When Oprah Doesn’t Call

Washington, DC – okay so you’ve written a new book and it’s really good.  Good enough to be published by a publisher in New York and is selling around the world.  The critics like it and you’re winning awards, receiving accolades from readers who think it’s great.  You landed a top notch book cover design and you’re doing book signings in Alaska, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. Your book trailer is on You Tube, and the web site is a hit.  Everything is in place, everything except for one, that call from the O.

Here is the million dollar question, what does it take to get the call from Oprah?  There are marketing firms who happily boast they can reach her and get your book on Oprah, but for a fee, starting at $10,000.  One tip they provided is the importance of packaging. Make sure it is pretty, attractive and be persistent, don’t give up.  Remember the big picture, after all, what is a $10,000 investment, when considering the bigger picture. There are books and CDs specifically written to help get you on Oprah.  Expensive books, with coaching lessons, that say watch her show, find her interests and you’ll navigate quickly through the maze to land your book on her desk, but they add at the end, in small print, there is no guarantee. 

It’s hard to hear friends say, “Oprah would like this, you should go on Oprah”, like she’s a neighbor or friend.  It’s true we feel a close connection to Oprah, especially since she has been in our homes, for twenty-five years.  Only this close connection includes a big family and there are millions of us who feel the same way.  Imagine her staff processing through tens of thousands of requests every day, hunting for the right product to shine on the show.  For someone in Oprah land to actually pick up my little book, out of the mountain of daily requests, would be a miracle and the chances of this happening would probably be one-in-a-million or the same as winning power ball. 

Last year on the Ellen Degeneres Show, Ellen was trying to call Oprah to say she wanted to be on the cover of “O magazine”.  Good idea, but after several hilarious attempts, it was impossible for Ellen to get through the first wall of security.  It was funny watching Ellen try to talk her way around the layers of security in an attempt to reach Oprah herself.  She was unsuccessful, until a staffer in Oprah’s camp saw the segment and then flagged Oprah to call Ellen the next week.  Do you think Ellen would reach Oprah for me?

Right now it would probably be easier to crash a White House party and meet President Obama than it would be to meet with Oprah.  If I could meet Obama I would ask him to give me Oprah’s cell number, since he probably has it.  After all they are friends and both are from Chicago, or I would ask him if he could call her for me, so I could talk to her for five minutes about my book.  I’m sure if she knew about my book she would love it and if the President of The United States called her I know she would take his call.

Over the recent months I have tried to connect with Oprah through her various enterprises.  Including the Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah & Friends radio show, Oprah’s O magazine, Oprah’s book club, Oprah’s web site and I even tried to reach her best friend Gayle King, who works with her.  So far it’s been optimistic effort, but no response.  Maybe Tyler Perry could help me out, since he seems nice and I’m pretty sure he is friends with her.  I read he once gave her a White Bentley.

Now time is running out and the clock is ticking down, after Oprah announced her departure next year in 2011.  Giving up isn’t an option even with the odds against me.  Until her last show I will always keep the hope alive of being on her show, seeing her in person and talking to her for a few minutes about my little book and how it will help others.  If this doesn’t happen, I’m okay because deep down inside I know that life good, my book will keep selling, even if Oprah doesn’t call.