Oprah Winfrey’s imprimatur has made many an author’s career. Now, she’s wielding her literary star power to help anoint a new bookstore, co-founded by former WME literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, who previously led Winfrey’s “The Life You Want” arena tour in 2014. After a decades-long career of working with some of the world’s best-selling authors including Tom Clancy and Brené Brown, Walsh launched the new endeavor, Godmothers, on a tony strip in the seaside hamlet of Summerland, California, last weekend alongside her co-founder, philanthropist and cosmetics industry pioneer, Victoria Jackson.

“It’s really been stirring to the soul,” Walsh tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Victoria and I truly made manifest exactly what we dreamed of. Godmothers is a cathedral to us. It’s a home.”

Godmothers Interior

Walsh, who in 2019 transitioned away from her leadership role as WME’s global head of literary, lectures and conferences,...