Taylor Swift, Argylle, a Pseudonym, and a Publisher
No, Taylor Swift did not write "Argylle," but Penguin Random House sure acted like she did.
Welcome to a new week and a brand new edition of Publishing Confidential. It’s taken me a few days to gather information and wrap my head around what I’m writing about today, but I think you’ll find it intriguing. Shoutout to the reader who brought this to my attention—you know who you are!
Let’s dive in:
THE WHAT:
Bantam, an imprint of Penguin Random House, released the book Argylle by the “author” Elly Conway on January 9, 2024. Technically, it is a movie tie-in edition. The movie “Argylle,” directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Jason Fuchs, will be released on February 2, 2024. Here is a description of the film:
Reclusive author Elly Conway writes best-selling espionage novels about a secret agent named Argylle who's on a mission to unravel a global spy syndicate. However, when the plots of her books start to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, the line between fiction and reality begin to blur.
Here is a description of the book:
A luxury train speeding towards Moscow and a date with destiny.
A CIA plane downed in the jungles of the Golden Triangle.
A Nazi hoard entombed in the remote mountains of South-West Poland.
A missing treasure, the eighth wonder of the world, lost for seven decades.
One Russian magnate's dream of restoring a nation to greatness has set in motion a chain of events which will take the world to the brink of chaos.
Only Frances Coffey, the CIA's most legendary spymaster, can prevent it. But to do so, she needs someone special.
Enter Argylle, a troubled agent with a tarnished past who may just have the skills to take on one of the most powerful men in the world. If only he can save himself first...
If you aren’t a Taylor Swift fan, you may not know she has a Scottish Fold cat she carried in an Argyle backpack in her documentary “Miss Americana.” Not-so-coincidentally, it is that cat and backpack that inspired the movie Argylle. Here is the cat in the film:
It didn’t take long before Swifties (a mighty group of super sleuths) picked up on all of this and debated whether or not Elly Conway, author of Argylle the book, was Taylor Swift. I had heard rumblings of this months ago on the gossip Instagram account Duex Moi and filed it away. Enter TikTok.
THE HOW:
There has been speculation on TikTok for some time that Taylor Swift might be Elly Conway, the author. Penguin Random House caught wind of this and decided to go all-in on the theory, knowing it was not true. A TikTok user recently shared that this is how the marketing department at PRH pitched the book to Taylor Swift fan accounts:
As you can see, the TikTok user above received a message from Random House Books offering her a copy of Argylle by Elly Conway, but also leaned into the Taylor Swift angle. You might be asking, “What’s wrong with that?” While it’s not an infringement on Taylor Swift’s likeness or image, it IS unethical to pretend she might be the book's author for marketing and publicity purposes.
In an interview last week, Matthew Vaughn, director of the “Argylle” movie, admitted that Taylor Swift did not write the book. You can read more about it in The Guardian. The initial interview appeared in Rolling Stone and was picked up immediately by other media outlets. Swifties protect their queen, so this news did not sit well with them—and it shouldn’t.
THE WHY
After glancing at the book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, it is clear that PRH knew it did not have a stellar book but a marketing opportunity. The problem is that they coopted Taylor Swift’s loyal fan base, who will buy her merch (friendship bracelets, anyone?) at any cost. In doing so, they were disingenuous. Why would you excite the fan base of the biggest pop star in the world just to let them down? The answer is to sell books. Is publishing in such a state that it must send influencers on cruises and make people think Taylor Swift wrote a book? It sure seems like it.
I enjoyed this theory by a reviewer on Amazon:
THE WHO
So, who is Elly Conway? I have no idea, and I assume the publisher has strict orders not to disclose the actual author’s identity.
MY TWO CENTS
I am concerned about how marketing decisions are being made in book publishing. I wouldn't have approved if someone had approached me with the Atria Books cruise idea or the “let’s play into the Taylor Swift rumor” idea. There are better ways to build brand equity and promote books. Instead, we have an influencer on the high seas who STILL barely posts about the book he is “reading,” a faction of TikTok is mad at Random House for duping them. Publishing, I beg you to observe how non-book publishing brands promote products and build awareness. This is not the way.
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END NOTES:
What I’m Watching: I gave in and finished the first season of “And Just Like That…” Now, I am in the second season. Please don’t laugh, but the second season's first episode helped me get past something that has been bothering me for months. Bless Carrie Bradshaw.
What I’m Reading: I am in a reading slump. I think it’s because I read so much for work and school. I have some books on deck that I want to dip into soon.
What I’m Listening to: I like the two singles Usher released from his new album. I am a fan.
Where I’ve Been: I was interviewed on the Writers on Writing podcast. I have more podcast appearances coming up and will keep you posted.
Lack of integrity in so many fields can get one down. Marketing, the ads we see every day, has always been this way, and I hate to see it happening in publishing. Must we be so greedy for money and/or success that there is no place for integrity?
I was thrilled to see you write about this situation so well. It is very unethical of the publisher. Who enjoys being duped? As Maya Angelou says, people will never forget how you made them feel.