Oprah Winfrey and Jonathan Franzen make up over Freedom

Nine years after Jonathan Franzen derided Oprah Winfrey's choice of "schmaltzy, one-dimensional" novels for her book club, becoming the first author to be formally disinvited to appear on her show, these two giants of American cultural life appear to have buried the hatchet. According to booksellers and publishers, the television host is due to announce the selection of Franzen's latest novel, Freedom, for her book club tomorrow.

The book has already become a bestseller, even without Winfrey's imprimatur, but the appearance of editions bearing the Book Club logo heralds a new era of sales for the author, who in 2001 described himself as being "solidly in the high-art literary tradition".

According to a Chicago bookseller, who declined to be named in advance of tomorrow's announcement, Franzen's publisher confirmed this morning that his saga of a disintegrating family has been selected for this year's book club.

"We're just praying now that [Franzen's publisher] Farrar, Straus and Giroux has a secret cache of Freedom to disperse," he said, "because it's been next to impossible to keep it on our shelves."

The publisher Dennis Johnson went one stage further, posting an image of the cover with the 2010 Book club selection sticker on the Melville House Publishing website.

The reconciliation reads like the final chapter of the kind of inspirational literature often favoured by Winfrey's book club. Back in 2001, the author told the Portland Oregonian that when he first heard that Winfrey had selected his third novel, The Corrections, he "considered turning … down," the invitation to appear on the show. "I see this as my book, my creation, and I didn't want that logo of corporate ownership on it," he said.

Franzen followed these comments with an appearance on National Public Radio where he talked about the "split" between the "high-art literary tradition" and "entertaining books" and an interview at an Oregon bookstore where he said that Winfrey had "picked enough schmaltzy, one-dimensional … [books] … that I cringe, myself, even though I think she's really smart and she's really fighting the good fight".

The invitation to appear on Winfrey's popular daytime television show was withdrawn, the host explaining in a statement that he would not be appearing "because he is seemingly uncomfortable and conflicted about being chosen as a book club selection". She said: "It is never my intention to make anyone uncomfortable or cause anyone conflict."

Franzen then said that he regretted the comments, some of which he claimed had been taken out of context, blaming the row on his lack of media experience.

"I said things that ended up hurting Oprah Winfrey's feelings and far too late it was pointed out to me that this was happening," he told the New York Times. "I feel bad for a number of reasons, because I really don't like to hurt people, and I feel bad because the person being hurt is actually a really good person for American writing and reading." When the novel won the National Book Award later that year, the author went on to offer his gratitude to the television host "for her enthusiasm and advocacy on behalf of The Corrections".

Over the intervening years Franzen's reputation has only increased, making his long-awaited fourth novel one of the hottest books of the crowded autumn publishing schedules. A second selection for Winfrey's book club would unlock a new level of sales for Freedom, which is already the New York Times's number one bestseller and the fastest-selling title on Amazon.com.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux remained tight-lipped, declining to comment this evening on the possibility that he might be selected. Angela DePaul, a spokeswoman for Winfrey's production company Harpo, refused to confirm or deny the selection, telling the Associated Press that "Oprah announces her book club selections on her show and shares her reasons for choosing the books at that time".

But according to Johnson, publishers and the media should be more open about the partnerships required for books to reach their audience.

"Embargoes rather fly in the face of that, and toy with public trust," he said, "and the cynicism of it all breeds a spirit of uncooperativeness that we see evident in this action by the booksellers who tipped me off. I've found that booksellers, as a rule, are a damned ethical lot. That's why I love them."