Taylor Swift bypasses book publishers for new read

Taylor Swift's decision to shake off traditional publishers and distributors for her new book could shake up the industry, Business Insider reported.

Swift announced the "Eras Tour" on Tuesday, a 256-page, $39.99 read to be released on Black Friday as a Target exclusive. 

Since she is self-publishing under her new Taylor Swift Publications, she can keep more of the revenue than typical celebrity memoir deals which can reap millions for publishers through advances and royalties on sales, BI reported. Self-published authors are also able to control the creative content of their books and release them sooner, although they give up access to printing presses, distributors, the media and staff who can promote the book, the publication reported.

Analysts told BI that Swift will likely use her huge fan base and social media to promote her book, set to feature hundreds of behind-the-scenes photographs and reflections on the tour that started in early 2023, spanned five continents and grossed over $1 billion.

Her business move might inspire less famous authors to follow suit. 

"Obviously, Taylor Swift is sort of a case under herself for this stuff in terms of just her reach," Erik Hane, founder of Headwater Literary Management, told BI. "But there are a lot of people who aren't as famous as her but are still doing pretty well who this kind of thing might make sense for as well."

Swift's other financially savvy decisions include releasing multiple versions of her records with different cover art and self-producing last year's "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" film, BI reported.

She has a longstanding working relationship with Target and plans to release "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology" for the first time on vinyl and CD as Target exclusives on Nov. 29.