Piracy vaults ‘Go The F*ck To Sleep’ to bestseller status

Not surprisingly, piracy of the forthcoming not-really-children’s book Go The Fuck To Sleep has been utterly rampant.

Anyone who has or has been near a toddler probably had difficulty suppressing a giggle-fit when faced with the picture book, which appears at first glance to be for kids save for the word “fuck” on the cover. The Bay Citizen spoke with the author and publisher of the book, and the publicity director of McSweeney’s had this to say about the book’s pre-release success and the role of piracy in promotion:

While other local publishers, such as McSweeney’s, may not have seen a PDF get sent around to the masses, they are well aware of that possibility.

“It hasn’t come up for us, but I think that’s where it’s headed,” said McSweeney’s publicity director Juliet Litman, “Sometimes you want publicity and sometimes you don’t. This is a case that it turned out well for the publisher and the book.”

“I’m not sure we’d think it’s a bad thing,” she said of the viral sharing.

It’s an interesting case- for instance, such rampant sharing of a novel is far less likely to promote sales, as there’s no real need to own a tangible copy of the work. But those who have been lucky enough to find a PDF of Go The Fuck To Sleep have widely reported plans to purchase one or more of the work when it is released for gifts and personal use.

Do you think piracy plays a role in boosting legal sales? Have you seen a full copy of Go The Fuck To Sleep?