Prince Harry's Memoir: A World Publishing Phenomenon

[MrsMaxDeWinter]

There will likely be several bashing threads on Harry's memoir before it is published, but I am interested in discussing with anyone who is interested in the very interesting marketing choices of the publishers and their approach.

English language editions of SPARE will be published on 10 January 2023 in EIGHT territories: the US, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Canada.

The book will also be published in translation in 15 additional languages:

SPANISH Plaza & Janés/Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial
GERMAN Penguin Verlag/Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe GmbH, PORTUGUESE BRAZIL Objetiva/Grupo Companhia das Letras
PORTUGUESE PORTUGAL Objectiva/Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, SIMPLIFIED CHINESE Penguin Random House China
DANISH Politikens Forlag
DUTCH Hollands Diep, an imprint of Overamstel
FINNISH Otava Publishing Company Ltd
FRENCH Éditions Fayard
GREEK Pedio Books
HUNGARIAN Corvina Kiadó
ITALIAN Mondadori,
POLISH Wydawnictwo Marginesy,
ROMANIAN Nemira Publishing House,
SWEDISH Albert Bonniers Förlag.

This is absolutely sensational as it means it will be simultaneously published in 23 territories on the same day.

There are not many books where simultaneous release occurs in different markets. From this, I would say that the book will more than earn its advance, just from the foreign sales alone.

They also chose a banger of a title as it puts focus on the troubling notion of the Spare in a system based on primogeniture, and one that imbues both intrinsic and extrinsic value based on a person's birth order.

Imagine growing up knowing that no matter how loved you may be, your constitutional role is ultimately to be the spare to the heir.

Can't wait to read it!

How many copies would have to be sold to cover the huge advance ? Sorry , don’t know how these things work .

MrsMaxDeWinter

It needs to be released simultaneously around the world because it has a limited life span of sales.
I would expect it to be sold out when it first comes out but due to how many articles, reviews and exclusives (both on paper and 'interviews') that interest will fairly quickly drop.

And we have to remember that this is supposed to be the first of three "tell all" books. So it won't be complete.

@MrsMaxDeWinter but how do you know his version is the truth either ? You don't
This is a big risk for them if he tells too much he alienates all his family , if he doesn't tell enough no sales
People just want the gossp and sensational stories not just a bit about his life and things he has told before
Not many actually care about his actual story sadly

I can't help thinking Harry has missed the boat for this to be the global publishing phenomenon he seeks. Interest in H&M has waned since the Queen's death. I think it'll be remaindered and choking up 'The Works' within six months.

There are not many books where simultaneous release occurs in different markets. From this, I would say that the book will more than earn its advance, just from the foreign sales alone.

No. The foreign publuscations have nothing to do with the original contract with PenguinRandomHouse. Each of these publishers will have their separate contracts and have paid separate advances. I don't imagine he is all that popular/known in some of these countries.

Imagine growing up knowing that no matter how loved you may be, your constitutional role is ultimately to be the spare to the heir.

Oh, come on. Being a "spare" does not mean your parents love you less, and I'm sure they didn't. The word "spare" refers only to the role he was to play in life in regards to the line of succession.

Good parents would have brought him up to understand this, and if they didn't, as an adult he should have worked it out and not spent his life moaning about only being the spare. This title sounds like self-pity and disgruntlement, not something that endears a person to others. Harry grew up with unimaginable privilege. Instead of comparing himself to William he should compare his fortunes with 99.999999% of the rest of the world who did not have the opportunities he had: opportunities of wealth, education, meeting the right people, etc. His platform was beyond belief! Yet he has no job, no skills, no education, nothing. Everything is about the accident of birth.

Cry me a river about him being the spare. Thank goodness he was not born first.

Like a PP I would much rather be the spare than the heir - all that money and privilege without so much of the boring responsibility and intrusion. I guess he must be very jealous of William for this to be such a problem for him still.

He is well within his rights to complain about how unfair he thinks it is that his brother gets to be king and he doesn't. I feel sorry for how troubled he is. But I'm not sure that putting out a memoir is a great idea, especially if it trashes other members of the family. And it does look a bit self-absorbed imo when so many are struggling to put food on the table, pay rent or mortgage and heat their homes at the moment.

Charlotte and louis are the same can we expect a book from them , as were Edward and andrew, or do you think william and kate had 2 kids so not just one to feel like the spare

Charlotte & Louis are a bit young - we have no idea what life has in store for them or what their relationship with their family will turn out to be so yes they may well do.imagine either of them chose to marry outside the usual circles that's enough to start....

As for Edward - maybe he has very little to say - would you be interested enough to read anything from Edward. Even a Mums net thread is unlikely to generate posts into double figures and he might think his prospects are better off financially by remaining a working royal.

Andrew for sure doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks whether it's his family or the public who were funding his lifestyle. So yes I think if he was genuinely innocent and couldn't go to court because of complain/explain he would use this angle to tell his hmmm hmmm truth.

The foreign publuscations have nothing to do with the original contract with PenguinRandomHouse. Each of these publishers will have their separate contracts and have paid separate advances. I don't imagine he is all that popular/known in some of these countries.

PRH acquired global rights to the project, which means part of that massive advance will be recouped in foreign rights sales to overseas territories, negotiated by PRH's rights executives. Some of those major sales are to PRH subsidiaries, which makes it easier to coordinate publication across the company: again, not unusual at all. I thought it was interesting that the Bookseller reported separate US/UK editors - it's not unknown for fiction projects to have separate edits for home/US markets to account for cultural differences, which does make you wonder whether there will be any differences here.

