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!

It will blow the bottom out of the 'royal expert' book market - who will be interested in reading that hearsay and tripe when you can hear from the real thing?

Careful - we don't know what's in it yet, but since the "real" disclosures Harry's made have sometimes proved to be not real at all, the fact it's coming from the man himself can be a double edged sword

As in, depending on the reception and consequences, some might well want to claim "He wouldn't have said (insert quote) !!"
... which wouldn't be the first time with the RF, when the reaction to something provably from them turns out not to be to their taste

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.

Congratulations on your memoir. Did you wait decades after the event before you write or published it? If so how many decades?

I hope the distance gave you the necessary self-reflection to write, but what worked for you doesn't work for everyone. Moehringer for instance, Harry's ghost writer, published his memoir when he was 41, about his life up to his twenties. Dave Eggers wrote his memoir when he was just 30, about raising his young brother after their parents died.

Common to all three, Dave, Harry, JR, and I would say to Obama too, is the shock and rupture left in a young life due to the absence or death of a parent or parents. Perhaps what triggered your memoir is different but I can't see anything wrong with a person in their thirties looking back on trauma, and the lessons from loss, when that trauma happened in childhood.

Also, you are just speculating that he talks about the recent death of the Queen. A different version I have read is that the memoir does not cover this past year, so again, we are all just speculating and may be best advised to wait for the bool to be published.

Could you please share with me some popular UK memoirs as I only ever read those by American and other writers. Can't think of any good contemporary UK memoirs outside Orwell and Bruce Chatwin, then again I read literary memoirs, not celebrity ones, so there's that. I have preordered Harry's because of who ghostwrote it.

There are lots of British memoirs
If you google "UK memoirs" you will find a lot to choose from.

This is a slightly strange thread, as if the original poster is on the PR team for the book or something.

Obviously most people in the UK think Harry has chosen to make money in ways that are not really appropriate. I hope he does not upset his father by what is written in the book. We shall see. It all seems very unwise to me.

"UK memoirs" brings up Ken Clarke, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, John Bercow, David Cameron.

No thank you.

I meant literary memoirs like those by Dave Eggers, JR Moeringer, Wiliam Styron, Jesmyn Ward, Joan Didion, Paul Auster, Trevor Noah, etc. Even Barack and Michelle are more literary than political,

Actually, there is no-one equivalent to these writers in the UK that I can think of, writers of literary memoirs about coming of age etc. If you think of any, do please share.

This is a slightly strange thread, as if the original poster is on the PR team for the book or something.

I don't work for the publisher, Harry, his ghostwriter or either of their agents. I do however work in publishing as a translator.

I also like Harry very much, and Meghan too. I find their projects interesting, have preordered the memoir in the three languages I read, just for the hell of it, and I am very much looking forward to reading it, especially in German!

If this thread is too strange for you, there is another running. Oh wait, I am on that one too 😁Tut mir Leid!

Why would you read a translated version if you can read the original?!

And no, I certainly won't spend any money on buying this book!

Obviously most people in the UK think Harry has chosen to make money in ways that are not really appropriate.

I must have been on holiday when they conducted that national survey.

I wonder why it's an oxymoron for politicians to write lyrical memoirs about their experiences. It's often the way that their lives and encounters have led them into politics.

To be honest, even footballer memoirs are interesting because they often throw light on the hardship of the post war era: footballers writing about the stoical sacrifices of the parents to help their children. I remember one, it might have been Alan Ball, about his dad giving him the yolk of the egg to make him strong, when they were going through either rationing or hard times.

I'm looking forward to reading PH's stream of consciousness via many threads on MN while I pretend I'm not interested - and it won't cost me a penny

I'm sure that from a publishing perpective it truly is a phenomenon. From every other perspective it will be more of their truths which will subsequently be proven to be nothing more than their interpretations of events which will feed their podcasts for a few years yet, and their grudges will continue to be fed like little pets until they get so fat they can hardly move.

I honestly hope that PH thinks that laying bare his soul a la the Kardashians is worth every $ and he can find some inner peace as a result. If he could also give us some peace that too would be nice.

Sorry if I've misunderstood, but are you saying that there are no literary memoirs ever to come out of the UK?

