Magazine Launches Based on Popular Chicken Soup Books

Posted on August 20, 2004

Modern Media, LLC, and Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, Inc., creator of the bestselling book series, have announced an agreement to develop a new magazine, Chicken Soup for the American Soul. Chicken Soup for the American Soul will debut with the June 2005 issue in a standard magazine format combining editorial and advertising. It will have a distribution of 150,000 through newsstands and subscriptions with a cover price of $3.95.

Modern Media will publish three issues in 2005 and six issues on a bi-monthly schedule in 2006. The new magazine incorporates American Magazine, which was first published in winter 2002, and has discontinued publication to prepare for the launch of Chicken Soup for the American Soul.

Chicken Soup for the American Soul, in the tradition of the Chicken Soup book series, will offer inspiring stories, including many submitted by readers, that show the American ability to find the "silver lining" in life. In addition to submitted articles, Chicken Soup for the American Soul will cover family, food, fashion, home, health, travel, lifestyle, entertainment and culture.

J. Mignonne Wright, the founder and former Editor-in-Chief of American Magazine, will serve as Editor-in-Chief of Chicken Soup for the American Soul. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, co-creators of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, will serve as Executive Editors, and Patty Hansen, President of Legal and Licensing for Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, Inc., will serve as Editor-at-Large.

"It was such an incredible feeling to have the creators of Chicken Soup for the Soul take notice of American Magazine and feel strongly enough about our success to put their name on it," said Wright, who also serves as the President of Modern Media. "Much as the Chicken Soup book series has done, Chicken Soup for the American Soul will provide readers with a magazine that combines inspirational stories with humor, poking fun at everyday life instead of over-examining it."

More than a decade ago, the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series was little more than an idea and a well-worn proposal that 140 publishers had rejected as "unsellable." Yet the aspiring authors, Canfield and Hansen, remained undaunted and continued combining their passion with their 10 principles for "living their dream." Today, their book series includes more than 100 titles in 39 languages and more than 90 million readers worldwide. In 1996, the newly-formed Chicken Soup Enterprises, Inc., leveraging the success of book sales, branched into licensed products, and to date the company is responsible for more than 600 million dollars of retail revenue.

In 2001 Wright dreamed of launching a national consumer magazine modeled after the bestselling book series and Modern Media was formed. American Magazine caught the eye of Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, whose principals contacted Wright to propose a union of the two brands. Thus, Chicken Soup for the American Soul magazine was born.