The Rollout of Prince Harry’s Book ‘Spare’ is Chaotic. Sales Are Strong. – The New York Times

January 10, 2023 by No Comments

The details streaming from leaks and interview teasers in advance of Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” have been sensational, even explosive. News organizations around the world have covered them breathlessly.

There’s Harry’s description of his brother, William, knocking him to the floor during a fight, and Harry’s admission that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan. There’s also his claim that William and his wife, Kate, encouraged him to dress up as a Nazi, and his recollection of losing his virginity to an older woman in a field behind a bar.

A tell-all by a member of the British royal family was bound to be a nightmare to manage. Big books, widely anticipated books, will often leak, despite publishers’ best attempts to keep the process tightly orchestrated. But the contents of Harry’s memoir have been excavated to such a degree that it has raised the question: Will readers still be curious enough to buy the book?

So far, it looks like the answer is yes. The media frenzy seems to be driving interest in the memoir, which is due out Tuesday. “Spare” held the No. 1 spot on Amazon in the United States and Britain on Friday, as well as at Barnes & Noble. Booksellers and distributors said that preorders are enormous and growing with the avalanche of press coverage.

Still, the extraordinary volume of leaks highlighted the challenges, and perhaps the impossibility, of choreographing the release of what may be the most anticipated and divisive celebrity memoir of all time.

Many of the memoir’s eye-popping revelations have already spilled in leaks, and some of the most dramatic moments from the interviews Harry gave promoting the book have circulated online as teasers. This was all preceded by a six-part Netflix documentary, “Harry & Meghan,” which aired in December, and where Harry made incendiary accusations against his family, including a claim that his brother’s communications aides planted negative stories about his wife, Meghan Markle, in the London tabloids.

Despite the risk that blanket coverage could lead to Harry and Meghan fatigue, many booksellers expect the memoir to be an unmitigated success. Random House has said it is printing 2.5 million hardcover copies for North America alone. Ingram, the book wholesaler, has 90,000 copies in its warehouses to restock stores that run out. …….

Source: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiTWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm55dGltZXMuY29tLzIwMjMvMDEvMDcvYm9va3MvcHJpbmNlLWhhcnJ5LXNwYXJlLW1lbW9pci1sZWFrcy5odG1s0gFRaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wMS8wNy9ib29rcy9wcmluY2UtaGFycnktc3BhcmUtbWVtb2lyLWxlYWtzLmFtcC5odG1s?oc=5

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