@PreparationPreparationPrep but they are the same as many before
I still think being the spare is better all the same advantages but not your life mapped out and same responsibilities
William couldn't done half things Harry has
This could so wrong as well as long as he is prepared for that too

Haven't they missed the boat by going for early January. Who has £28 to spend on a book after Christmas and before January pay day? By the time people get paid (I think most people get paid at the end of the month but maybe not) it will have been in the papers, on here, on TV and £28 will seem a bit much for most people. If it came out before Christmas people might buy it as a present (not for me please.)

To be open I've never bought a book about the royal family so maybe it is different for people who are into that sort of thing but for me I'll have better things to do with my money in January.

@daretodenim He got £xxx (the publisher never revealed the exact amount -- it's all rumours and could very well be invented) for 3 books. Advances are paid in installments and this is ust the first book. He will have received 2/3 of one third of the advance money and the last third for THIS book will be paid on publication. For every following book, it's the same.
The money is his even if the book doesn't earn out. He can keep it. if it's a flop, it's the publisher's problem, not his. He will never have to pay anything else.
If it's a roaring success, and the book sells millions, once the publishe recoups the advance everything else if profit.
However, out of that advance he will have had to pay his agent and the ghostwriter, as well as taxes. The advance is before tax.

This is correct. The rollout is among PRH subsidiaries across the world. All the books have the same cover, with SPARE translated as appropriate.

I hope he has a good ghost writer although I expect the publishers will have ensured that is so. I am not sure it will be that successful in terms of sales if it is just a third of the content in a sense as 1 book out of a series of 3 but we shall see. I expect he (or a limited company if that is the entity contracting) will be paying US taxes on the profits, but I don't think they are too different from those in the UK.

Her has an excellent ghostwriter in JR Moehringer, whose wonderful memo THE TENDER BAR is JUST incredible. He also wrote Agassi's OPEN,.

He is a Pulitzer winning author who is considered among the best in the business and is picky about who he ghosts for.

Harry chose well, this likely to be an extremely lyrical, well written and well researched book. JR goes deep!

Indeed. Not only this. Harry is very young to be writing a memoir. We all change enormously throughout our lives my experiences at 38 are eons away from how I see my life till then, now that I am in my 70s. And harry is in a very volatile time of his life and everything might very well change in a way he cannot possibly foresee.. He might very well be divorced in 5 years, hating Meghan, and highly embarrassed about what he did and is doing. He might want to bury this book but cannot not ever.
We shall see. A memoir should not be written except with very long perspective, after having consolidated those events and learned from them. For him, it's a huge mistake. But will provide a lot of lurid entertainment for many people, and lots of dosh for some sharks.

Why does part of my post appear with strike through?

It's a memoir not an autobiography @Malahaha

You can write a memoir about just one year of your life, even just one month of your life. An autobiography is more complete, usually covering a whole life and stopping at the moment of writing while a memoir can be a slice of life.

You don't have to be of advanced age, looking back at your life, to write a memoir.

Barack Obama's first memoir was about his childhood and ends with him entering Harvard law School, so coverage of the first 24 years of his life.

He published it in 1995, when he was just 34.

I am aware that memoir is a relatively unusual genre in UK publishing as the tradition is more towards autobiography, but memoirs are HUGE in the US, and are written at all ages for all sorts of reasons.

@PreparationPreparationPrep

I quite like Harry and I am interested in reading it. Tbh I didn't have much interest in either of them before finding this other world on MN where people who apparently don't like them or what they do but make time in their day or their mission to criticise them to the point of absurd at times.

My experience is very similar. I initially logged onto MN to read the pregnancy related threads. But I was amused by some of the comments I read when I stumbled upon a thread about H&M. I, much like yourself, have come to the conclusion that if a section of MN find this couple so objectionable then these particular royals must have some merit. My OH has pre-ordered my copy and I look forward to putting my feet up with this title as I await our new arrival. Thank you for the recommendation MN 🍷 (non-alcoholic, of course).

Obama allowing 10 years to pass before publishing a memoir seems sensible though - whereas PH has quickly added stuff about what happened last month

I didn't know advance copies were already out.. Have you read an advance copy? And did you read the draft before the latest one? If not, how do you know that he added what happened last month?

Go Harry! I will be buying a copy. Hope it is well written and he is thinking of his legacy!

I know it's a memoir. I am the one who continually makes this point when others mistakenly call it an autobiography! But all the more reason to wait before you write it. Let the dust settle, make sure you have properly worked through what happened then. A memoir should never be written when you are in the thick of whatever you're writing about.

And Harry IS in the thick of it. He will live to regret this bitterly. It's bad enough how he has behaved up to now, but to expose yourself so publicly in a public whinge-fest, and make money from it -- it's jaw-droppingly foolish.

And PS, I'm a writer myself and know what a memoir is. I've actually written one myself. They are just as popular in the UK as in the US, so there's that. You still need to have massive distance between what you write about and your now. I'm talking decades.

LadyTreacle

But H and M are not like the Kardashians who make their own money from make up and clothing lines, H and M have been GIVEN their wedding by the British TAX PAYER and they want public money to pay for the security they need because they are always trying to raise their profile.

If H and M are slagging off the Royal Family it is more COMPLICATED than just not liking them. If you liked what the QUEEN did, you want to stick up for her a bit on a forum.

If Meghan makes some nice lip gloss, like Kylie, I'll buy it, but she should stop dragging down the Royals, whom I admire.

Have you read an advance copy? And did you read the draft before the latest one? If not, how do you know that he added what happened last month?

Haha you just won me a bet thank you! No I haven't read it, but it has been widely reported that it was delayed so that he could make changes / add new material since the Queen's death.

Exactly what I am talking about. He should have waited years after the Queen's death to write the first memoir. There will be massive changes both in his and his wife's situation, as well as in the Royal family, which will date the book enormously. In a year, it will be cr*p.