The launch of Prince Harry‘s highly-anticipated memoir, “Spare,” was marred by leaks and early sales in Spain. The book’s publisher, Penguin Random House, had carefully planned a publicity campaign including TV interviews with the prince and last-minute deliveries to bookstores. However, when the Spanish edition was put on sale early, many journalists obtained copies, and the Guardian’s leak about a physical altercation between Harry and his brother, Prince William, generated widespread coverage. Despite the unplanned publicity, industry experts believe the leaks will not harm sales and may even increase them due to the additional week of coverage. The book is set to be released on Tuesday.
Penguin Random House had gone to great lengths to keep the book under wraps in order to maximize the impact of its release. The publisher avoided a newspaper serialization deal and scheduled last-minute deliveries to many bookstores. However, the international nature of the book’s production and distribution made a leak difficult to prevent. The Guardian, The Sun, The Telegraph, the , were among the outlets that obtained copies of the Spanish edition on Thursday and began reporting on its contents.
According to Philip Jones, editor of trade paper The Bookseller, the leaks are “70% good” for the book and its publisher. He noted that while Penguin Random House may be annoyed that the book was released early, it is now dominating headlines around the world and increasing pent-up demand ahead of publication. Edward Coram James, CEO of digital marketing agency Go Up, agrees that the leaks will not likely affect sales and may even boost them due to the additional week of coverage. He added that if the leak had happened three weeks earlier, the story would have been old news by the time of the scheduled launch.
