Embracing Mental Health as a Fandom
Submit Your Story for Amanda Tapping's Mental Health Book
To celebrate the launch of our call for stories we're releasing 100 more book pre-orders with limited edition bookplates. Whether you're pre-ordering, submitting a story, or both, you're directly making this project possible. Thank you. We couldn't do it without you.This book isn't just a solitary read—it's a community lifeline. At any time, we can turn to its pages for solace, guidance, or simply the assurance that we're not alone. We plan to make this book interactive, symbolizing we are connected. We're in this together, united.
Pre-orders directly support the creation of this unique crowdsourced book. Since we believe sharing your stories have the potential to be so uplifting and meaningful, the eBook will be available for digital download completely free as a public service.
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Scroll down for full story submission guidelines and the submission form. You don't need to pre-order the book for your story to be considered.
ABOUT THE BOOK
By Fans, For Fans
Chapters Led by Amanda
With candid honesty, Amanda delves into a spectrum of topics encompassing self-confidence, friendship, anxiety, and self-reflection. Through her personal stories, she illuminates the common humanity we all share.
Stories from Special Guests
We will bring in highly relevant special celebrity guests to contribute their personal stories relating to a particular perspective or issue.
Call for Your Stories - Now Open
Most importantly, we want stories to hear stories from you. We will be asking over a dozen questions throughout the next 5 months. Read the questions carefully and watch the videos we release to help you structure your story.
Submission Guidlines
At The Companion, we believe in the transformative power of stories. Most importantly, we want to hear your personal stories. We’re looking for genuine, heartfelt contributions that resonate with others. They can be poignant, meaningful, uplifting, include lessons learned, but most importantly, real unfiltered personal experiences.
Watch the whole playlist above for insight and inspiration.
What We're Looking For
• Fandom Focused: This project is focused on fans, friends, and families coming together through any fandom. We know not every story can be fandom related, but we encourage you to keep the focus there where possible.• Authenticity and Emotion: Share your personal experiences. Don’t hold back—let your emotions shine through. We want stories that evoke feelings of connection, hope, and inspiration.• Vivid Descriptions: Use vivid imagery and sensory details to paint a picture. Make your reader feel like they’re right there with you.• Engaging Narrative: Start your story in the midst of the action. Skip the introductions and conclusions that tell what you’re going to say or what you just said—let the story speak for itself.• Memorable Moments: Highlight specific moments and people that made a difference in your life. Acts of love, courage, and kindness are especially impactful.• Keep It Concise: You can be as short as you'd like. Some short answer questions can be 1 word. If you're submitting a story, it must be 1,200 words or less. Tight, well-edited stories have the most impact.
“There's a different level of generosity to sci-fi fandom. We embrace diversity and inclusion. People connect from around the world, this global map of interconnecting lines. It’s that kind of connection where you keep an eye out for each other and if you see somebody struggling, you’d go up and help them, and it’s a beautiful thing.”- Amanda Tapping, June 3, 2023 on The Companion
What We're Not Looking For
• Fiction: There's a wonderful place for fiction, but this isn't the book for it.• Dry essays, academic essays, sermons, or political rants.• Third-party articles or testimonials: If you're writing the book on behalf of a friend, family member, or someone else, please write it as first person.• Previously published work, unless it was in a small, local publication or your own blog.• A note on Poetry: We like poetry and you can definitely submit poems. Poetry is a wonderful way to tell a story. It can be a wonderful way to describe how fandom makes you feel. However, it needs to fit within the context of our fandom book or it will unlikely be considered.
Tips for a Strong Submission
• Be Yourself: Write in your own voice. Authenticity is more powerful than perfection.• Focus on Impact: Think about how your story can help others. What lessons can be learned? What emotions can be shared?• Stay on Topic: Ensure your submission relates to fandom and mental health. Keep it relevant to the themes we’re exploring and the questions we’ve asked.• Submit to Short Answer Questions: If you're unable to write a longer story, we encourage you to contribute to our short answer questions such as: Describe Yourself in 10 Words.IMPORTANT: Submitting does not guarantee placement into the book. Your likelihood of acceptance into the book is improved by keeping the suggestions above in mind, making sure your submission is free of errors (including typos and grammatical errors), and your adherence to the questions asked (these are the basis of our chapter structure). You aren't required to buy the book for your story to be considered.
Submit Below
There are two ways to submit: 1) Online and 2) By Mail. In both cases, you must fill out the form below.The submissions deadline is January 5th 2025, subject to change.
Current Questions for Submissions:1. How has fandom saved/changed/affected your life?2. Describe yourself in 10 separate words (Example: Strong, Kind, Curious, etc)3. Write a letter of forgiveness to someone who has caused you pain.4. Send us a single image (photo, art, illustration, any image) of your glimmer or something that brings you tremendous joy.5. What has a character taught you about yourself?6. What is your comfort media? (Song, Show, Movie)7. What would you say to a loved one who has passed away?Please select the question you are answering in the drop-down on the submission form below. More questions will be released every week. You may submit to more than one question.
If your submission could benefit from us seeing the actual physical copy, please send it to the PO box listed below. NOTE: We are not responsible for returning your submissions. If you would like your item returned please include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your submission. We will try to return what you sent, but that can't be guaranteed.Mailing Address:
The Companion
c/o Welles Davis
PO Box 1185
Greenville, SC 29602
USA
Timeline
April
Pre-Order 1st Window Open (Sold Out)
July to Jan
Submissions for Fan Stories
Feb 2025
Kickstarter launch for final pre-orders
Q2 2025
Book Printing & Begin Shipments
About The Companion
What is Amanda Tapping's Embracing Mental Health as a Fandom?
Amanda Tapping and Stargate Co-Creator Brad Wright joined The Companion as partners and investors because community is everything.For the past 3 years, we've been on a mission to uplift fans in a world that has become increasingly lonely. We have an ambitious goal: To create 1 million life-changing memories for 1 million fans.With the help of you, the community, we have raised over $30,000 for charities including mental health, feed the hungry & helped disabled children play video games. We can't do this without you.