Who cares if Taylor Swift is self-publishing her new book

NOTHING IN PUBLISHING WILL CHANGE

So apparently Taylor Swift is self-publishing her first book and everyone is acting like this is something groundbreaking and will somehow upend the traditional publishing industry. 

LinkedIn post by Marinda J. Valenti

I like Taylor Swift. I think she makes good music. But her self-publishing a book about her tour is as groundbreaking as white paint. And I say that respectfully. 

The book Taylor is publishing is called, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Book and according to Business Insider, the book “would offer a behind-the-scenes look at her record-breaking Eras Tour and include musings from the star.” Why this is making headlines beyond the Swifties is because Taylor is going direct to market and placing her book in Target stores under her own Taylor Swift Publications imprint. 

I’m not going to bore you with a conversation around whether or not this will make a difference in the publishing industry. We’re all sophisticated enough to know that it’s just a momentary (be it a long moment because it’s T-Swift) intrigue that will rise and set like our sun and moon. 

But there is something worth talking about…

We’ve seen this before. Celebrities think that their general popularity can translate into mega book sales. That is rarely the case. And when I say rarely, I mean that literally. 

The thing celebrities don’t understand is that readers are a whole different breed of people. Yes, your fans might pay to go to your concert or movie premier, but getting them to purchase and actually read your book is a totally different task. 

Just ask Billie Eilish, or Justin Timberlake, or the long list of celebrities who have put out books. They typically don’t work, meaning they don’t sell nearly as much as their popularity commands. Billie Eilish infamously released a book to her 100 million social media followers and only sold 64,000 copies in the first eight months of its release. 

Want some more proof? 

Piers Morgan, the media guy who’s on TV all the time and has millions of followers on social media, sold 5,600 copies of his book (Wake Up: Why the World Has Gone Nuts) over a 12 month period. Justin Timberlake, maybe a more apt comparison to Taylor, eventually sold 100,000 copies of his book, but it took him three years. 

The thing that all these celebrities miss is this: the book actually has to be good. And by good, I mean interesting, well-written and not just a recollection of content fans have seen on YouTube or other platforms. 

If celebrities actually add value and take the time to market and promote their projects, they stand a chance at real success. There are two examples I can think of. The most recent is Rick Ruben with his title The Creative Act. This book on creativity has sold over 750,000 copies since its release in January of 2023. Not only that, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon, with everyone on social media praising its content and ingenuity. 

But you know why Ruben was able to sell that many copies and have an influence that outweighed his more popular peers? First, the content was top-notch (I read the book and can vouch for that), but more importantly, Ruben stepped out from his cave and promoted the heck out of it. 

Ruben is notoriously scarce. He never did social media or many interviews at all prior to his book being released. He was known as a hermit, a mysterious figure who helped create some of the best music of the past few generations. But when his book was released, Ruben was on podcast after podcast after podcast and even created his own podcast speaking about his book. He knew (I’m guessing a publisher told him and he listened) that if he really wanted to have an impact with his book, he couldn’t just put it out and stay in hiding. And wouldn’t you know, the least famous name I’ve mentioned so far has sold more copies than all of the names I’ve mentioned combined. 

That’s one example. The other is a bit different. The book is called Shoe Dog and it’s written by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. I’ve read this book and the stories surrounding its creation. I must first say that it was very well-written. The storytelling was much more elegant than I expected and Knight was very vulnerable in sharing the challenges of building Nike. Now, the book was ghostwritten so I want to give credit to J. R. Moehringer for producing such wonderful prose (he also ghostwrote Prince Harry’s book, Spare). 

Knight wasn’t as out there as Rick Ruben, but he did have the Nike brand behind him. And paired with such a high quality of storytelling, it makes sense that Shoe Dog has sold over a million copies and released a fairly successful film adaptation. 

Why am I telling you all of this? 

Because if you think Taylor Swift is going to sell 10 million copies of her book, as mighty as her star is currently shining, I think you’d be wrong. She’ll certainly sell more than Ruben and Phil Knight. That’s for sure. But don’t expect Colleen Hoover type numbers. That takes actual readers and not just fans of the artist. 

But let’s say she does do ridiculous numbers. What does that mean for publishing? Absolutely nothing. It will be another notch on Taylor Swift’s belt and publishing will continue undisturbed. 

But I could be totally wrong. Do you think Swift self-publishing is a bigger deal than I’m making it out to be?