Special Topic Summary- The Influence of Celebrity Book Clubs

When one reflects on celebrity book clubs, one name comes to mind: Oprah. 

Oprah Winfrey started her first book club in 1996 and featured a discussion segment on her talk show that included 70 books and ran for a whopping 15 years (Plato, 2020, p. 1). She has also created a digital platform that incorporates book discussions on popular social media sites to continue her legacy of fantastic book choices (Plato, 2020, p. 1). As the segment gained momentum, being a featured author on Oprah’s show was no small feat. “A personal recommendation on her daytime talk show could lead to hundreds of thousands — or even a million or more — hardcover book sales” (Nichols, 2019, p. 1). This opportunity could literally change the trajectory of an author’s career, forever.

While Oprah has certainly paved the way in the celebrity book club industry, she is no longer the only celebrity that book club fans have their eyes set on. These clubs include Reese Witherspoon’s “Hello Sunshine”, Emma Watson’s “Our Shared Shelf”, Emma Roberts’ “Belletrist”, and Jenna Bush Hager’s “Read With Jenna.” While many of these clubs are virtual, they are still having an in person impact. According to Nichols (2019), “Papercuts JP… witnessed a sizable jump in online orders and walk-ins since being featured on Emma Roberts’ Belletrist book club” (p. 1). Celebrities can use their platforms to great success to promote not only authors, but also locally owned bookstores. The storeowner, Kate Layte said, “in the first month of releasing a new hardcover book, Layte would typically sell just three of four copies. With ‘Three Women,’ she said that the small shop has sold at least 20 to 30 copies within three weeks” (Nichols, 2019, p. 1).

Reese Witherspoon’s club in particular has had a huge influence over the publishing market since its formation in 2017. Nichols (2019) reports that, “Witherspoon’s fiction picks have managed to carve out a ‘phenomenal’ 2% of all fiction sales since June 2017” (p. 1). However, it also needs to be acknowledged that a celebrity does not need to have a book club to influence the market. For example, “Obama shared a list of some of his favorite reads on Facebook, and one pick, ‘A House for Mr. Biswas,’ by V. S. Naipaul, saw a 2,300% increase of sales in three months” (Nichols, 2019, p. 1). Additionally, this massive influence is not limited to only the publishing world. It extends into Hollywood as well with several show adaptations. Witherspoon’s production company has created several adaptations of Hello Sunshine’s popular picks that made it to the New York Times bestsellers list such as "Little Fires Everywhere."

While these celebrity book clubs have done a great job of picking the next best seller, impacting author’s lives, and choosing some titles that have amplified own voices, there are still problems within the current model. There is a distinct lack of diversity within these celebrity book clubs. Minus Oprah, white women head all of the current and popular clubs. While I do look forward to the continued growth of celebrity book clubs, I hope that growth includes a lot more diversity to represent different communities. 

References

Nichols, M. (2019. August 14). How celebrity book clubs are boosting literary sales. Variety. https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/reese-witherspoon-celebrity-book-clubs-little-fires-everywhere-1203279897/

Plato, S. (2020, September 3). Six celebrity book clubs for inspiration. Are We Adults Yet. https://www.areweadultsyet.com/2020/09/03/six-celebrity-book-clubs-for-inspiration/#:~:text=Oprah%20Winfrey,years%20and%20included%2070%20books