Oops: 'Fire and Fury' Author Hasn't Sold Nearly as Many Copies of Anti-Trump Book as He Claims
Critics are pointing out that the sales numbers for Michael Wolff’s controversial book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” may not back up a claim made by the author.
In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Wolff asserted that as of the close of business on Monday, his book had sold a million copies in just four days.
“I’m going around saying, ‘It’s just a book,’ but it has become something so much larger,” Wolff, claimed, while also referring to President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful attempt to block publication of the book.
But actual sales figures for “Fire and Fury” may not be able to match up to Wolff’s lofty claim.
BookScan, which tracks book sales, said Wednesday that the tell-all book had sold 29,000 copies, according to The Daily Caller.
However, the book was published Friday, and BookScan’s sales records only run through Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
“The first couple of days of sales figures aren’t giving us the full picture,” said Kristen McLean, the NPD Group’s book industry analyst.
“Because of potential distribution issues related to the early release coupled with high demand, it may take a few weeks to see exactly where this book will land in comparison to other political best-sellers of the last few years.”
Additionally, the 29,000 number does not include ebook sales, which have already topped 250,000 copies, according John Sargent, CEO of Holt parent company Macmillan.
Meanwhile audio sales of the book are said to have surpassed 100,000.
Indeed, “Fire and Fury” did debut at the top of The New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction, as reported by The Hill.
However, political analysts were quick to point out that even with record sales, one million combined could be far-fetched.
“That figure won’t include ebooks, and hardcover sales are limited by # of first production,” pointed out Jonathan Allen of NBC News.
“In this case, since it was pushed early, some stores may not have had hardcover all of this weekend.”
“Still,” he continued, “1 million combined is hard to believe. Publisher will know.”
Wolff’s highly criticized expose on the Trump administration was published Friday in defiance of an attempt from Trump’s attorney to prevent it from being released, according to The U.K. Guardian.
The legal notice came following Trump’s much publicized break with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Bannon is said to be one of Wolff’s primary sources, and Wolff quotes the former executive chairman of Breitbart News as making several inflammatory statements about members of Trump’s family.
In a more lighthearted turn of events, some people have apparently purchased the wrong “Fire and Fury” book.
The Washington Post reported that sales of “Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945” have gone up as readers have gotten the similarly titled books confused.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
