"Chicken Soup For The Soul" Co-Author Explains How Stories Are Picked From Over 1,000 Submissions

Nearly everyone has heard of the uplifting Chicken Soup for the Soul books (there are about 250 of them, after all!) — and co-author Deborah Norville thinks we might need them now more than ever. 

"A recent Gallup poll found Americans are more stressed than they have been in over a decade," the Inside Edition anchor reported. 

And she admits that she's no stranger to needing a pick-me-up herself. 

"After I lost what I thought was my dream job [on the "Today Show"], critics told me my career was over," Deborah says. "[Now], to be on a show like Inside Edition, writing wonderful books like Chicken Soup for the Soul, I've learned a little bit about putting yourself back together [and] moving forward with your life." 

That might be why Think Positive, Live Happy is the FIFTH Chicken Soup for the Soul book Deborah has worked on.

Now, we don't know about you, but we've always wondered how the stories that end up in those books get chosen — so we had to ask. 

"There must have been over 1,000 that were submitted," the co-author explains. "They initially get down to about 600, and Amy Newmark — my co-author — and I go through those 600 stories and come up with 101 that we think will fit the different categories we've got." 

"Some of them are just not appropriate for Chicken Soup," the Inside Edition host continues. "Every one of these stories [is] different. Every one of these stories will lift you up in some certain way."

Watch the video above to hear her talk about a few of her favorite stories from the book (and to see Deborah give the studio audience not one, but two, surprises).