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News, features and resources for media and publishing professionals. Friday, April 12, 2002 Blogs | Subscribe | Interviews | Events | Films | Book Blog Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Oprah Scales Back Book Club Oprah Winfrey has decided to scale back the amount of time she spends on her incredibly popular Oprah's Book Club, which regularly announced new book selections -- at least one new book every month or two. Although Oprah left open the possibility that there could still be an occasional selection, the Book Club will be significantly scaled back. Oprah's Book Club was a boon to publishers and unnoticed authors. Her selections immediately jumped to the top of the bestseller lists. Booksellers were always ready to immediately purchase her latest selection. When she announced her decision, Oprah also announced her latest pick -- Sula from Toni Morrison. Oprah has selected other Morrison books in the past, including The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Paradise. Oprah's Book Club was launched in 1996 with The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard as her pick. Since then, Oprah has made 46 regular selections which all raced to the top of the bestseller lists. The author of each book selected is invited to appear on Oprah's show. Every single author selected was absolutely delighted to appear until Oprah chose The Corrections by Jonathen Franzen. Franzen made comments that were critical of Oprah, her show and her fans. In one interview, the author referred to some of Oprah's prior book picks as "schmaltzy, [and] one-dimensional." Franzen further indicated that he felt that the Oprah Book Club Selection logo sticker appearing on his book was, in effect, a corporate hijacking of his work. Oprah Winfrey responded by rescinding her offer for Franzen to appear on her show, but graciously did not remove The Corrections as the Book Club selection. Did Franzen sour Oprah on her book club? Or, is Oprah too busy with her magazine and television show? Oprah herself said that she had trouble finding books good enough to select for the Book Club -- a comment which sent publishers (who think they publish plenty of good books) into a frenzy. No matter what the reason may be, Oprah's Book Club will be missed. Authors and publishers alike hope that an occasional Book Club selection will still be made -- perhaps leading to a full-scale relaunch in the not-too-distant future. Related Links: · Oprah.com · Past Oprah's Book Club Selections Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter. www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved.