally, it’s always a good idea to run your story through a critique group or by other readers who check for proper grammar/punctuation/spelling.

Grammar is important. Show editors you’ve done your due diligence to submit the most error-free story possible.

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now.