For Taylor Swift followers, the clues have been all over the place.
There was the truth that the e book’s writer was scheduled to be revealed on June 13 and that the e book would have a 13-hour audio element. The web page rely was believed to be 544, and 5 plus 4 plus 4 equals 13 — Swift’s favourite quantity. Then, there was Swift’s announcement on Instagram in regards to the rerecording of her “Speak Now” album that addressed followers with, “Dear reader.”
It didn’t matter that the one official info McMillan Publishers gave in regards to the upcoming e book was its stub title: “4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023.” Swift followers, often known as Swifties, have been satisfied that the pop star was writing a memoir.
“She drops Easter eggs for her fandom all of the time, I didn’t think it was very far-fetched for all the little clues to line up,” mentioned Michelle Lopez, a social media analyst in Chicago who — like many followers — put her detective hat on over the previous week.
After days of rumors and sleuthing, Flatiron Books, an imprint of McMillan, needed to come clear. The memoir was not Swift’s, however one other international phenomenon’s completely. On July 9, the publishing home will launch “Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS,” an oral historical past of the Ok-pop group written by the journalist Myeongseok Kang and a few of its members. It might be revealed in South Korea by Big Hit Music.
Even although it wasn’t Swift’s e book, Lopez mentioned, “she was hinting at something.”
The hunt for Easter eggs is a part of the enjoyable for Swift followers, who know all too effectively that she’s going to tease future albums and initiatives via lyrics, music movies, social media posts and even jewellery and nail polish. So the concept that the 33-year-old singer and songwriter would tease a memoir was not out of the query. But as Swift embarks on her Eras tour, referencing all 10 of her studio albums after a interval of being out of the general public eye, Lopez mentioned followers are in search of extra clues than ever.
And the quantity 13 wasn’t the one clue. The July 9 e book launch date additionally fueled the rumor, Lopez mentioned. The date falls on a Sunday, which isn’t when books are historically launched (publication days are often Tuesdays), and it’s talked about in her track, “Last Kiss.” In her Instagram put up saying the rerelease of “Speak Now,” she mentioned it “will be out July 7 (just in time for July 9th, iykyk)” utilizing the acronym for “if you know you know.”
The flurry of hypothesis helped to drive the thriller e book to the highest of the Barnes & Noble and Amazon best-seller lists, as preorders rolled in.
“She plans things out so meticulously,” Ms. Lopez mentioned. “There was a lot of evidence that it could have been her.”
Bob Lingle, proprietor of Good Neighbor Bookstore in Lakewood, N.Y., thought it might have been her, too. Lingle and different booksellers acquired a discover from Flatiron that an unnamed e book with an unnamed writer was anticipated to have a primary print run of 1 million copies. The writer’s id was alleged to be revealed on June 13, and the publishing date can be July 9.
He had one guess of who it may very well be: Swift. Lingle posted on the bookstore’s TikTok web page saying as a lot and promised to supply full refunds if he was unsuitable. Swift followers rushed to purchase it. Flatiron requested Lingle to take the put up down, and he obliged, however not earlier than he had acquired greater than 600 pre-orders for the thriller e book, all of which he has canceled.
“I do apologize to the BTS fans base because it was meant to be a surprise to them, so quite a few people are upset with me about that,” Lingle mentioned. “This is just a really unique situation that I never want to have to experience again.”
Still, there have been rumors about Swift writing a e book even earlier than Flatiron’s imprecise announcement, mentioned Ginnie Low, who has uncovered Swift’s Easter eggs earlier than on TikTok. Low pointed to Swift’s 10-minute quick movie accompanying her track “All Too Well,” which ends with Swift enjoying an writer.
“It’s become something really special between her and her fans — fans are searching for them and she loves communicating with them in that way,” Low mentioned. “It’s become a secret language.”
If Swift does launch a memoir, Low mentioned, there’s little doubt that she’ll mastermind an elaborate path of crumbs and that Swifties might be on the case.
“When we’re wrong, the best thing we can do is enjoy the joy of hunting and getting to communicate with our favorite artist in this way,” she mentioned. “Just because you’re wrong once, doesn’t mean you’re wrong forever.”
Source: www.nytimes.com