Oprah's big announcement that she is going to retire after next season reminds us today that we owe the O a big thank you. Let's put that in bold caps.
THANK YOU, OPRAH!
We were young writers just out of college back in 1991 when we got the call to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show. We had just written a book called BRIDAL BARGAINS and Oprah was doing a show on weddings. We got the message on our answering machine on a Friday afternoon, flew out to Chicago on Sunday and did the show on Monday.
Doing the Oprah show was amazing---the show works like a well-oiled machine. While it seemed like a blur, we did remember one moment: walking back stage from the green room to the stage and seeing the back of the scenery stamped with "Oprah Set." You knew you had arrived.
During the show, Oprah surprised us by endorsing our book: "If you are getting married, you need this book." We're not exaggerating to say it was those nine words that probably enabled us to become full time writers.
It was Oprah that led us next to an appearance in People Magazine. Then a series of other talk shows. And we were able to land a big-time book distributor, Publisher's Group West, so we could move books from our basement to bookstores nationwide.
And then she did it again: we we returned to the Oprah show for an appearance for our BABY BARGAINS book in 1996.
It would be hard to underestimate the effect Oprah had and still has on the book business. Putting "As Seen on Oprah" on your book cover is like dipping it in chocolate. It says to bookstores that you have a audience beyond your relatives. And it says to readers that this book is worthy of Oprah---so it can't be half bad.
So, let us take a second and say thank you, Oprah. Thanks for giving us a chance. 2 million books sold later, we're still working hard to live up to your recommendation.
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