A former Meta official’s explosive insider account offered 60,000 copies in its first week and reached the highest 10 on Amazon.com’s best-seller checklist amid efforts by the social media large to discredit the e book.
Launched final week by Flatiron Books, a Macmillan imprint, Sarah Wynn-Williams’ “Careless People” alleges merciless and in any other case disturbing habits by Mark Zuckerberg, Joel Kaplan, Sheryl Sandberg and different executives and describes Zuckerberg’s alleged efforts to win favor with Chinese language officers.
Meta has countered that Wynn-Williams, a former director of worldwide public coverage who left what was then Fb in 2017, violated a severance settlement and wrote a e book crammed with inaccuracies.
In accordance with Flatiron, first week gross sales embody print audio and digital editions. On Wednesday, “Careless People” ranked No. 3 on Amazon.
In response to a grievance filed by Meta, emergency arbitrator Nicholas A. Gowen final week positioned a maintain on Wynn-Williams’ selling the e book or making additional “critical claims” about her former employer. In his ruling, Gowen wrote that Meta had “established a likelihood of success on the merits of its contractual non-disparagement claim” in opposition to Wynn-Williams. Flatiron can nonetheless publish and promote “Careless People.”
A press release from Meta praised the arbitrator’s resolution, saying it “affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published.” Meta has in any other case referred to as “Careless People” a “mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives.”
Flatiron additionally issued a press release, saying it “was appalled by Meta’s tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement.” The writer added that the arbitrator had not addressed the allegations made by Wynn-Williams.
“The book went through a thorough editing and vetting process, and we remain committed to publishing important books such as this. We will absolutely continue to support and promote it,” the assertion reads.
Flatiron didn’t announce the e book till simply days earlier than its launch. Meta’s response has included queries to media shops, amongst them The Related Press, over their plans for protection. Washington Put up critic Ron Charles wrote final week that he had obtained repeated messages from Meta.
“In my 27 years of reviewing and editing newspaper books sections, no company has ever done this with me,” he famous.
