A mysterious, yet-to-be-released book has shot to the top of a bestseller’s list on presales, and while no one is listed as the author, Taylor Swift fans are convinced it’s written by the pop superstar.
In July 9, publisher Flatiron Books, part of Macmillan Publishing, will release the book, and all anyone knows for sure is the book will be 544 pages long and will retail for $66.
Despite the lack of details, the book is sitting at No.1 on Amazon’s photography and video bestseller list – likely thanks to Taylor Swift’s adoring fans.
Fans have been speculating that the singer-songwriter would release a memoir for some time. The book is listed under ‘bios and memoirs’ on Macmillan’s website. It’s also on top of a Barnes & Noble list.
Swift is currently on the Eras Tour in the US and recently announced she would be releasing the re-recording of her self-written 2010 album Speak Now.
The announcement also added to speculation that Swift would be releasing a book.
While 4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023, the book in question, climbs the bestseller list, it appears to have been confirmed that Swift has not written a book.
“Some yet-to-be-revealed celebrity is releasing a book in July that the publisher is promising will be a blockbuster,” Variety reported.
“But Variety can report for certain that this mystery author is not, as rumoured, Taylor Swift.”
Why are Taylor Swift’s fans so convinced?
Swift’s most dedicated fans have a knack for analysing the clues and Easter egg hints she drops.
The singer is known for giving little hints to her fans, and frankly, some have made pretty compelling arguments as to why they think she could be releasing a memoir.
Firstly, the book is 544 pages long. If you add up, 5, 4 and 4 you get 13, Swift’s favourite number.
When performing in Nashville on her tour, Swift announced she would be releasing the re-recording of Speak Now.
“The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness,” she wrote in the announcement on social media.
Tweet from @taylorswift13
She also unveiled the cover of the album and another note to her fans, which says ‘Dear Reader’, which is a title of a song from Midnights (3am Edition), which was released in 2022.
Speak Now will be released on July 7, “just in time for July 9th”, Swift wrote.
According to Swifties on social media, July 9 holds significance within the fandom, due to a lyric in the song Last Kiss, which is on Speak Now, which is why some think the untitled book might be Swift’s.
In the music video for the 10-minute version of All Too Well, at the very end, or 13 years later in the story of the video, Swift’s character is seen releasing a book.
A reminder, it has been 13 years since Speak Now was originally released.
Book retailers cancelling orders
People weren’t just pre-ordering the mystery book on Amazon, but also through independent book stores.
The problem is, booksellers also have no idea who the author of this book is.
Some are now cancelling all pre-orders and others are promising to do so if it is not Swift’s book.
Even some fans have announced they have cancelled their orders, given the headlines promising the book isn’t authored by Swift, though some have said they will keep their order regardless.
Variety confirmed Swift was “for certain” not releasing the memoir, but it has to be someone big, based on information that has circulated online.
A screenshot of the purported pitch states that one million copies of the book will be printed and sellers will have to sign an affidavit, Variety reported.
This book is also meant to be fun, according to the document. Not political, but celebratory and aimed at a younger audience.
Swift could easily sell one million copies of a book she wrote straight off the press, and there’s a few others who could possibly do the same.
Some have speculated Britney Spears – who reportedly does have a book in the works – is the mystery author, but given she was in a conservatorship and has had a very difficult life, it’s hard to see how her tell-all would be “fun”.
BTS, the South Korean boy band, is also among the artists people think may be behind the book.
