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A mystery book that’s been topping the best-seller list for the past few weeks has been taken there by Swifties and BTS fans who have been scrambling to get it in advance.
Many Swifties speculated that the book’s July 9 release date would coincide with the release of her upcoming album. Speculation was fueled by a TikTok video posted by the owner of the Good Neighbor Bookstore in Lakewood, New York, in which he shared fan theory that it was Taylor Swift’s memoir.
The untitled book, due out July 9, was described in bookstores as “4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023,” convincing Taylor Swift fans that the book was hers. They pre-ordered the book en masse, landing it on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller lists.
A Macmillan spokeswoman has confirmed the book is about K-pop boy band BTS and is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the group, which formed on July 9. Macmillian says it expects to print one million hardcover copies of the 544-page book in honor of BTS BTS ARMY fans.
The owner of the original TikTok video that made a splash among the Swifties has removed the post at the publisher’s request. He says he stopped taking pre-orders for the book after receiving over 600 requests — and then canceled all of them when he began to doubt the book was even a Taylor Swift publication.
“We did everything right, but I feel like we got it wrong,” says Bob Lingle, owner of the Lakewood bookstore. Lingle says he started turning to the BTS side of the argument when he learned the significance of the date for BTS ARMY fans.
“What’s the worst thing you’ve done because of Taylor Swift?” asked a fan on social media. “I pre-ordered a book I don’t know about because there’s a slim chance it’s her memoir,” the fan said continuesshowing how rabid fans online became over the possibility of a memoir story.