What's that now? A Taylor Swift book? Okay, so it doesn't exist – but hear me out. She's filled stadiums, sold out movie theaters, snagged Spotify's Artist of the Year and Time's Person of the Year, dominated billboards, directed incredible music videos full of Easter eggs, boosted NFL viewership, and made documentaries. So when will Taylor Swift write a book?? As a team with plenty of Swifties on it, here at selfpublishing.com, we swoon over the idea of the woman of the moment in the medium we love most.
Tree, if you're reading this, we are (not) patiently waiting. Please see my list of “pros” for a Taylor Swift book below.
And I just know she'd choose to self-publish her autobiography (or will she publish a poetry book – ahem, Anthology?!?). We all know she's a woman who is adamant about having 100% of the rights and creative control over her work. So while the specific genre is yet to be determined, the self-publishing route is a no-brainer.
And so, let this be my official plea for a self-published Taylor Swift book. If you're reading this, I know you're already on board, but I've been playing The Tortured Poets Department on repeat for days now and felt inspired to compile a list of reasons why Taylor Swift should add the title “author” to her resume this year. I've also added some of my personal favorite lyrics, just for fun.
A Taylor Swift book might already exist
If you've been in the fandom for some time, you'll already know there has been speculation about whether or not Taylor Swift wrote the book-turned-movie, Argylle. In fact, the movie’s director, Matthew Vaughn, said his own daughter believed Argylle was originally a Taylor Swift book.
Fans were quick to dissect the trailers and point out things that felt very Swift-like—one huge one being the Scottish Fold cat, which is uncannily similar to Taylor's famous fur baby, Meredith.
Vaughn came clean and said that the singer did not pen the novel or direct the movie.
After his daughters watched Taylor’s documentary and fell in love with her cat Meredith, they convinced their mom to get them a Scottish Fold. If you’ve seen the movie, you know a Scottish Fold is a big part of the story. Matthew Vaughn said, “As crazy as it sounds, that is our only Taylor Swift connection.”
What is the best book about Taylor Swift?
Some Taylor Swift books have been written about the superstar.
From low content books such as the Taylor Swift coloring book to the upcoming Taylor Swift biography book by Toby Lowe, you can already get your hands on a Taylor Swift book of some form. Kathleen Perricone wrote, Taylor Swift Is Life: A Superfan’s Guide to All Things We Love About Taylor Swift and then there’s Taylor Swift: Icon, by Katy Sprinkel. The latter is more of a Taylor Swift coffee table book. It’s visually stunning and focuses on her various eras as a singer and songwriter.
While it’s hard to identify the best Taylor Swift book, as that is largely subjective, we can all agree that the best one would be written by the singer herself.
My reasons why there should be a Taylor Swift book – and why she'd make a great author
Let's start at the top. TSwift is the music industry right now. Does she really need to be the publishing industry too?
The answer is an obvious, resounding “yes.”
While there are a smattering of books about Taylor Swift and her incredible career, she should be the one to write a book – or at least hire a great ghostwriter to get the job done!
Here are a few options: a Taylor Swift autobiography, a celebrity memoir, or a collection of published poems (as teased above). And here's my wild card for a Taylor Swift book: fiction. We know she loves long versions and bonus tracks, so she could get ultra-creative and write a full-length fiction novel featuring the Folklore love triangle between Betty, James, and Augustine. Tell me that wouldn't be an incredible book or series.
I digress.
1. She is a master storyteller
Taylor is a great storyteller. Her words paint a picture and make us feel like we were there. She knows the ins and outs of all our favorite relationship tropes. We listen to her songs and read along to the lyrics as they make us smile, laugh, and cry. They make us feel.
A Taylor Swift book would surely do the same. And instead of riding along for 2 hours and 2 minutes, we'd have multiple hours to get into our feelings.
“And my friends said it isn't right to be scared every day of a love affair. Every breath feels like rarest air when you're not sure he wants to be there.” – So Long, London
2. She understands the experiences of her audience
Despite Taylor Swift reaching astronomical levels of fame – and the Eras Tour officially making her a billionaire – she's so dang relatable. Whether a Taylor Swift book would be a YA-friendly novel or more of an adult tell-all, you know it would feel exactly like having brunch with a friend.
She writes about universal experiences and yet does so poetically and beautifully. Many authors take years to learn this before publishing their first book. And she's already a master.
“You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof.” – So Long, London
3. A book lets Taylor Swift own her narrative
While some people may say TSwift is the ultimate example of an unreliable narrator, we still love to hear things from her perspective. While Taylor never overtly says a song is about a specific person or event, Swifties can't help but pour over her personal history and unpack all the lyrics.
Whether it's not-at-all-subtle diss tracks or turning a former insult (being called a snake) into her own personal mascot, Taylor knows how to re-invent herself and re-claim her power.
“And one day your kid comes home singing a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.” – thanK you aIMee
A book would allow Taylor to reinvent herself yet again by becoming an author. It would also give her a platform to ditch cryptic messages and tell her story clearly and proudly. Maybe she'd even clear up some of the rumors and the most popular Swiftie theories that have been floating around for years.
