Prince Harry’s memoir may sit happily “in a league of its own,” but to satisfy readers who don’t want to be “preached” by A-list celebrities, it’s more like a “New Age Manifesto.” You should be careful not to read it, especially considering the market downturn in celebrity book sales, said a leading memoir expert Newsweek.
Harry’s long-awaited ‘raw and unflinching’ life story is set to be released on January 10, 2023 as part of the royal family’s multi-million dollar deal with publisher Penguin Random House.
Entitled, sparethe book is billed as “a groundbreaking publication full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-earned wisdom about the eternal power of love over sorrow.”
Since the deal was announced in 2021, there has been a lot of speculation about the content of the book, with a “perfectly true” account of the prince’s tumultuous life, including the aftermath of the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and the circumstances surrounding his retirement. Promised. From the Royal Family.
KOEN VAN WEEL/AFP via Getty Images/RAMONA ROSALES/PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
rutger bruning, The CEO and founder of leading memoir service StoryTerrace said: Newsweek Despite celebrity memoirs struggling in the cash register this quarter, Harry’s work stands out and should see a promising return on the publisher’s heavy investment.
“Prince Harry’s memoir is a media sensation and is somewhat immune to market trends. Of course, there are no guarantees,” he said.
“It’s interesting to compare sales in the US and UK, where Harry’s popularity seems to continue to rise. Interest surged in the first few weeks after the book’s publication, and then, depending on people’s potential. If they feel they can get most of the more useful details from excerpts and Netflix that may be released prior to publication, their willingness to buy the book will decline. increase.”
Prince’s new Netflix series Harry & Meghan It releases just a few weeks before the memoir, so potential readers may be sick of the royal family restoring old foundations.
“He’s had quite a life, and when it comes to strong stories, this book should tell,” said Bruening.
“Especially if he opens up about how his mother’s death affected him, his working hours in Afghanistan, his wild college years and his love story with Meghan.”
An important caveat to this is that the royal family should not get too close to the “New Age” or self-help genre.
“What they need to be careful about is including something in there that reads like a New Age manifesto,” Bruning advised. .”
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Despite this, Bruning argues that the book’s prospects in the United States may fare better than in the prince’s home country.
“The book sits in a league of its own. But audiences are less aware of the struggle between A and B-listers, so how does that work in light of ‘Celebrity Memoirs” underperformance?” It will definitely be interesting to see what it does.
“What is more interesting is how the book will be rated in the US and UK, where perceptions and feelings about Harry and Meghan are currently less positive/tolerant than in the US. It could turn sentiment around, and if it was only written for a US audience, it could miss the spot entirely and cause a further downward spiral in the couple’s popularity in the UK.”
recent polls Newsweek According to Redfield & Wilton, 47% of Americans supported Harry’s decision to publish a memoir, while only 10% opposed it.
spare will be released worldwide by Penguin Random House on January 10, 2023.
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