Week 7 Prompt

Celebrity inspired book clubs have generally had a positive effect on readers' involvement and the promotion of books and no one has been more successful than Oprah and her book club. From its inception in 1996 to its conclusion in 2002, Oprah's book club has been responsible for making reading a social event.  Oprah's popularity ensured mass appeal of any book she would publicly recommend.  Her fan base was mostly female and she had the ability to find topics to tug at her audiences heart strings by delving deep into the emotional aspect of the story and the journey the author was compelled to take when writing the book. No more sitting at home and enjoying a book alone and savoring every tidbit, now a reader could join a discussion group and share ideas and thoughts about the author and book that they might have missed without the connection to other like-minded readers.

According to the article  From Obscurity to Bestseller: Examining the Impact of Oprah's Book Club Selections the 48 books she chose to feature became bestsellers almost immediately and "just eleven of the forty-eight books had been part of the top 150 at some time before Oprah featured them on her show."   Her popularity was a vehicle to authors to become noticed and widely read. Part of the appeal is the social connection associated with en masse reading followed by a group discussion.  Oprah's magnetism as a facilitator ensured prolonged popularity.  Suddenly it became the discussion at the water cooler or whenever women came together. Book sales increased dramatically once it was endorsed by Oprah.  This was a win-win situation where the author gained recognition along with increased monetary gains. In order to appeal to a wide ranging audience, Oprah would include a selection of diverse books that tended to oscillate from easier material to more complex.

The downside to Oprah's book club was that her directed audience was mostly female. Tapping into the emotional elements of a book tended to alienate the male population.  I cannot ever remember a man discussing, let alone reading, one of the books on Oprah's Book Club list even though most of the authors were male. The running joke was, if it was chosen by Oprah, than it was a "chick" book.

Oprah's book club is still popular and I still receive requests for her list.  The duration and continued popularity is a credit to her intuition of the needs and desires of her audience. I give her credit for opening a dialog for many reluctant readers or readers hard pressed to find time to sit down with a book. It is a good thing anytime people are excited and are willing openly discuss books and authors.

Resources:

Butler, R. J., Cowan, B. W., & Nilsson, S. (2005). From Obscurity to Bestseller: Examining the Impact of Oprah's Book Club Selections. Publishing Research Quarterly, 20(4), 23-34.