Britney Spears’ memoir titled “The Woman in Me” has sold 1.1 million copies in the U.S. alone during its first week.
“I poured my heart and soul into my memoir, and I am grateful to my fans and readers around the world for their unwavering support,” Spears said in a statement released Wednesday by Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.
The sales figures include pre-orders, print sales, e-books and audiobooks. “The Woman in Me,” which was released on October 24, has been praised by critics as a compelling account of her rise to global fame and her ongoing struggles, including the conservatorship that her father had control over and her revelation about having an abortion while dating Justin Timberlake more than 20 years ago.
On the day of publication, Spears posted on Instagram that her book had become “the highest selling celebrity memoir in history.” However, it is not the highest selling memoir of 2023.
“The Woman in Me,” which received minimal publicity beyond Instagram, was the top seller of last week. However, Prince Harry’s memoir titled “Spare,” released in January, sold 1.6 million U.S. copies in its first week.
Spears’ memoir also had a strong impact on her music catalog, boosting streams and sales. According to Luminate, a music and entertainment analytics company, Spears’ catalog experienced an 18.2% increase in on-demand streams and a 36.8% increase in album sales from Monday to Tuesday. The numbers continued to climb in the following days, with a 24% increase in U.S. streams, a 61.4% increase in album sales, and a 49% increase in digital sales.
The audio edition of “The Woman in Me,” narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Michelle Williams, played a significant role in the book’s initial popularity. Williams’ reading has been highly acclaimed, and according to Gallery, it is the fastest selling audio release in the company’s history. The publisher did not disclose specific audio sales figures.
According to Circana, which tracks approximately 85% of the print market, “The Woman in Me” sold just under 418,000 copies in its first week, which is lower than the first-week sales numbers for other memoirs like former President Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” and former first lady Michelle Obama’s “Becoming.”
No nonfiction release comes close to the scale of J.K. Rowling’s final Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which sold over 8 million copies in its first 24 hours.
• AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report.
