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Sarah Wynn-Williams’ Careless People a bestseller despite her not being allowed to promote it
Sarah Wynn-Williams’ Careless People (Macmillan) – an expos´ of her life at Meta, the company behind social media giant Facebook among others – has become a bestseller in its first week despite the fact she was not allowed to promote the book.
The memoir from Facebook’s former director of global policy hit the headlines last week after a US emergency arbitrator ruled Wynn-Williams could not further distribute or promote the book, suggesting she could have broken her “non-disparagement” contract with the company. (Wynn-Williams has made allegations of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behaviour during her time at the company, which Meta refutes.)
The book was announced in early March, only a week prior to publication, with just one week available for pre-orders. Pan Macmillan said: "Since the book went on sale, demand has been so strong that it temporarily went out of stock on Amazon UK over the weekend. In total, Pan Macmillan has more than 100,000 copies in print, with reprints ordered in the UK, India and Australia.”
According to Nielsen BookScan, it has now sold 2,832 copies, securing 10th place in the Hardback Non-Fiction chart and 79th in the overall TCM. the book will be a number four Sunday Times bestseller this weekend and has been a bestseller on Amazon, Pan Macmillan said.
It was also widely reviewed across the media with Observer selecting it as book of the week, calling it “valuable, not just as [an] indictment of the Facebook cult but of bosses’ entitled behaviour that will resonate for many”.
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Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan, said: “Careless People sold a staggering 1,000 hardbacks a day in the first three days on sale in the UK, despite Meta’s legal tactics to silence the book’s author, Sarah Wynn-Williams. At Pan Macmillan, we would like to thank everyone who has supported this brilliant and urgent book and helped to secure a Sunday Times bestseller this weekend: our retailers, the media and, most importantly, our readers and listeners. This early success is a triumph against Meta’s attempt to stop the publication of this book. We are proud to publish Careless People and will continue to support Sarah’s right to tell her story.”
The book is pitched by Pan Macmillan as “a shocking, first-hand account of seven critical years at Meta (formerly Facebook) as the company grew from viral sensation to global powerhouse and the destruction it left in its wake… [as] Wynn-Williams had a front-row seat to the inner workings of one of the most influential companies on the planet”.
