Picture this: Joe Wicks and his Instagram peers are strengthening publishing
The Body Coach is a million seller and other web stars’ books are selling very well. Publishers in profit is good news for readers – and some of these books are actually worth reading
Joe Wicks. Heard of him? You’ve undoubtedly seen him: also known as the Body Coach, the eternally cheerful Wicks currently has three health and fitness books in the UK top 10 – and it’s all thanks to Instagram. He joined the social media site in 2013 to get more clients for his personal training business, and his toned pecs, quick workouts, and 15-second video recipes won him a 150,000-strong following and the attention of publishers. Macmillan’s Bluebird imprint didn’t reveal what it paid for Wicks’s first two books in 2015, but the Bookseller reported it was a “heated” eight-way auction, so it’s safe to assume six figures. (The two-book deal later became four, now eight.)
Related: Lean in 15’s Joe Wicks: ‘I don’t understand the clean-eating thing. I’ve just had bangers and mash’
Related: Deliciously Stella: the Instagram sensation serving up raw Kinder eggs on avo-toast
