Yesterday, the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Touched by an Angel, was
featured on the Dr. Oz show. The title of the segment was "Proof of
Angels: Can They Heal Us?"
Dr. Oz interviewed Gabrielle Bernstein,
who wrote the foreword to the Touched by an Angel anthology, and
he posed the question: How do angels help us heal?
As a believer in angels and a contributor to the anthology, I was
curious to hear both Gabrielle's explanation and Dr. Oz's thoughts on the
matter.
Dr. Oz spoke about neurotheology, which
was a new term to me, so I looked it up in the dictionary.
Neurotheology (also called neuroscience)
is defined as "the scientific study of the neural correlates of religious
or spiritual beliefs and practices."
To demonstrate, Dr. Oz showed side-by-side
graphics of a brain, which showed how much more active the frontal lobe is
during prayer or meditation. Fascinating!
The segment also included interviews with
three women who were contributors to the anthology. They shared their personal
stories of their encounters with angels. Inspiring!
From my point of view, the feature
combined the best of both worlds -- scientific method and anecdotal evidence as
proof of beliefs.
Before watching the program, I was curious
to learn about how being mentioned on the Dr. Oz show would affect book sales. I
had a gut feeling that having a book on his show would increase sales, but I wanted proof. So, I
did a mini-analysis of my own.
Hours before the show aired, I collected data from two major book sites then compared it to data collected within 24 hours after
the show aired.
Here’s what I found.
Hours before the show was aired on Wed, Jan 28, here are the book's rankings:
On Amazon
Kindle: # 102,888 in the paid Kindle store
#55 in Angels
#63 in Spiritualism
#74 in Faith
Paperbacks: #81,392 in sales
#66 on Angels
#13 on Faith
On Barnes & Nobel the book ranked #94,235 in books. I didn’t check
Nook.
Within 24-hours -- the day after the show aired, Thurs, Jan 29:
On Amazon
Kindle: #2,683 in the paid Kindle store
#1 in Angels
#1 in Spiritualism
#1 in Faith
Paperbacks: #736 in sales
#1 in Faith
#1 in Angels
#1 in Self-help
For Barnes & Noble it ranked #323 in books. Again, I didn’t check
Nook.
So, just as Dr. Oz pointed out how the frontal lobe of the brain
experiences a chemical effect during prayer and meditation, I discovered that a book
experiences a positive “retail effect” after being featured on the Dr. Oz show.
My brain has been overworked from all this data collection, so I'm going to take a break--just in time to watch today's Dr. Oz show.
Donna--That sounds fascinating--that a part of our brain is more active during prayer or meditation. And good for Chicken Soup! It's amazing how a couple of segments on one show makes sales spike like that.
ReplyDeleteHi Sioux,
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating and amazing how the mention on Dr. Oz pushed sales.
And, I'm so happy to be in the same anthology with you! Love your story!
Your story was quite moving, Donna. Thanks for the kind words.
DeleteWow! Now, I just need to write a book and have Dr. Oz mention it on his show :o) Congratulations on being included in the book.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Janet! You can do it!
DeleteCongratulations on having a story in the book! This is interesting, not just about how our brains respond but with the sales as well. I would have thought that might happen, but to see the numbers - wow. So from now on that will be our collective goal, to be on the Dr. Oz show with our books. :) I'm in.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
DeleteThanks for your kind words. It is a worthwhile goal!
I'm not surprised, Donna. Book exposure doesn't get much better than that. That's the kind of thing Oprah did for so many books....and the reason authors of political thrillers like to be on the cable new shows.
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia,
DeleteHow true! I thought there would be a bump in sales after the book was featured on his show, but I was surprised at how dramatically the sales increased.
Similar to the Oprah effect, I suppose. It definitely pays for an author to get that sort of exposure. Fascinating stuff, Donna
ReplyDeletePat
Critter Alley
Congratulations! Can't wait to get a hold of a copy and read your story. I am always thrilled to hear of science and spirituality coming together, because I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. And I was impressed by your research - both the work you had the forethought to put in AND the results!
ReplyDeleteFirst, congratulations on your inclusion in the book! Second, thanks for the interesting info. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Pat,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right!
Hi Tammy,
Thanks. I too enjoy when science and spirituality come together.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the information.