Happy Summer! My own summer started Memorial Day weekend with my daughter’s graduation from medical school. You folks who live up in the Lebanon, New Hampshire area will definitely be invited to a contributor luncheon or dinner in the coming year. My daughter will be doing her residency there, way up north, and I’ll be there often. We are planning contributor events in another set of mountains too — in Colorado, where we have more than 200 contributors! We’ll be there in mid-August, so look for an invitation in the next few weeks when we figure out our exact schedule. If you’re traveling to Colorado on vacation in August, let us know you will be there so that we can invite you too. We’ll probably do one event south of Denver and another north of Denver so that we won’t be more than a couple of hours from most of you. We’re planning three contributor events in the New York metropolitan area the first weekend in October — most likely one in New Jersey, one on Long Island, and one in Connecticut, complete with a tour of our office in Cos Cob. We’ll be inviting all our contributors in New Jersey, Connecticut, and southern New York State to those events. If you’re going to be in the area then, let us know so that we can include you. We love meeting contributors but we haven’t met all of you yet because we have to spend most of our time in the office making the books! We’re sending five books to the printer in July and August — a monumental task, but one we undertake every summer as we prepare for the big holiday selling season. Summer may be just starting, but for us Christmas is already in full swing! Your publisher, Amy Newmark @amynewmark

INSPIRATION for

ritersWBooks can be dangerous. The best ones should

be labeled “This could change your life.” ~Helen Exley

INNER CIRCLE J U N E 2 0 1 5

A Note from Your Publisher

the

Denver, CONew York, NY

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

Changing lives one story at a timeTM

Summer Giveaway!

Congratulations to our Grillin’ Giveaway winners! We asked you to tell us what you’ll be reading this summer and we chose five winners at random, who will each receive a bottle of Chicken Soup for the Soul barbecue sauce and a Chicken Soup for the Soul apron set. Here are the winners and the books they plan to read this summer!

Marie-Therese (Teri) Miller – The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber

Nancy Hoag – Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

Jackie Allison – The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Eva Carter – Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

David Hull – A Dog’s Journey by W. Bruce Cameron

Are any of these books on your summer reading list?

Grillin’ Giveaway Winners!

We have some new titles going on sale this summer and fall, and we’re going to be giving six lucky winners, chosen at random, a copy of the book of their choice.

E-mail webmaster@chickensoupforthesoul.com by June 28th telling us which book looks the most interesting to you and why. We’ll choose six winners and we mail you the book as soon as we get our advance copies from the printer!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Nurses 101 Stories of Appreciation & Wisdom

By Amy Newmark and LeAnn Thieman On Sale 7/21/15

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Volunteering & Giving Back 101 Inspiring Stories of Purpose & Passion

By Amy Newmark Foreword by Carrie Morgridge

On Sale 8/18/15

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams and Premonitions 101 Amazing Stories of Miracles, Divine

Intervention, and Insight By Amy Newmark & Kelly Sullivan Walden

On Sale 9/22/15

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Possible 101 Stories about Using a Positive Attitude to

Improve Your Life By Amy Newmark & Deborah Norville

On Sale 10/6/15

New Grain-Free Dog Food

I submitted a story for a book title that you already published. My story didn’t make that book. Can I resubmit it for another book?

Yes, absolutely! Please do submit your story again if you think it is

a good fit for one of our new titles. We are happy

to re-read it and sometimes we do agree that a story submitted for one book is actually perfect for a different one.

Once in a while, we even move a story ourselves and you get a permission request out of left field for a story that you submitted for a different book. But that is rare, so re-submitting the story yourself is a great idea. You’d be surprised how often it works!

Submit Your Stories For Our Latest Book Idea!

We’re excited to announce that this summer Chicken Soup for the Soul will be offering grain-free dog food. This new dog food comes in two varieties: Chicken, Turkey, Pea & Sweet Potato Recipe and Salmon, Sweet Potato & Pea Recipe. Each variety will be available in 4–, 12– and 24 lb bags. To find a retailer near you, click here and then check the box next to the blue pawprint.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Joy of Less 101 Stories about Having More by Simplifying Our Lives

A recent study found that 75% of U.S. families have so much stuff in their garages that they can’t park their cars in them! U.S. children make up 3.1% of the global kid population but Americans buy 40% of the

world’s toys. Are we really happy with all the stuff that we have? And are we really happy with all the commitments we have made for our time? People sign up for too many activities, even “committing” to too many TV shows due to the ease of binge-watching on DVRs, Amazon Prime and Netflix.

We have received hundreds of stories over the years from people happily simplifying their lives, cutting back on material possessions, and reducing their time commitments so they can focus on what is important to them and their families.

Share your own stories or resolutions about the joy of less! We know you will think of many more but here are some suggested topics:

• Losing your home and/or possessions and discovering you are happier • Deliberately cutting back on possessions/size of home and how you felt • Learning to say no to commitments • Simplifying your life, in terms of “stuff ” or in terms of time commitments • Having a tag sale/giving things to thrift shops or charities • Walking away from it all • Making a plan with your children and/or spouse to simplify, and how it worked out for you • Feeling pressure to participate in too many activities • Staycations/turning off the cable/saying no/and other ways you simplified your life

To submit your story, click here. And to see what other titles we’re seeking stories for, click here.

FUN FACTS