Oprah’s Favorite Authors Dominate Bestseller Lists In Brazil

ECKHART TOLLE AND STEVEN CARTER CROSS CULTURAL LINES AS “SMART WOMEN” DRIVE BOOK SALES IN SOUTH AMERICA

It may not be surprising that Eckhart Tolle’s spiritual message is penetrating the book market in Brazil right now after so many appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show last year. What is far more surprising is that Steven Carter’s book “What Smart Women Know” has been on Brazil’s bestseller lists for more than two full years, regularly outselling Tolle and other well-known Oprah picks like J.K. Rowling and T. Harv Eker.

It has been more than fifteen years since Carter made his five appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show, and his runaway Brazilian bestseller made its U.S. debut in 1990. Carter’s ’born-again bestseller’ status was recently the subject of a feature story in the Los Angeles Times. For the complete story, go to: http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-et-self26-2008jul26,0,2920383.story

Steven Carter is currently the Dean of a graduate school in Los Angeles, California, having given up the pen nearly ten years ago. But his popularity in Brazil led him to play hooky from school last year and make three trips to South America. He has three more trips planned for 2009 to promote the Brazilian release of another self-help classic, “Men Who Can’t Love.” For Carter, it has been a time of unending and unexpected surprises.

While Carter has been completely caught off guard by this new wave of success, his Brazilian publisher Marcos Pereira, co-founder of GMT Sextante, told the Los Angeles Times that he is not entirely surprised. Pereira has been watching closely as Brazilian women move into the marketplace in a new and different way. “The role of women in the Brazilian culture and economy has evolved” he explained, “If you think of the U.S. twenty years ago, I think this is happening now in Brazil. Women are rethinking their roles, enjoying their independence, embracing their success. And these books are providing an immensely valuable support system.”

With five more of his titles still waiting to be released in Brazil, that country may very well become Carter’s second home, and he is currently studying Portuguese, hoping to make future media tours through the country a bit more seamless. Still, neither the language gap nor the culture gap seems to throw him. “I was worried at first,” admits Carter, “but I now see clearly that the messages in these books are not lost in translation. Brazilian women are ready to say goodbye to the old machismo ways. They are ready for emotional, psychological, and spiritual growth. My books clearly support that choice.”

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Richard Friedel

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