You know the yellow brick road. It is lined with the followers of the largest book club on the planet that belongs to one Oprah Winfrey. And publishing was never the same. We all knew then that with the nod ones life was changed forever. Take James Frey. Take Jonathan Franzen. Take Toni Morrison. Different authors but all have become millionaires overnight after the nod. And so every author and every publisher threw books toward Harpo Studios on the near north side of Chicago and hoped the mighty mama would notice.
And I was no different. My second third and fourth novel ended up on the doorstep of Harpo and even on the doorstep of Oprah's condo in the Hancock. Nothing. Nothing. And not a few. Many went her way. Then a bunch went to her best friend. Some went to a friend who knew a friend who knew a friend who worked there. Some just went in the old fashioned way with her address and a big PERSONAL. Nothing.
And now I see how nuts it was to send them to her. Yes I think they would have been great novels for her book club but my books were never really hers and the odds against her actually picking mine over the thousands that came with a much cleaner runway were really in the lightning strikes category. So on this book I didn't bother. Yes it is a great feel good story about what a mother will do for her son. But is baseball. And it lacks ...I don't know that Oprah thing.
Don't ask me what that Oprah thing is. If I knew I would be a millionaire.
www.williamhazelgrove.com
The Pitcher
And I was no different. My second third and fourth novel ended up on the doorstep of Harpo and even on the doorstep of Oprah's condo in the Hancock. Nothing. Nothing. And not a few. Many went her way. Then a bunch went to her best friend. Some went to a friend who knew a friend who knew a friend who worked there. Some just went in the old fashioned way with her address and a big PERSONAL. Nothing.
And now I see how nuts it was to send them to her. Yes I think they would have been great novels for her book club but my books were never really hers and the odds against her actually picking mine over the thousands that came with a much cleaner runway were really in the lightning strikes category. So on this book I didn't bother. Yes it is a great feel good story about what a mother will do for her son. But is baseball. And it lacks ...I don't know that Oprah thing.
Don't ask me what that Oprah thing is. If I knew I would be a millionaire.
www.williamhazelgrove.com
The Pitcher
