SUCCESS LEAVES CLUES*
Unusual Paths to Successful Outcomes
By Marcia Elder
Years ago, two distinguished authors -- Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield -- teamed up to create a book that turned into an enormously popular book series: “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. With the approach they used featuring stories by numerous authors on a wide range of human-interest topics, often heartwarming and inspirational, their idea resulted in a worldwide phenomenon. Now at more than 275 books in the series, it continues to have a profound positive impact.
Almost 20 years ago I had the great pleasure and privilege of attending a conference with both authors. At the time, Mark Victor Hansen hosted multi-day conferences on the themes of marketing, public speaking, and publishing. I ended up at the public speaking conference in an unexpected way... by winning a ticket to the event as part of a national public speaking contest.
Contestants chosen to compete were given advance notice of the rules, including that each would have 5 minutes to present on a topic of their choice and some 300 event participants would then be asked to vote electronically to choose the winner. The grand prize was a ticket to the conference (the registration fee for which as I recall was $2,000). I won first place.
Add to that the fact that Zoom wasn't around at the time and the event was in Teleseminar format with audio only. So key elements of seeing presenter facial expressions and other body language weren't there. Instead, they had to be conveyed by voice -- something that, as a person of strong enthusiasm, I was able to easily do.
Turns out, having been so impressed by the public speaking event, I later attended the other two conferences too. In addition to many outstanding speakers, the publishing event included an opportunity to schedule pitch appointments with known publishers and agents. At the time I didn't have a book proposal or idea ready to present. But I did book several productive appointments, nonetheless, making the most of the valuable opportunity.
It was an exciting experience and by the end of the event all the more so when, upon having networked galore, I was invited to submit a short story for possible inclusion in a book with standout authors -- Mark Victor Hansen, Mary Manin Morrisey, Dr. Michael Beckwith, and many others. The book was called “I Am a Miracle - A Gathering of Celebrated Writers, Musicians and Artists" … and my story was chosen. Available on Amazon, the story was called “Thanksgiving Miracle: Every Day Is a Holiday, as published under the pen name of sorts, M. Kay Elder.
Notably, Mark Victor Hansen has been heralded as one of the most successful authors in publishing history, with sales of over 500 million books (Chicken Soup and others). However, the first Chicken Soup book was rejected by 144 separate publishers, with some feedback being that it was “too positive”! In my own life, enthusiasm, initiative, and a passion for making a positive difference have been core elements of my “being” and my successes. Book-wise, I'm now in the process of writing several on multiple topics each very different than the others and including a one-of-a-kind adventure-filled memoir. As the movie “Michael” concludes: the “story continues” …
Marcia Elder is an author, speaker, and expert as well as head of CPI Consulting.
*A saying popularized by Anthony Robbins. Elder was a Trainer for his events for 10 years.
August 26, 2026
