Jemele Hill, an ex-host on ESPN, struggles to sell her memoirs. She published the book this year, but the book sales number reveals that she has struggled to sell around 5,000 copies so far. Hill is a sports journalist who spent around 12 years working for ESPN. She hosted ESPN’s His and Hers. She also is not very popular, it seems.
Here’s a video talking about her failure too. He says “that is real bad” talking about her terrible sales:
Michael Smith and Hill started co-hosting SC6, the 6 p.m. version of ESPN’s flagship SportsCenter, in 2017. Up until 2018, when ESPN transferred her to The Undefeated, Hill stayed in that position. In late April 2018, she began working at The Atlantic. She co-hosted Vice’s Cari & Jemele (Won’t) Stick to Sports with Cari Champion from August 2020 until February 2021, as reported.
Outkick has recently reported on the book sales, revealing that Hill’s memoir sales are comparable to those of self-published recipe books coming from authors who see writing as a side job. Since Hill is an experienced full-time journalist, the sales are disappointing.
Sports enthusiasts use social media platforms to express themselves. One user pointed out that it’s still 5001 copies more than his book sold, despite the fact that he wasn’t finished with chapter number 2. Another user expressed surprise that 5,000 people purchased the book and inquired about the results of a sales audit. Another ‘fan’ posted a lengthy post questioning Hill’s pay, pointing out that she had just created a book that no one wanted to read. The person went on to wonder how a publisher could have missed such a thing, what occurred with market analysis, and what happened with shareholders.
Hill has always been a successful person in sports media, but it looks like writing and selling books isn’t her thing. There’s millions of people in America and she only convinced around 5000 people to buy her book, so looks like she ain’t that popular after all.
The National Association of Black Journalists awarded Hill journalist of the year in 2018 in honor of a noteworthy body of work with exceptional depth, scope, and importance to the people of the African Diaspora. She was recognized as one of Worth’s 21 Most Powerful Women in the Sports Business in 2019. She was the featured speaker at Illinois State University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Dinner in 2022.