In a recent study performed by Craig Garthwaite, a business professor at Northwestern University, it was shown that while Oprah’s Book Club was very effective at boosting the sales of the books she recommended, and at getting readers to read longer, tougher books, overall adult fiction sales fell by 2.5 percent each time a book was selected for the Book Club. This data was contrasted by the change in overall book sales caused by the release of Harry Potter novels: with each successive release, sales rose 31.7%.

Jordan Weissman, associate editor for The Atlantic, wrote: “Oprah made her viewers a little more high brow, and publishers a little bit poorer.” He suggests that publishers, after taking a look at Garthwaite’s study, might rethink the way they market long or difficult novels, perhaps resisting the urge to make them into best-sellers, and saving their stronger promotional efforts for shorter, more readable works. More J.K. Rowling, less William Faulkner.

“Publishers probably prefer it when 12-year-olds tell America what to read, not Oprah,” wrote Weissman.

The Atlantic: Oprah was bad for book sales