Thirty Years of Powerful, Uplifting Storytelling

COS COB, Conn. – It’s been 30 years since the release of the original Chicken Soup for the Soul and it continues to change lives, having created a publishing industry phenomenon that sold more than 500 million copies of its titles around the world. Now, Chicken Soup for the Soul is rereleasing the #1 New York Times bestseller that started it all, but with additional content. In Chicken Soup for the Soul 30th Anniversary Edition (June 28, 2023, 978-1-611591057, $16.95) a new generation of readers will find the classic original stories, plus an additional 30 bonus stories from many of today’s top thought leaders.

Jack Canfield starts off the book with the amazing story of how he and Mark Victor Hansen put together the original book, filled with true stories about people from all walks of life—stories that demonstrated the resilience and strength we all have in us, just waiting to be called on as needed. Jack and Mark needed to use their own fortitude to persevere despite rejections from 144 publishers. They finally got their book published and ended up selling 1.3 million copies of the original Chicken Soup for the Soulin the first year and a half. “Little did we know what we would unleash,” Jack writes.

Chicken Soup for the Soul 30th Anniversary Edition contains new stories from the book’s original authors – Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen – in addition to ones by Chicken Soup for the Soul editor-in-chief and publisher Amy Newmark. Among the 30 new stories, filled with wisdom and usable life lessons, are ones by TV hosts and authors Deborah Norville and Joan Lunden; authors Brad Meltzer, Rabbi Steve Leder, Zibby Owens, Sophfronia Scott, and Jane Wolfe; radio and podcast personalities Tony D’Urso, Pat Farnack, and Laura Owens; and motivational speakers and authors MK Asante, Reverend Michael Beckwith, Gabrielle Bernstein, Kris Carr, Deepak Chopra, Lori Deschene, Eric Handler, Darren Hardy, Robert Holden, Tory Johnson, Mastin Kipp, Nick Ortner, Anthony Robbins and don Miguel Ruiz.

“It’s our job at Chicken Soup for the Soul to focus on finding stories for our readers that are potentially life-changing,” said Amy Newmark, publisher and editor-in-chief of Chicken Soup for the Soul. “Before I became publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul 15 years ago, I spent six months getting to know the company, and I read 100 of the old titles. After reading all those books and tens of thousands of stories submitted for our more recent books, the thing that has struck me the most is the resilience of the human spirit. We try to show that in all our books in order to inspire our readers and provide them with real-life role models.”

Chicken Soup for the Soul was “crowdsourcing” and “curating” before those became buzz words. Each new Chicken Soup for the Soul collection consists of 101 stories that are selected from thousands of submissions for that particular topic. The books run the gamut, from entertaining, humorous collections about topics such as pets or family or Christmas, to more serious subjects such as angels and miracles, grieving, cancer, or Alzheimer’s.

ABOUT CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Chicken Soup for the Soul publishes the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. With well over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada, more than 300 titles, and translations into more than 40 languages, the phrase “chicken soup for the soul” is known worldwide and is regularly referenced in pop culture. Today, 30 years after it first began sharing happiness, inspiration and hope through its books, “changing lives one story at a time^®,” this socially conscious company continues to publish a new title a month. It has also evolved beyond the bookstore, with a podcast, education programs, dog and cat food, licensed products, and television and movies through its subsidiary, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.

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For a review copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul 30^th Anniversary Edition or an interview with Amy Newmark: