Health Communications Inc.

Health Communications Inc., which publishes as HCI Books and describes itself as "The Life Issues Publisher," states that it has been bringing readers bestsellers for over 40 years and that its books are distributed worldwide. The company says it first drew the publishing industry's attention with Adult Children of Alcoholics (Janet G. Woititz, Ed.D., 1983), its first New York Times bestseller on the "Advice How-To" list, and that Publishers Weekly named it the #1 self-help publisher. It became the original publisher of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series in 1993 and has published memoirs such as A Child Called It (Dave Pelzer, 1995). HCI accepts book proposals and submissions from authors and literary agents, licenses titles for foreign-language editions, and handles reprint requests for its content.

Health Communications Inc. publishes as HCI Books and calls itself "The Life Issues Publisher." According to its About page, it is "those guys in Florida" who first got the attention of the publishing industry with Adult Children of Alcoholics (Janet G. Woititz, Ed.D., 1983), its first New York Times bestseller on the "Advice How-To" list, which remained there for over 40 weeks. Publishers Weekly named it the #1 self-help publisher, and a string of other New York Times and national bestsellers, including Healing the Shame that Binds You (John Bradshaw, 1988), cemented its reputation as a pioneer in the recovery and self-help genres. In 1993, HCI Books added Inspiration to the portfolio when it became the original publisher of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which culminated in over 100 titles in the series, foreign editions in almost every language on earth, a Guinness World Record for having the most titles on the New York Times bestseller list at the same time, and tens of millions of heartstrings tugged. A Child Called It (Dave Pelzer, 1995) and its follow-up The Lost Boy (1997) are described as two of the most poignant and unforgettable memoirs ever published, and Dave Pelzer continued to entrust HCI Books with his life story in The Return to the River (2023). Its evolution continued with bestsellers in parenting such as The Sleepeasy Solution (Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack, 2007, Revised 2025), and in lifestyle with Hypnobirthing; The Mongan Method, 3rd and 4th Editions (Marie F. Mongan, M.Ed., 2005, 2015). One of its perennial bestselling Chicken Soup authors brought From Fearful to Fear Free™ (Marty Becker, D.V.M., et al., 2018).

Self-described as "The Life Issues Publisher" and described by Publishers Weekly as the #1 self-help publisher.

• 1983

  Adult Children of Alcoholics

• 1988

  Healing the Shame that Binds You

• 1993

  Chicken Soup for the Soul series

• 1995

  A Child Called It

• 1997

  The Lost Boy

• 2005

  Hypnobirthing; The Mongan Method, 3rd Edition

• 2007

  The Sleepeasy Solution

• 2015

  Hypnobirthing; The Mongan Method, 4th Edition

• 2018

  From Fearful to Fear Free™

• 2023

  The Return to the River

1. 1HCI Books – The Life Issues Publisherhcibooks.com
2. 2About – HCI Bookshcibooks.com