Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me, sold 1.1 million copies across all formats in its first week on sale in the US, according to publisher Simon & Schuster. The audiobook, read by Michelle Williams, is the fastest-selling audiobook in the history of the company. It was also the biggest-ever first-week seller in the UK.
However, when Simon & Schuster released its last public earnings report (it is now officially owned by private equity group KKR), the publisher reported an earnings dip of 13 percent in the most recent quarter. The decline was partly attributed to the end of Hoovermania. Learn more.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