“I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead” – Look What You Made Me Do
4. She could experiment with genres, perspectives, and more
All authors and writers take note because no one knows how to change genres better than Taylor Swift. Her book could be about how she made the shift from country to pop to indie folk to poetry, and it would be dynamite.
Or, instead of writing nonfiction about being the queen of genre-shifting, she could choose any genre for her book, and it'd leave us wanting more. We've seen her love of experimentation over the years, and with a long list of book genres to choose from, she could continue to push herself creatively with a Taylor Swift book.
“And the years passed like scenes of a show. The professor said to write what you know. Looking backwards might be the only way to move forward.” – The Manuscript
5. She's not afraid to get raw and vulnerable
Any memoir needs to be a bit raw to be good. And a Taylor Swift book would deliver that in spades. In her lyrics, she doesn't just play the victim. She uses her songs to unpack what was done to her, her feelings about it, and the things she did to other people.
Ahem, Back to December? Anti-Hero? Blank Space?
Swift knows what people say about her and can poke fun at herself. But she also addresses hard topics like the potential loss of family members, mental health issues, her eating disorder, and more (some of her most upbeat-sounding tracks are actually about these very topics). These are the things that define a memoir.
“I cry a lot, but I am so productive. It's an art. You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart.” – I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
6. She loves to draw inspiration from literature
Taylor Swift and books – it's a match made in heaven. Any Swiftie can see that the singer clearly loves books. Aside from overt references to typewriters in TTPD and even song titles like The Manuscript, she makes more subtle references in her songs and music videos from some of the greats like The Great Gatsby, Jane Eyre, Peter Pan, The Scarlet Letter, William Wordsworth, and more.
Wouldn't you love to read a Taylor Swift book in which she shares how she mines ideas from classic works of literature? People often ask writers, “Where do you get your ideas?” I know I have thought, “How the heck does she come up with this?!?” myself about 100,000 times while listening to her many albums.
Also, it only feels right that someone who loves books so much would eventually write their own.
“He can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor. Every love I've known in comparison is a failure.” – …Ready For It?
Who is Taylor Swift’s Favorite author?
While we're on the topic of Taylor Swift, books, and classic literature, here's a fun fact: Taylor once revealed in an interview that Harper Lee is her favorite author.
While talking about To Kill A Mockingbird, Taylor said, “You think about more things and greater concepts after you read something like that.”
7. She already instinctively knows what leveraged impact is
We teach this all the time at selfpublishing.com: create something once and leverage it many times over to connect with more people than you could on a one-on-one basis. We also teach our authors how you can create a book as a lead magnet to sell and promote offers or services.
TSwift doesn't need to be taught; she's a super-savvy businesswoman. Need some examples of leveraged impact in action?
During the Eras tour, Taylor hired a production team to record and produce the tour for a movie so that she could reach even more people. She didn't have to do anything above and beyond putting on the show that thousands of fans already paid to see. She just recorded it. And she proceeded to make millions more dollars from that exact performance.
She's also her most high-profile appearances and her Grammys acceptance speech to announce her next release. This gave her a free place to drop the news when she and her PR team could be sure millions of fans see it.
Lastly, she seems to make announcements and releases at exactly the right time – and never too far apart from each other. This keeps her constantly in the media and top of mind for fans.
The Taylor Swift book launch would impact every part of her business.
- A Taylor Swift book would have us re-listening to tracks from specific eras the book mentions
- It would have us re-playing music videos referenced
- It would have people re-posting and sharing her new book on social media
- It would come with its own line of limited-edition merch
- It could have a pre-made playlist designed to be the same amount of time as reading the book
- It would likely launch her to the top of the highest-paid authors list due to her existing fanbase
A book by Taylor Swift would also surely reach New York Times Bestseller status (probably overnight), adding one more conquered “billboard” to her resume.
“What if I told you I'm a mastermind? And now you're mine, it was all by dеsign” – Mastermind
8. A Taylor Swift book would be the perfect hiding place for Easter eggs
I'm not sure more needs to be said here.
Part of the absolute joy of being a part of the Swiftie fandom is spending hours pouring over Taylor lore and trying to recognize and then decode any Easter eggs or references. They are petty and perfect, and a Taylor Swift book would keep us busy for hours.
Here are just two examples from Swiftie Reddit:
Lyrical Easter egg: Taylor says “Mr.” in Mr. Perfectly Fine 28 times because Joe Jonas broke up with her in a 27-second phone call, so she said it 28 times to one-up him.
Productional Easter egg: the guitar riffs in Dear John were made to sound like a John Mayer song.
What about this one we got just this weekend – that is absolutely NOT about the ex we thought it would be?!!?
“I scratch your head, you fall asleep, like a tattooed golden retriever” – The Tortured Poets Department
9. A Taylor Swift book is simply overdue
This is clearly opinion. But is the idea of a Taylor Swift book so wild? Or is it actually overdue?
Despite never overtly saying she plans to write a book, there has been speculation about a Taylor Swift book in the past. I mentioned one above, but then there were rumors around the 10-minute All Too Well release, with some fans hoping for a full-length, tell-all celebrity memoir.
We know the woman can write. She seems to never run out of content. And millions of Swifties are huge readers.
A self-published, well-launched Taylor Swift book seems like the next great thing to come (after Reputation TV, of course).
