openpolitics.com

Zuckerberg’s Bump (Oprah’s Book Club)

“It was a very elaborate system,” Seroy recalled. First came “the Call.” Winfrey’s producers would contact publishers in advance of a book’s selection, requiring them to sign nondisclosure agreements. The publisher would secretly print huge quantities of special Oprah editions of the book, and solicit orders from bookstores. “We had to assign new ISBN numbers so the title could be kept secret.” The business was swarming with “handicappers,” betting on which title had been picked.