I meant literary memoirs like those by Dave Eggers, JR Moeringer, Wiliam Styron, Jesmyn Ward, Joan Didion, Paul Auster, Trevor Noah, etc. Even Barack and Michelle are more literary than political,

Actually, there is no-one equivalent to these writers in the UK that I can think of, writers of literary memoirs about coming of age etc. If you think of any, do please share.

I don't even know where to start with this. How about:

Testament of Youth - Vera Brittain
A Life of My Own - Claire Tomalin
Manifesto - Bernadine Evaristo
I Am I Am I Am - Maggie O'Farrell
Will She Do? - Eileen Atkins

Try Laurie Lee, the Durrells, Jeanette Winterson, Rob Delaney, Nigel Slater, the Mitfords, Helen Macdonald, Roald Dahl, Bernardine Evaristo, Elizabeth Anionwu, Afrika Akbar, Beryl Gilroy, Alix O'Neill, Richard Beard, Graham Greene, Edward Chisholm, Hilary Mantel, Gabriel Byrne.. sorry must get back to cleaning but you're not looking very hard if you can't find a British literary memoir.

The memoir ends when I was 13. I am now 71. Do the maths! :)

Harry himself wanted to alter his memoir after the queen's death. Whether it contains later memories, or indeed anything about his marriage at all, we do know that the queen's last years were terribly marred by H's behaviour.

From the title, we can assume it's a reflection on how he felt being the spare. I think it's in extremely bad taste for a prince, raised in the most famous and privileged family in the world, to complain about not being first in line. It shows some much entitlement and blindness as to just how fortunate he was merely by the accident of birth. Yes, his childhood and youth are interesting but he himself admits that he is STILL full of trauma.
I'm just saying that it's not advisable to write about your trauma when you are still in the midst of it. At the very least, wait until you are healed and your face does not so blatantly reflect your anger!
As for British memoirs: just go to goodreads.com and search for The Best British memoirs. There are 96 on that list which is not at all exhaustive. For a start, mine is not there! ;)

I don't think we need a national survey. Read the comments section of any tabloid or broadsheet, comments on any news video etc on the couple, and you will know. But besides, isn't it a basic tenet of honourable behaviour, that you do not slag off your own family in public, and worse yet, make money from doing so? British people have a reputation for politeness, and the upper class is supposed to be, well, classy.

I find it interesting it says 'Prince Harry'. Yes that's his title, but I always recall the fuss after the announcement that he was stepping down and his first engagement with 'Just call me Harry'. That went by the wayside pretty fast! He and Meghan do love their titles, their money and their publicity. This stepping back has been fun to watch, but sad also.

I see. So you believe that you can conclude with all certainty the opinion of an entire population (over 67 million) based on a number of comments on a few media websites. I don’t think that’s worthy of any further comment. But it does validate the opinion I hold about MN and some of its posters. Thank you.

Most people in the UK tend not to think airing your dirty linen in public is a good thing.

As for ..."I also like Harry very much, and Meghan too. I find their projects interesting, have preordered the memoir in the three languages I read, just for the hell of it, and I am very much looking forward to reading it, especially in German!" That seems even more weird but I am happy to be on a weird thread and see how it pans out. I support free speech in all its forms. I am not a translator but do read and speak German but I won't be buying it in German. If I were a translator I suppose I might out of professional interest to compare the 3 different language versions. It might even be a business expense to buy all 3 copies if I were a translator.

Comments sections are a pretty good gauge of public mood, actually; add to that the fact that both M & H have sunk right down the Royal family approval lists in the UK, just above Andrew. And listen to the people around you. The fan club is getting smaller and smaller. People don't like it when celebrities living in 14-bathroom mansions complain. But maybe you do.

What strikes me is that the OP is seemingly speaking without knowing the first thing about the publishing industry or the literary genre of memoir.

OP- I get that you like them but not everyone has to. That is the benefit of living in a liberal society. And characterising disagreement as ‘bashing’ is incredibly disingenuous. Disagreement is good for people. Echo chambers are bad for the psychology and bad for society in general.

I know little of the machinations of publishing but do know that releasing the translated copies at the same time is unusual because of the potential of leaks and pirating, before the event.

They must be very discreet and trustworthy translators as nothing has leaked out yet!

I have to ask, is it normal in the UK for paid supporters to go on sites like MN and write supportive posts? Because I see the accusation quite a bit and have even been accused if it myself.

It’s a lazy way to shut down debate, but like troll hunting really