Prince Harry's memoir sells 400,000 copies across all editions in its first day on sale, says Transworld

Publisher Transworld has said Prince Harry’s memoir Spare has sold 400,000 copies in the UK across hardback, e-book and audio formats on its first day of publication.  

Larry Finlay, managing director of Transworld, said: “We always knew this book would fly but it is exceeding even our most bullish expectations. As far as we know, the only books to have sold more in their first day are those starring the other Harry (Potter).” 

Transworld claims it is the UK’s fastest selling non-fiction book ever, however the publisher has not yet provided a breakdown of how many of the copies are audio and e-book editions, meaning print figures are not broken out. The nearest point of comparison is Pinch of Nom (Bluebird) by Kate and Kay Allinson which became the fastest selling non-fiction book in print in March 2019, selling 210,506 copies within its first week through Nielsen BookScan’s UK Total Consumer Market. BookScan’s first-week figures for Spare will be published on Tuesday 17th January.

Waterstones reported “exceptional” first day sales for the memoir and predicts the book will be one of the bestsellers this year. John Cotterill, non-fiction category manager, told The Bookseller: “We are very pleased with the exceptional sales we have seen so far today. Having such a prominent book land in shops in January has added welcome interest to a usually quieter month. Spare is one of the biggest pre-orders for Waterstones in a decade and we have seen unprecedented numbers of click and collect orders today. We expect Spare to be one of this year’s bestsellers.”  

W H Smith said it was unable to share performance or sales figures as it is in a closed period ahead of announcing its trading update next week, but shared images of the book dominating tables and displays in stores. It opened a “small number” of Travel stores at midnight for the book’s launch.  

Some independent booksellers have been creative with their displays, with Bert’s Books in Swindon stacking the title next to Bella Mackie’s How to Kill Your Family (Borough Press).   

The book has proved surprisingly popular for many independents, with Rebecca Wade, manager at Gutter Books, Dalkey branch reporting she’d been selling copies before she even had a chance to open the box. She told The Bookseller: "There’ve been a good few pre-orders and people being excited about it and we’ve had five or six people coming in to buy it, which for us isn’t nothing. There’s a lot of interest in the royals in this area and I think the documentary probably has something to do with it, too." 

Nik Hibbert, bookseller at Cover to Cover in Swansea, said: "We’ve only got six copies in. I’ve had one person asking me to put a copy aside and a gentleman did come in earlier before the books had been delivered. It’s more than anticipated, because royal things don’t seem to do well here. Not the calendars, not the latest Queen book, so we weren’t expecting anything from Spare. 

"Our clientele are mainly 60 and over and the weather today is absolutely awful, which impacts our sales greatly. I’m sure it will pick up as the days go on, but two in a day is not bad for us."

Cathy Slater, bookseller at Dulwich Books in south London, added: "We had four or five customer orders which came in today. We’ve got a couple sold, a couple on the shelf and a couple for stock which haven’t sold yet. But it’s a really wet, miserable January day and it’s not like we’re in a very footfall-heavy area. I wouldn’t say it’s been an event of the month or the year, it’s not like people are clamouring for it". 

Some Audible users reported delays in receiving Spare in their libraries on release day, despite pre-ordering. It is understood the issue impacted pre-orders across a few titles, not just Spare.