An appointment with Jacinda

Newsroom

4 days ago

Dame Jacinda Ardern to the rescue, possibly. Ardern's new memoir A Different Kind of Power arrives in bookstores this week and looks set to sell its sensitive socks off.
The book will retail for $60. Booksellers face challenges from online retailers such as Mighty Ape and The Nile, which are already offering chunky discounts. Even so, it seems destined to provide a bonanza for bookshops across the land.
Jenna Todd, mastermind at Auckland's coolest bookstore, Time Out, shared the amazing revelation that Ardern met to grease up Auckland booksellers at a private meeting: 'We were lucky to have an hour with Jacinda back in December to hear about the book. It's not ghostwritten and she said the feedback she'd had on the book was that it was 'surprising.' I was very intrigued.'
So was I, and asked for more details of the tête-à-tête. Todd said, 'It was in the leadup to Christmas and Penguin NZ organised us to meet. It was very relaxed and informal with a Q&A with her NZ publisher, Grace Thomas, and lots of time for questions.
'We learned what memoirs she read in preparation for writing (I'll let her say what those were) and could see how seriously she took the whole process eg. she read the whole manuscript aloud twice in preparation.
'It was a behind the scenes insight of the writing experience and also anticipation of a behind the scenes book. Genuinely, this meeting has helped me answer customer questions in the lead up to the book's release.
'I believe it will sell well into Christmas. But I tell you what, we won't tolerating any cover rippers – they can piss right off.'
Ah yes, the wild and righteous Turn Ardern crowd; even Sean Plunkett disparaged them recently as suffering from 'Jacinda Ardern derangement syndrome'. Trolls, alternative truthers and various assorted right-wing trash will no doubt rage against A Different Kind of Power. When I spoke with Louise Ward, co-owner of the Wardinis bookshop empire in Hawkes Bay, she said, 'There will of course be those who grumble about it (and probably a resurgence of the 'turn Jacinda' nonsense) but she has her fans and they'll be keen to get into it. The Prince Harry book sold truckloads, in part because he's a polarising figure, so I anticipate an equal or even bigger level of interest.'
The book will need to sell exceptionally well for Penguin to recoup their advance. It was reported as $1m but two reliable sources in New Zealand publishing have told ReadingRoom it was $1.5m.
ReadingRoom approached numerous people in the book trade and the consensus was that A Different Kind of Power would have to sell between about 140,000-160,000 copies to earn out Ardern's advance.
The most knowledgeable person in New Zealand books is Paula Morris. She said, 'That sales figure is achievable, as those sales don't have to be in NZ alone: Australian rights are part of the deal. Julia Gillard's memoir sold 5000 copies on its first day of sales alone in Australia; Malcolm Turnbull's memoir in 2020 sold out its first print run of 45K in under a week. I suspect Jacinda's book will be of interest to many readers there. They have five times our population.
'In the US, Hillary Clinton's last memoir sold 300K its first week, which was seen as a big hit there; adjusted for population, that would mean selling 4000 copies here and 23,000 copies in Australia. If there's ultimately a Jacinda tour in Australia or even a media tour, she could sell a lot of books. For better or worse, we're also influenced in our habits by overseas success. Jacinda has a North American book tour about to begin and should sell lots of books and get tons of media coverage. If the book is a bestseller in the US, that may encourage more prominence in positioning (in book shops and media) here and in Australia, and encourage more people to buy it.'
Commercial publishers ran for cover when approached. They felt too compromised to comment on a competitor, and besides they likely put in failed bids to secure Ardern's book. Not so Fergus Barrowman, publisher at Te Herenga Waka University Press, who said, 'This is way out of my league. THWUP is a boutique university press and we have only twice offered advances in six figures, and never anything approaching seven. But on the back of an envelope, it will need to sell about 140,000 copies to earn out.
'Taking the advance as a fixed cost, the publisher should cover costs much earlier, say 70,000, and have a very healthy margin on the next 70,000, before they have to pay any more royalties.'
Paula Morris drilled down further.
She said, 'Prince Harry allegedly got a US$20 million dollar advance for four books, including Spare. So think of it as at least US$5 million advance for that book, or possibly more so they could recoup as much as possible right away. The rrp was US$36 (NZ$60) for Spare in the US. Let's say the US publisher paid Harry an advance of $7.5 million. I've read somewhere that the publisher could make that back with sales of 500K print copies and 250K e-books.
'One thing: do we know if the advance was for this book only, or included a second book, like Harry's multi-book deal? Jacinda's children's book (Mum's Busy Work) is coming out with Penguin (in NZ and in Australia) this September. The advance might cover that as well. It seems likely. Children's books, like nonfiction, sell well in NZ (versus local fiction for adults). They sell REALLY well in Australia, e.g. over 30,000 copies for successful local titles. So if 40,000 sales (NZ and Australia combined) are for the children's book, then the memoir just needs to sell 100,000 across both markets. That is absolutely possible, especially as it will still be selling in the run-up to Christmas.'
One Ardern book at a time. A Different Kind of Power is available in bookstores from tomorrow, June 3. (Ardern also narrates a 12-hour audiobook of her memoir). Final word from Louise Ward at Napier and Havelock North bookstore franchise Wardinis, who said, 'Based on the pre-orders we've taken I think the book will do very well indeed.
'If the publisher gets the print run and the marketing right, and it sells in territories well outside of NZ and Australia (which you have to think it will as Jacinda is so popular overseas) then I would compare it to Barack Obama's A Promised Land or even the slightly more popular (in our shops at least) Becoming by Michelle Obama.
'I hope it'll fly. We could do with a nice winter boost.'
A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin, $59.99) is available in every bookstore across the land. ReadingRoom is devoting all week to coverage of the book, with three reviews, by Tim Murphy, Janet Wilson, and Steve Braunias.