Prince Harry Spare leak forces publisher to weigh up early release

Publishers Penguin Random House are under pressure to bring forward the release date for Prince Harry's memoir after a series of embarrassing leaks [1]. Spare is due be published on Tuesday [2], but plans of a closely-guarded release were left in ruins when copies went on sale five days early in Spain. UK bookstores said it was "ridiculous" that they are not due to get deliveries of the book until Monday evening, when much of its contents are now already freely available.

The release was supposedly being conducted amid the tightest security [3], with copies said to be placed under guard in warehouses. News outlets scrambled to buy up Spanish-language versions of the book, - titled En La Sombra, or In The Shade - mistakenly placed on sale early by retailers. The Guardian had already obtained an advance copy whilst the New York Post Page Six gossip page also published extracts.

Bringing forward publication would undermine Penguin Random House's carefully-planned PR strategy for a simultaneous roll-out of physical and digital editions of the memoir. It is reported the book will have to sell more than 1.7million copies for the publisher to break even after it gambled £20 million on a four-book deal with the Duke of Sussex. With Spare being published in 16 languages including Chinese, Finnish, Hungarian, Portuguese as well as Spanish, Penguin must consider whether the leak is set to become a flood before its "due date."

Spare was due to be officially released in UK bookshops when they open on Tuesday morning. Amazon is set to deliver thousands of pre-ordered copies on the same day, while the e-book edition should be available to download on Kindle shortly after midnight. In the United States, five to eight hours behind Britain, e-book Kindle copies will be available the evening of Monday, 9 January, when the clock strikes midnight on Tuesday morning in the UK.

An audiobook of Spare, narrated by Prince Harry, is also due to be available to subscribers to Amazon's Audible platform on Tuesday. It is not clear whether the audio version, believed to run to 16 hours of Harry's voice in an unabridged version, could also be brought forward if the title was released early. Harry has recorded at least three television interviews, with ITV for British viewers, and with 60 Minutes and Good Morning America in the US.

Those interviews were agreed on the basis that they would be the first to deliver revelations from the book. Clips have been heavily trailed by broadcasters, which are locked in to the broadcast dates for the interviews. In the UK, dozens of independent book shops say they are yet to receive their copies.

One owner of a shop in north London said they had agreed to a strict embargo and signed a document ensuring the book is not released ahead of schedule. Many said they are unlikely to receive the book until late on Monday due to the embargo, a move one owner described as "ridiculous". Deliveries to UK book shops have been scheduled for the day before publication to avoid a Spanish-style early release.

Reporters trying to buy the book in Spain at outlets where it had briefly been available were told copies had sold out. A spokesperson for Plaza y Janes Editores, a Spanish subsidiary of Penguin Random House, said: "A very clear launch protocol was established and communicated to all customers so that the book would not be marketed before that date. "Everything points to the fact that some customers have breached their commitment to the publisher and have put the book on sale before the agreed date."

The Guardian story was written by Martin Pengelly, a New York-based reporter who has previously obtained sought-after advance copies of books including Michael Wolff's biography of Donald Trump, Fire and Fury and former FBI director James B Comey's memoirs.

Penguin Random House declined to comment on the leak or its publication plans.

References

^ Prince Harry's memoir after a series of embarrassing leaks (inews.co.uk)
^ Spare is due be published on Tuesday (inews.co.uk)
^ supposedly being conducted amid the tightest security (inews.co.uk)