Bachelor Nation Publishes

It seems like these days, every Bachelor Nation contestant thinks they have a story worth telling, and what better way to do it than by publishing a book?

It seems like these days, every Bachelor Nation contestant thinks they have a story worth telling, and what better way to do it than by publishing a book? While the drama and romance play out on our TV screens, many contestants extend their fifteen minutes of fame by penning their experiences, life lessons, and occasionally some questionable advice (*ahem* Former Bachelor Season 8 lead, Travis Stork, writing “Don't Be That Girl: A Guide to Finding the Confident, Rational Girl Within” back in 2008 🤢). But let's be real—just because they were handed a rose doesn't mean they can craft a literary masterpiece. So, let's dive into the Goodreads data and see which Bachelor Nation books ✨actually✨ managed to capture readers' hearts, and which ones fell as flat as an awkward first date.

First off, let’s start with the complete list of books…

This is *literally* every book written by a former contestant or producer (Chris Harrison and Elan Gale included). Ratings data provided by GoodReads.

50 books by 41 different people.

• Yes, Jamie Otis WAS on The Bachelor! While many know her from Married at First Sight, she was a contestant on Ben Flajnik’s season of The Bachelor, where she was eliminated in week 6 of 10.

• Yes, Keltie Knight WAS on The Bachelor! She was a contestant on Season 15 of The Bachelor in 2011. Brad Womack eliminated her in week 2. Most people recognize Keltie from her well-known podcast ‘LADY GANG.’

What books were most successful? TOP 10 BOOKS

For this analysis, I’m using data from GoodReads. GoodReads is a social cataloging website and app for book lovers that helps users discover and share books. It has around 90 million readers worldwide and allows users to track and rate the books they’ve read. So to determine which books were most successful, I’m using the books with the highest number of ratings and then sorting by average ★ rating.

MOST REVIEWS - QUANTITY

1. God Bless This Mess by Hannah Brown (2021)

   1. 15,048 ratings • 3.81 ★

2. It's Not Okay by Andi Dorfman (2016)

   1. 10,273 ratings • 3.02 ★

3. I Didn't Come here to Make Friends by Courtney Robertson (2015)

   1. 6,587 ratings • 3.56 ★

4. The Perfect Letter by Chris Harrison (2016)

   1. 3,472 ratings • 3.44 ★

5. Act Like a Lady by Keltie Knight (2020)

   1. 3,452 ratings • 4.04 ★

6. Single State of Mind by Andi Dorfman (2018)

   1. 3,162 ratings • 3.57 ★

7. Miss Me With That by Rachel Lindsay (2022)

   1. 3,020 ratings • 3.96 ★

8. The First Time by Colton Underwood (2020)

   1. 2,924 ratings • 3.25 ★

9. Don't Text Your Ex Happy Birthday by Nick Viall (2022)

   1. 2,207 ratings • 3.65 ★

10. For the Right Reasons by Sean Lowe (2015)

    1. 2,190 ratings • 3.73 ★

I think it’s safe to say between Hannah Brown’s social media followers for her and her cast plus this book data - her season really was *peak* time to be successful on the franchise.

📊 7 OF THE TOP 10 BOOKS ARE BY FORMER LEADS. The other 3 are Chris Harrison (former host and producer), Courtney Robertson (winner of Season 16 of the Bachelor/2012), and Keltie Knight (early eliminee contestant on The Bachelor Season 15/2011). Which makes sense - former leads have larger followings than contestants in general.

TOP BOOKS - QUALITY (AKA THE ★ RATING)

Now let’s take those top 10 books and sort them by the average rating readers gave them…

1. Act Like a Lady by Keltie Knight (2020)

   1. 3,452 ratings • 4.04 ★

2. Miss Me With That by Rachel Lindsay (2022)

   1. 3,020 ratings • 3.96 ★

3. God Bless This Mess by Hannah Brown (2021)

   1. 15,048 ratings • 3.81 ★

4. For the Right Reasons by Sean Lowe (2015)

   1. 2,190 ratings • 3.73 ★

5. Don't Text Your Ex Happy Birthday by Nick Viall (2022)

   1. 2,207 ratings • 3.65 ★

6. Single State of Mind by Andi Dorfman (2018)

   1. 3,162 ratings • 3.57 ★

7. I Didn't Come here to Make Friends by Courtney Robertson (2015)

   1. 6,587 ratings • 3.56 ★

8. The Perfect Letter by Chris Harrison (2016)

   1. 3,472 ratings • 3.44 ★

9. The First Time by Colton Underwood (2020)

   1. 2,924 ratings • 3.25 ★

10. It's Not Okay by Andi Dorfman (2016)

    1. 10,273 ratings • 3.02 ★

Who has published the most books?

