Last week, I titled one of the afternoon-links posts “Is Britney Spears’ memoir actually outselling Prince Harry’s Spare?” I asked because I had seen some truly weird claims about sales, not just from Britney, but from Britney’s fans and supporters. While I know that Britney is a global pop star and one of the most famous women in the world, it just felt like there wasn’t a huge energy of “millions of people must support Britney by buying her memoir.” Well, as it turns out, Britney’s first-week sales were amazing… but Prince Harry’s Spare still outsold.
Britney Spears’ memoir “The Woman in Me” has sold 1.1 million copies in the U.S. alone through its first week.
“I poured my heart and soul into my memoir, and I am grateful to my fans and readers around the world for their unwavering support,” Spears said in a statement released Wednesday by Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
The sales figures include pre-orders, print sales, e-books and audiobooks. On the day of publication, Spears posted on Instagram that her book had become “the highest selling celebrity memoir in history.” It is not, so far, even the highest selling memoir of 2023.
“The Woman in Me,” for which she did little publicity beyond Instagram, was the top seller of last week. But Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare,” which came out in January, sold 1.6 million U.S. copies in its first week.
The audio edition of “The Woman in Me,” read by Oscar-nominated actor Michelle Williams, appears a key factor in the book’s initial popularity. Williams’ reading of “The Woman in Me” has been highly acclaimed, and according to Gallery, is the fastest selling audio release in the company’s history. The publisher did not immediately announce a specific audio sales figure.
We still don’t even know how many Spare copies were sold – the reporting on sales stopped after a few months, when it was established that Spare was one of the bestselling memoirs in the past decade. Harry’s memoir also had a global reach, turning up on bestseller lists around the world. It’s possible that Britney’s The Woman In Me will eventually outsell Spare, but I kind of doubt it – the literary buzz was not great, and many of Britney’s supportive fans probably feel like they’ve gotten the gist of her story from all of the coverage.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
AG_169587 – – Beverly Hills, CA – Britney Spearsz at Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Party held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Pictured: Britney Spears AKM-GSI 11 FEBRUARY 2017 BYLINE MUST READ: Image Press / AKM-GSI Maria Buda (917) 242-1505 mbuda@akmgsi.com Mark Satter (317) 691-9592 msatter@akmgsi.com or sales@akmgsi.com 
Britney Spears announces her new Las Vegas residency at The Park Theater,Image: 391719211, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon 
173935, Britney Spears at the 4th Hollywood Beauty Awards at Avalon Hollywood. Los Angeles, California – Sunday February 25, 2018. Photograph: © PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000,Image: 534741262, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews / Avalon
Britney Spears attends the premiere of “Once Upon A time …in Hollywood” in Los Angeles on Monday, July 22nd, 2019Photograph: © PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com,Image: 536715318, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews / Avalon 
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