What writers can learn from Billie Eilish

You know Billie Eilish, right? Megastar musician who's already sold millions of records, won Grammys and has solidified her place as Gen Zs Alanis Morissette. She’s also just turned 20, so theoretically her career is just getting started. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about.

In May of 2020, Billie Eilish put out a book. By the end of the year, that book only sold 60,000 copies. For us mere writers, that number would make us do cartwheels around the library, but for Eilish, who had over 90 million followers when her book came out, that 60,000 figure represents less than one percent of her audience. Far less than one percent.

So why wasn’t Billie Eilish able to sell more books? And what can we authors learn from her misstep? Let’s get into it.

She’s already given her fans a lot

The first thing I thought when I read Billie Eilish put out a book was why? My reaction wasn’t because of her capabilities as a writer. What I thought about was the documentary I watched on Eilish with my teenage daughter. It was so good that we watched it twice. The story detailed her upbringing as a home-schooled child with artistic parents who exposed both Billie and her brother to the world of music since they could walk, all the way to her performance at Coachella in 2019.