Publishers To Honor Oprah Winfrey

Posted on November 13, 2002

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced that television superstar Oprah Winfrey will receive the AAP Honors, an award given annually to individuals and institutions outside the publishing industry for significant achievements in promoting American books and authors. The award will be presented at a dinner in Washington, D.C. on February 26, 2003, during the Association's annual meeting.

Through Oprah's Book Club, her on-the-air reading club, Ms. Winfrey brought works of literary excellence to the attention of a wide audience. Described by The New York Times as "one of the biggest boons to reading and book sales since the creation of the Book-of-the-Month Club more than 75 years ago," the Club was a regular feature of her television program from the fall of 1996 until the spring of 2002.

The genesis of what would become a publishing world phenomenon was Ms. Winfrey's own passion for works of serious fiction. On September 17, 1996, she announced that she wanted to share that passion and "get the country reading" by having her viewers read a chosen work and then tune in for a discussion with the author. No one could have anticipated the results. The first selection was Jacquelyn Mitchard's The Deep End of the Ocean, a first novel enjoying modest success, with some 68,000 copies in print. By the time the discussion was broadcast in mid-October, there were 750,000 copies of the book in print. Each of the 46 books chosen for the Club has enjoyed enormous success, some selling as many as 1.2 million copies. Through Oprah's Book Club a huge new audience became acquainted with the work of noted authors including Ernest J. Gaines, Maya Angelou, and Barbara Kingsolver and with first-time and lesser known authors such as Ms. Mitchard, Andre Dubus III, and Anita Shreve.

"Oprah Winfrey is one of a kind," said Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers and Vice Chair of the Association of American Publishers. "She's brought unparalleled excitement and attention to books. All of America should be grateful to her."

Inaugurated in 1997, the AAP Honors are intended to acknowledge the contributions of individuals and organizations who have helped focus attention on American books. Among past recipients are C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, whose cable network devotes its entire weekend coverage to books; country music star Dolly Parton, for her efforts to improve the lives of children through books; and National Public Radio, for ongoing and outstanding book coverage.