We started in 1993 with a simple idea: that people could help each other by sharing stories about their lives. For years people had told our founders, motivational speakers Jack and Mark, inspiring stories about themselves. Jack and Mark included these stories in their talks, and their audiences repeatedly asked if they had ever been published.” That story about the boy and the puppy—is that in a book anywhere?” a parent asked Jack. “That story about the boy with the amputated(截肢)leg who became a tennis star, I need to read that to my staff,” a manager told him. Jack was asked repeatedly, “ Is that story in a book anywhere?”

    Eventually Jack and Mark decided their audiences must be on to something, so they collected the best 101 stories they'd been told in a book. They called itChicken Soup for the Soulbecause they wanted it to provide comfort just like their grandmother's cooking.

    They took the book to New York, hoping to sell it to one of the big publishers but every single one turned them down. The project appeared to havestalleduntil they met Peter Vegso, the owner of a small health and wellness polisher in Florida named HCI. Peter read some of the stories and loved them, so he decided to give the book a chance, becomingChicken Soup for the Soul'sfounding publisher.

    Never, in Jack and Mark's wildest dreams had they imagined what the book would become. Chicken Soup for the Soul turned into one of the most popular and loved books ever published, selling 11 million copies around the world. Readers asked for more stories so we published a “second helping” of Chicken Soup for the Soul and a third after that, Today, we've published more than 250 books, which have become the best-selling trade paperback book series of all time.