Mention Amazon.com to the owner of an independent bookstore and you may be speaking fighting words. Mention Oprah Winfrey's book club and the smiles come out, followed by coos of gratitude for the increase in book sales the queen of popular culture generates on her talk show.

Now, combine Oprah's book club and Amazon.com and you might get something along the lines of sneers and jeers. You see, although the book club has been generating increased sales for independent dealers like Page After Page Bookstore, a recent partnership between Oprah and the mega on-line bookseller has independent business people like Susan Hinkle seeing red.

Hinkle purchased Elizabeth City's Page After Page last year. She said she's learned to look forward to Oprah's book club selections because local patrons order them through her store. So naturally when the television talk show host's magazine, O, hit the stands with a promised summer reading list recently, Hinkle was all aflutter with anticipation.

"I couldn't wait for this issue to come out because it's her summer reads," said Hinkle.

When the Rhode Island native opened O Magazine and saw that Oprah was promoting her book club picks through Amazon.com, with a discount for club members, she said she was "shocked."

"I was wicked shocked," Hinkle said.

Hinkle's not the only one. Other independent booksellers who rely on Oprah's cultural weight to promote books said they too were disappointed that Oprah is directing her legion of fans to the on-line bookseller.

"There is a place for all of us (mega and independent booksellers) and I wish Oprah would place her attention on indie booksellers," said Waynesville, N.C. storeowner Margaret Osondu.

Osondu and Hinkle are both members of the American Booksellers Association, an organization comprised of independent bookstores around the country. When Hinkle sent an e-mail to fellow storeowners explaining how she was contacting Oprah in hopes of getting some recognition for independents, Osondu picked up on the idea and joined Hinkle.

"I started a campaign about two weeks ago and have a postcard with our logo on it and people are filling them out and inviting Oprah to come to Waynesville to see an independent bookstore," Osondu said.

Hinkle started the campaign by sending e-mail to Oprah Winfrey's publishing company. She stated how upset she was that Oprah wasn't promoting independent booksellers along side Amazon.com. Giants like on-line booksellers, she said, could easily swamp a business like Page After Page.

But the response Hinkle received was nothing less than a put off; a canned response only acknowledging that Hinkle's e-mail had been received, followed by an e-mail thanking her for her opinion.

"But I wasn't giving them my opinion," said a visibly irritated Hinkle.

A spokeswoman for Harpo, Inc., Oprah Winfrey's media company, would not confirm whether or not they had received any communication from either Osondu or Hinkle. She would only say "no comment."

Hinkle and Osondu both profess to be big Oprah fans. Both women readily admit if they weren't busy running their shops at 4 p.m. every weekday they would be home getting their daily dose of Oprah.

And Hinkle said Oprah's book club list does make a big difference in her sales.

"If Oprah announces a new book on her show I get phone calls at 5 (p.m.) that day placing orders for the book," Hinkle said. "But since she is promoting Amazon, I haven't sold one book."

Meg Smith, spokeswoman for the American Booksellers Association, said her organization has contacted Oprah's representatives in hopes of bringing a little attention to independent booksellers. She said they didn't seem interested and that is their right.

But Hinkle's convinced that Oprah would promote independent booksellers if she understood what it means to be an independent business owner.

"Oprah needs to be educated on the effects of buying on the Web for local stores," said Hinkle.

Hinkle said Oprah's cooperative efforts with Amazon offer readers a 10 percent discount on book club books. She too offers the same discount on those books and, she adds, people can buy from her on-line and even have the book shipped to their house.

"And I pay the shipping," she said.

Hinkle said she believes every community deserves to have a local bookstore. She also believes in the virtues of independent businesses. Both, she said, are being threatened by mega-corporations and it saddens her to think that one day mom and pop operations may be wiped off the map.

"This is about surviving," she said.

In the meantime, Hinkle said she fully expects to get a response from Oprah or one of her representatives. Like Oprah's legions, Hinkle believes in the woman and believes she cares about her fans.

"I think that if Oprah hears about it, we'll get some kind of response," said Hinkle.