Oprah's Book Club 2.0 Launches Online with Cheryl Strayed's WILD Today, 6/4

Today, June 4, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and O, The Oprah Magazine will launch Oprah's Book Club 2.0, an interactive, multi-platform reading club that harnesses the power of social media, bringing passionate readers together to discuss inspiring stories.

The best-selling memoir Wild, by Cheryl Strayed (Knopf), is the club's first selection. A true story of adventure, bravery and hope, Wild is full of life lessons that have resonated with many readers, including Oprah, who is bringing its message to book lovers around the world in a modern, community-oriented way.

Starting today at 12 p.m. ET, special Oprah's Book Club 2.0 digital editions of Wild - with exclusive content including a reader's guide and Oprah's notes on her favorite passages - will be available for Amazon Kindle, NOOK(R) by Barnes & Noble, on the iBookstore and everywhere e-books are sold.

"This is a book club for the way people live and read today," said Sheri Salata, president of OWN. "In addition to the traditional way, we also access books on smart phones, e-readers and tablets and we talk to our friends about them through social media. Oprah's Book Club 2.0 takes the Oprah.com online community, readers of O Magazine and OWN viewers and connects them through their shared love of great books."

"Oprah's Book Club 2.0 is the perfect extension of what we do every month in O Magazine," said editor in chief Susan Casey. "We cover books in depth, and even offer the first chapters of those we feature on our iPad edition. The club is a great way to create a community and a global conversation while promoting one of the greatest pleasures: getting lost in an amazing story."

The club's first read kicks off with Oprah's interview with Strayed in the July issue of O, The Oprah Magazine (on sale June 8) andculminates just as readers are completing their journey through Wild with a simulcast of the interview airing on Sunday, July 22 at 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN's Emmy-nominated "Super Soul Sunday," streaming live on Oprah.com and on OWN's Facebook page (facebook.com/owntv), and airing on "Oprah's Soul Series" on Oprah Radio (Sirius 204, XM 111).

Conversations about Oprah's Book Club selections will live on the Book Club hub at Oprah.com/bookclub and via mobile and social media platforms. Additional digital elements include:

· A series of webisodes featuring Oprah and Strayed will post weekly, progressing with readers as they read during the months of June and July.

· Readers will have the opportunity to answer weekly questions on Oprah.com with text or photo using Facebook and Twitter (using #oprahsbookclub). Readers will also submit questions about Wild. Oprah and Strayed will answer via video responses each week, and real-time updates will be featured on Oprah.com.

· Using Storify, Oprah.com will highlight reader tweets, Instagram photos and Facebook posts that will be curated into a social wrap up that will live on Oprah.com, providing readers with a snapshot of what participants are thinking, feeling and sharing as they read Wild together.

· Starting June 28, a map display on Oprah.com will allow readers to locate other Book Club participants around the world.

· Using the mobile messaging application GroupMe, Oprah's Book Club 2.0 will have a section where readers can create smaller book clubs with their friends to have discussion groups about the book club selections.

"I admire Oprah Winfrey tremendously, and could not be more honored and thrilled that Wild is the first selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0," said Cheryl Strayed. "When she called me out of the blue and said, 'this is Oprah,' I was astonished. It was not a call I was expecting, and I will always remember her kind words about Wild."

A joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery Communications, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is a multi-platform media company designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives. OWN debuted on January 1, 2011 on what was the Discovery Health Channel and is in approximately 85 million homes. The venture also includes the award-winning digital platform, Oprah.com.

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