Do you know when the original Chicken Soup for the Soul book was published? We’re not sure of the specific date in 1993, but we were told it was in late June. So, we’re 26 years old! Who knew that original book of 101 inspirational stories would launch a worldwide publishing phenomenon? And today, we’ve expanded way beyond our traditional books.

We publish 10 to 12 new Chicken Soup for the Soul books per year, and we have more than 250 titles still in print. We also do other things in our book business:

Our custom publishing business provides a way for nonprofits and companies to provide Chicken Soup for the Soul books to their specialized audiences. For example, we created a book with the Robotics & Education Competition Foundation that contains stories about how robotics has changed the lives of students all over the world. The front cover of that book is at right.

Our education business focuses on social and emotional learning (SEL) for elementary, middle, and high school students through a literacy-oriented curriculum based on our stories, an animal welfare curriculum, and a new line of school musicals distributed by Rodgers & Hammerstein.

Our licensing business allows high-quality publishers outside our core area to create Chicken Soup for the Soul products such as puzzle books and bookazines.

And believe it or not, publishing books is now our smallest business! We also have a line of super-premium dog and cat food, a video and TV production business, and a TV and film distribution business. We’re the largest provider of advertiser-supported video on demand by streaming of TV and films through our Crackle and Popcornflix apps, which allow you to watch TV shows and films for free on your smart TVs, your phones, your computers, and your tablets.

And to think it all started with one book 26 years ago. And, over the years, your amazing stories!

With thanks, from your publisher, Amy Newmark @amynewmark

J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 9

A N E X C L U S I V E C O M M U N I Q U É F O R O U R W R I T E R S

Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.

~Julia Cameron

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INSPIRATION for

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INNER CIRCLEA Note from Your Publisher

Changing lives one story at a time ®

Look At These Upcoming Books!Check out our new books coming this fall. We love our new look.

And here’s what we’re working on so far for the winter and spring of 2020! You can still submit your stories for the Laughter book until September 30th.

Lainie Belcastro is at it again. She’s a bundle of energy as she does book signings all over Pennsylvania. We wanted to share one particular signing with you, as she did it at the historic Moravian Book Shop in Bethlehem, PA. These folks know how to sell books! Lainie says that for her June 29th signing, “they did an exceptional job promoting the new release Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat, as readers were waiting for me to arrive to purchase the book.”

The Moravian Book Shop is the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world. It was founded in 1745 when the Moravian Church appointed Samuel Powell of the Church’s Crown Inn on the south side of the Lehigh River to operate a bookstore. After operating at several locations, the Moravian Book Shop was moved to the church’s publications building near the Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem in 1871. Today, the Moravian Book Shop operates in the same site on historic Main Street.

Linda Kinnamon, Gwen Cooper, and Suzanne Kurth (left in green, black and plaid, respectively) had a book signing for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Dog on June 29th at the famous Tattered Cover bookstore chain. They chose the pet-friendly Aspen Grove location in Littleton, CO. Gwen reports, “We had a wonderful time reading our stories, and had such an engaged audience that led to a very enjoyable and involved Q&A session. There were roughly 15 people in attendance, along with the store staff, and three furry friends as well. Gail Walkowich (left in red) came out to see us, and she is going to have her first story published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels All Around. The store gave us each a customized, engraved bookmark as a token of appreciation, a very generous memento

to have to remember our lovely book signing.”

In late May, Valerie Archual (pictured right with her grandchildren) and her friend Rosaire Bushey shared a book table at the Festival in the Park in Roanoke, VA, where Valerie showed off Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat. Valerie also participated in a wonderful event called “Caturday” at her local library, where children read to cats from their local shelter. This helps socialize the cats and get them ready for adoption, and it helps the kids practice their reading skills in a fun, non-judgmental way. Valerie says, “A portion of my sales from both events will go to my local Angels of Assisi. Thankful for this amazing

opportunity!”

Susan Cooper (left in red) and Carol March (left in blue) hosted a book signing for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Cat on June 27th at Barnes & Noble in the Coronado Mall in Albuquerque, NM. “We both read our stories and had a Q&A session afterwards,” Susan said. “Everyone seemed to have fun.”

Your Book Signings And News

Exciting news – we finally have a blog on Goodreads! Not familiar with Goodreads? It has been called the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations and by the way, it is owned by Amazon!

It’s basically a social-media page where you can track books you are currently reading and what books you want to read. You can also check in on what your friends are reading! And it’s free! Just go to https://www.goodreads.com.

Be sure to follow Amy Newmark so you are notified when a new blog is posted. Just go to her profile page and click the “Follow” button. Click here to go right there!

Follow Our Blog on Goodreads

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels All Around

101 Inspirational Stories of Miracles, Divine Intervention, and Answered Prayers

These true personal stories of angels, miracles, answered prayers, and divine intervention will wow you! We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed making this book.

On Sale: August 27, 2019

Some of the writers’ mag-azines and websites I follow occasionally post your story callouts, and they sometimes have di f ferent t i t les or deadline dates than the ones I see on your website. Which ones are right?

We change our minds a lot as we solidify our publication schedules. For example, we recently changed the proposed title and the publication date for our humor book. It started out as I Can’t Stop Laughing and now it’s called Laughter Is the Best Medicine. We also extended the deadline for

submissions to September 30th.

You may see out-of-date titles or deadline dates on other websites or in magazines, because they are probably passing on to their readers the story callouts they’ve seen from us. For up-to-date topics, titles, and deadlines, please check on our website. Here’s a link that will get you right there: https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submiss ions/possible-book-topics.

And if you see we’ve tweaked a title, you should assume it’s still the same book. You do not have to submit your story again if the new title is clearly about the same topic. It’s just an example of us changing our minds as we develop our schedule.

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