Will anybody buy Harry's book now that it has been leaked?

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Will anyone still want to buy Spare now that everyone already knows the contents?

Is this a financial disaster for the publisher?

Not at all - it creates yet more hype.

Leaks tend to generate more interest

No.

It’s already been pre-ordered in HUGE quantities - people have already bought it.

And every high-profile biography is promoted like this, with the scandalous bits ‘leaked’ pre-pub.

They’ll rake it in.

There's no point as I imagine all the best bits have already been leaked, kind of like movie trailers, always has the best bits in them

I wasn't planning to read it, but might now 'to see what the fuss is about'

I totally fell for the marketing ploy of releasing spoilers didn't I? Still, I'm ok with that. I love biographies and autobiographies. Not a massive fan of the RF or PH or MM but sounds like it might be a very interesting book as regards the way the human mind works!

I find his combination of narcissism and professional victimhood somehow intriguing. Baffling.

Often big celebrity memoirs get serialised in the weekend papers a little while ahead of publication and that clearly doesn’t stop people buying them even though it has the same effect in telling everyone the juicy bits in advance.

There have been lots of pre-orders, so sales will be high

They must have deliberately chosen a January release, rather than December when the pre-Christmas market sales are higher, but there's more books being sold so harder to make a splash.

So I suspect they're happy with amount of coverage in the press (whether that leads to sales or not) as the typically low sales figures for a normal January mean the book will get its best-seller status.

I'm going to read it but I'll get it from the library or wait til it starts turning up in charity shops.

Hmm, but that's usually selected excepts chosen to increase interest.

This one, the excerpts have been chosen by the press, not the PR department, so don't have the same sort of build up.

Were the interviews (scheduled for broadcast this weekend) pre-recorded, or is Harry going to have to answer for the shitshow?

The ghostwriter wrote Andre Agassi’s memoir, which was superb. I think this will be worth reading despite it being ‘about Harry’, to be honest!

Not me, although it's tempting.

I feel like everything I learned about this whole situation has been against my will tbh, it's everywhere.

Were the interviews (scheduled for broadcast this weekend) pre-recorded, or is Harry going to have to answer for the shitshow?

Pre-recorded.

When newspapers serialise they pay the rights holder (publisher, author) for the extracts they choose, editorially. The publishers can hold back bits, if they want, but then the newspapers might not pay up or run it. So it’s a negotiation.

Whether leaked or orchestrated, it’ll all have the same effect. I honestly don’t think the publisher or publicists are too worried about success right now.

Can I claim my free credit back? 😅

But serialisation is a big money maker for the publishers and authors. They will also have control over what is and is not printed. In this case, however, the media is getting the whole book for free, days in advance of the official publication date.

It remains to be seen if this has a major negative effect on sales, but given how they had portrayed this book as a big 'event' with strict embargoes, I very much doubt Random House are happy about it.

I'm more curious to read it now after all the leaks and will probably buy it.

Thanks @NoSquirrels I might read that instead!

I think the problem is that no matter how good the ghost writer, ultimately if the story is about somebody who is hard to like it's hard to make them likeable.

I might read spare in a couple of years, when every charity shop in the country is littered with copies

To be honest, the book has dropped so many meme-worthy and borderline insane revelations that it deserves all the success. It's blown up 10x than any of their boring tell all interviews or documentaries have. (I have a sneaking feeling Meghan tended to tread an attention seeking but in the end very boring line and always promised to reveal stuff without revealing much). This was very much Prince Harry's project and he really delivered. He'll be watching over his shoulder for Taliban for the rest of his life but at least he ended up on the bestseller list.

I really want to read it. I hate the fact I will be paying to fund their blatant attention seeking but I don’t think I will be able to stop myself downloading it when it’s available

Wow I'm amazed people still want to spend money on a book of their own given that it's all online now for free.

No, still wouldn't have even if it hadn't been leaked because yesterday was a succession of all the best bits, that would have been the 10th of January if it had come out when it was supposed to have. No difference to me! i knew I'd hear the ''best bits''.

Maybe… I really want the full dog bowl story

.... already pre ordered the audiobook!

Wasn't going to buy it anyway. I will get it from the library though!

No, so much has been leaked that I doubt it will be a great seller. I predict it will be in 'The Works' for 99p by the time Charlie is crowned, and in the charity shops even sooner.

I definitely want to read it after all the hype, but I won’t add to their profits- I’ll look at a library copy or from a charity shop that I want to support