What Oprah has done for books
She was like a fairy godmother to the book world: With a gushing endorsement and an "O" book seal publishers clamored for, Oprah Winfrey reinvigorated the book club, rocketed little-known authors to stardom, fetched a windfall for the publishing industry as a whole, and encouraged a nation to read.
It was called the "Oprah Effect" for good reason 鈥� everything she touched became publishing gold.
Now that she鈥檚 leaving 鈥� The Oprah Winfrey Show ends its 25-year run on Wednesday 鈥� what of her determined book boostering?
Publishers are eager to find out. Oprah鈥檚 effect on book reading and sales is almost supernatural.
Oprah鈥檚 Book Club began Sept. 17, 1996, with Jacquelyn Mitchard鈥檚 鈥淭he Deep End of the Ocean,鈥� about the kidnapping of a child.
鈥� Since then, she鈥檚 selected 70 books for Oprah鈥檚 Book Club.
鈥� Fifty-nine of her books made The top 10 on USA Today鈥檚 bestseller list
鈥� Twenty-two of her books were No. 1 on USA Today鈥檚 bestseller list
鈥� Toni Morrison, whose books were chosen four times for Oprah鈥檚 Book Club (鈥淪ong of Solomon,鈥� 鈥淧aradise,鈥� 鈥淭he Bluest Eye,鈥� and 鈥淪ula鈥� were all picked), got a bigger sales boost from Oprah than from winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Among Oprah鈥檚 other successes was bringing Leo Tolstoy鈥檚 19th-century love story 鈥�Anna Karenina鈥� to the No. 1 spot on many bestseller lists, including USA Today鈥檚. She also helped sales of a little-known collection of short stories about Africa soar. 鈥淪ay You鈥檙e One of Them鈥� by Uwem Akpan had an initial print of 77,000. After Oprah endorsed the book, 780,000 more copies were printed.
Perhaps most telling, Oprah has helped sell some 55 million copies of her book club picks since 1996, according to Fordham University marketing professor Al Greco. 鈥淎nd there wasn鈥檛 a James Patterson or a John Grisham among them,鈥� he told .
鈥淪he made book discussions interesting, educational, and entertaining,鈥� Greco said. 鈥淟iterature professors can be interesting and educational, but are they entertaining?鈥�
Oprah鈥檚 Book Club certainly has been.
There was the headline-making James Frey controversy, in which Oprah excoriated Mr. Frey for fabricating parts of his memoir 鈥�A Million Little Pieces.鈥� She had Frey back on air in her final season to apologize. 鈥淚 got ambushed,鈥� Frey said, adding, 鈥淚n some ways I deserved it.鈥� Since then, Frey鈥檚 latest book, 鈥�The Final Testament of the Holy Bible,鈥� has risen from 10,286 on Amazon's sale ratings to 253.
And then there was Jonathan Franzen, whose book 鈥淭he Corrections鈥� was chosen as an Oprah Book Club pick in 2001. Mr. Franzen greeted the news with less than full enthusiasm, warning his work 鈥渨as a hard book for that audience,鈥� and warily questioning the desirability of seeing Oprah鈥檚 鈥渓ogo of corporate ownership鈥� on his book鈥檚 cover.
Oprah canceled Franzen鈥檚 on-air book club dinner. He later apologized and Oprah again selected his novel 鈥淔谤别别诲辞尘鈥� for her book club. Chastened, he appeared on the show, apologized, and, like the Oprah-Frey on-air rapprochement, Oprah and Franzen went through a public reconciliation. After that, both Franzen novels soared to the top of multiple bestseller lists.
The books benefited from the drama, though Oprah has acknowledged that her book club shows rarely garnered her best ratings.
What does that mean for future book club shows? Will Oprah continue her literary endorsements on OWN, her new cable network?
Publishers can breathe a sigh of relief. Oprah told USA Today she is 鈥済oing to try to develop a show for books and authors,鈥� though she provided no details and the OWN show likely won鈥檛 garner the ratings her network TV talk show has. 鈥淪ome things you do because it is necessary,鈥� Oprah said, acknowledging that her book club shows were rarely her most popular. 鈥淲e've done OK with them. We found the more I could connect the author and the book to the audience, the better the numbers would be.鈥�
Stay tuned for more Kleenex-worthy couch time.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
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