Seven Bachelor nation alum have published more than 1 book. For this first list, I am EXCLUDING study guides or journals published alongside a book.

• 🏆 3 BOOKS: Travis Stork M.D.

• 🏆 3 BOOKS: Desiree Hartsock

• 2 BOOKS: Hannah Brown (3 counting her journal released with her 1st book)

• 2 BOOKS: Keltie Knight

• 2 BOOKS: Andi Dorfman

• 2 BOOKS: Rachel Lindsay

• 2 BOOKS: Madison Prewett (3 counting the bible study guide for her 2nd book)

• 2 BOOKS: Jason Tartick

Genders? It’s pretty much split 50/50.

• Titles by Women: 54.2%

• Titles by Men: 45.8%

Most Popular Genres

TLDR; People like to talk about themselves and give advice.

• 🏆 Memoir: 19 titles

• 🏆 Advice/Self-Help: 17 titles

• Children's Literature: 6 titles

• Romance: 3 titles

• Faith: 2 titles

• Food: 2 titles

• Historical Fiction: 1 titles

Most Popular Years

Between 2012-2016 and 2019-2023, we saw the majority of books published.

• 50% of books were published between 2019-2023 (25 titles)

• Nearly 30% of books were published between 2012-2016 (14 titles - 28.0%)

Courtney Robertson opened the doors for contestants to write about her time on the show, revealing juicy details from the season she won and where she was portrayed as a villain. She revealed on Reality Steve’s podcast that she had to work around the franchise pushing back on her contract, but she was ultimately able to published the book without franchise interference.

The bulk of authors came from SEASONS of the show in 2011-2021 (AKA their debut/original season).

🪦☠️ It seems publishing books may be dying down for the franchise though. We haven’t seen any contestants from 2022-2024 seasons publish a book. The only exception to this is Daisy Kent who wrote a book before going on the show.

What books didn’t make the top 10? (11-20th place)

While this section might sound like a “diss” at the people who didn’t make the top 10, keep in mind there are 48 books published. 😉

11. I Said Yes by Emily Maynard Johnson (2016)

12. Made for This Moment by Madison Prewett (2021)

13. Mistakes We Never Made by Hannah Brown (2024)

14. The Love Everybody Wants by Madison Prewett (2023)

15. You're Not That Great (But Neither is Anyone Else) by Elan Gale (2017)

16. You Deserve Better by Tyler Cameron (2021)

17. The Lose Your Belly Diet by Travis Stork M.D. (2016)

18. Now Accepting Roses by Amanda Stanton (2019)

19. Alone in Plain Sight by Ben Higgins (2021)

20. Real Love by Rachel Lindsay (2023)

Books that wouldn’t fly in this day… 🫣

Honorable mention to the “two worst books” on this list, as deemed by the BachelorData audience…

• Don't Be That Girl: A Guide to Finding the Confident, Rational Girl Within

  • by Travis Stork M.D. (The Bachelor Season 8)

• The Man Code: A Woman's Guide to Cracking the Tough Guy

  • by David Good (contestant on The Bachelorette Season 5. Winner of Bachelor Pad Season 1)

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLERS LIST

Before we end this analysis, let’s talk about the #1 question I get regarding book sales: What books made the New York Times Best Sellers List? The NY Times has been publishing their weekly lists since October 1931. How does a book make the list?

"The list is based on a proprietary method that uses sales figures, other data and internal guidelines that are unpublished—how the Times compiles the list is a trade secret. In 1983, as part of a legal argument, the Times stated that the list is not mathematically objective but rather editorial content. In 2017, a Times representative said that the goal is that the lists reflect authentic best sellers. The list has been a source of controversy." 

It seems like Hannah Brown is the only contestant to have made the list. (CORRECTION: ANDI DORFMAN’S FIRST BOOK MADE THE LIST AS WELL)

• Her first book, God Bless This Mess, made the list with a dagger (†). A dagger indicates that some retailers report receiving bulk orders - which many debate is a way authors will “buy” their way onto the list.

• Her second book, Mistakes We Never Made, is currently trending on the NY Times Best Seller List without a dagger.

Screenshot taken 5/22/2024 by Suzana Somers from the nytimes website under Hardcover Fiction

Methodology Disclaimer: I spent a decent amount of time trying to find a database I can search for the historical lists. I was able to find a dataset for 2010-2019 with over 61,000 rows of data - but nothing with 2020-2024 lists included. Luckily, a few websites export each week’s list to PDF and have them all available on their website by year. So I spot checked each of the top books for each year on the 4 weeks post-release lists.

One last thing before you go…

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