The Big Bad Book Blog

Oprah has been kind to books, and books have been kind to Oprah. The godlike talk show host granted a windfall to bookselling with her famous club (and performed something of a miracle, prompting legions of soccer moms and their ilk to rush to bookstores and ask for the works of William Faulkner). Now, her upcoming weight-loss book, according to UsMagazine.com, has commanded the highest advance ever, besting even Bill Clinton’s My Life. Whether or not you find Oprah a worthy arbiter of culture, there’s no arguing that she resuscitated reading for many a jaded TV watcher.

But as Oprah’s club rose to prominence in the late nineties, the Brits watched and saw room for improvement. In 2004, husband-and-wife talk show hosts Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan launched a book club of their own—but they didn’t want to directly emulate Oprah. continue reading

2007 was fun, wasn’t it? Between Judith Regan, O.J. Simpson, Amazon’s Kindle, the AMS bankruptcy, and James Frey vs. Oprah redux, there was plenty of shock, titillation, and Schadenfreude to go around. (We’re pointedly excluding a certain boy wizard. Months later, we’re still fatigued.) But bigger than any one of these stories was the industry’s continued march into the brave new world of technology.

And yeah, yeah, years in review are so rampant come January, but 2007 wasn’t just any year. It saw the digital world and the book world become slightly less uncomfortable bedfellows. Shelfari, LibraryThing, and GoodReads brought social networking to book lovers, e-books continued their long and arduous journey to popular consumption, and publishing in general proved itself more savvy online. That’s not to say the more disturbing trends didn’t continue—independent bookstores dropped like flies (although MySpace came to the rescue in a few instances) and the battle to keep book review sections in newspapers raged on as literary bloggers multiplied. Before moving into exciting, uncharted 2008 (ready for 979 ISBN prefixes?), the Big Bad Book Blog presents a brief overview of some of the more interesting developments of 2007. continue reading

Planned Television Arts, the nation’s largest and oldest book promoter, celebrated their 45th anniversary last month, and in honor of reaching this milestone, we are pleased to offer on their behalf 45 free tips on what authors need to know about getting published, promoted, and distributed. If you have further questions, please contact PTA’s Chief Marketing Officer, Brian Feinblum, at feinblumb@plannedtvarts.com. Please feel free to visit their website and download The Million-Dollar Rolodex, a great publishing resource, at no cost. You can also sign up for their free e-newsletter at the site. And now, the tips. continue reading

Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz, co-authors of several health and diet books, received the much sought after support from Oprah Winfrey for their new book “You: On the Diet”. Roizen and Oz appeared on Oprah’s television show last Thursday and since then their books have occupied the top three spots on Amazon.com. Dr. Oz has become a regular on Oprah’s show providing tips on healthy living.

It has has been ten months since Oprah has selected a book for her book club, which virtually guarantees a books success. Her last selection was Elie Wiesel’s “Night”. While “You: On the Diet” is not part of her book club, it too can expect a successful sales boost from appearing on her show and her golden touch.

Find out if you’re really Oprah worthy. Take the quiz built on an insider’s experience and a thorough analysis of every author who has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show since November 2005.Every publicist, publisher, and distributor in the book industry has heard it a million times from authors: “I think I’m perfect for Oprah!” After booking an author on Oprah and watching the truly unbelievable—more accurate description: utterly frightening—effect the appearance had on sales, I understand your hunger for the booking. On the other hand, Oprah is the pie in the sky media hit and most authors are not appropriate for the show. The following quiz is an attempt to either (a) save you from becoming a cliché—you need to know if you’re making people’s eyes roll behind your back—or (b) validate your belief that you are indeed a good fit for Oprah. continue reading