Jemele Hill's New Book Has Sold Just 5,034 Copies Proving To Be Her Latest Epic Failure

Former television host Jemele Hill released her memoir last month titled "Uphill." The book explores Hill's self-purported journey in overcoming racism in America and she spent significant time promoting her new work across various networks. The New York Times published more than one fawning review to condone her bravery.

Hill told Deadspin she hoped the memoir would propel her to "a best-selling author," a feat she was confident she'd reach.

Yet the book hasn't come close to reaching that status. "Uphill" has sold just 5,034 copies since its October 25 release, according to publisher data.

The sales for the memoir are on par with self-published cookbooks from aspiring authors who write as a side hustle, and Hill is a seasoned full-time journalist.

The former ESPN host's tell-all failed to crack the top 200 on Apple Books, the New York Times, or USA Today. Specifically, "Uphill" peaked at 2,961 on the Amazon charts.

The failures of Hill's memoir further affirm the disconnect between social media and reality.

On Twitter, Jemele Hill is a star -- considered by many on the left as a trendsetter-- with an impressive 1.45 million followers. Her tweets garner thousands of retweets. The reactions to her posts are markedly positive.

Yet her popularity on social media clearly does not translate to viewers, listeners, or readers. Hill's last two programs, "SC6 "on ESPN and "(Won't) Stick to Sports" on ViceTV, were canceled for well below-average ratings.

Her podcast on Spotify does not register in the top 200 titles on Spotify. It's a dud.

And her new book sold fewer copies from October to December than the 2015 children's book "Spooky Pookie." Congrats to Pookie on longevity.

Twitter users and fellow media personalities love to agree with Hill in a public setting. They, too, want to prove they are on the supposedly right side of racial reckoning and the cultural divide. However, this loud and passionate group amounts to only a minimal subsection of the population.

As Megyn Kelly told OutKick in 2021, the woke have managed to overrepresent their support by conquering forms of messaging.

"The woke is an annoying, probably 10-11% group, that won’t shut up and is incredibly squeaky," Kelly said at the time.

The numbers prove Kelly correct.

Social media has misled publishers and media executives. It has normalized spewing racism against white women and pressuring corporations to hire based on race, two racist ideas Hill has promulgated over the past month.

Twitter says Jemele Hill, Bomani Jones, Don Lemon, and Anderson Cooper are singular personalities. Of course, this group doesn't have a successful venture between them.

For comparison, conservative radio host Mark Levin published the book "American Marxism" in 2021, in a year in which he did not tweet in protest of Twitter's banning of Donald Trump. Levin received not one positive review in The Times. Oprah Winfrey did not endorse Levin's writing, as she did for Hill.

But it did not matter. "American Marxism" sold 700,000 copies in the first three weeks of publication.

Jemele Hill does not appeal to the average American. She caters to elites, self-proclaimed victims, and the wing of the population who demand white people continue to atone for their ancestors.

As you see, this group is small. Building a business around their demographic is limiting and oversaturated.

There's a reason “Flash Cards: Sight Words" still sells more copies than "Uphill."

Despite what appears online, sight words are more useful to the public than a privileged multi-millionaire decrying that the system has held her back on the basis of skin color. The latter of which is the thesis of Jemele Hill's failed memoir. 

Written by
Bobby Burack is a writer for OutKick where he reports and analyzes the latest topics in media, culture, sports, and politics.. Burack has become a prominent voice in media and has been featured on several shows across OutKick and industry related podcasts and radio stations.