A royal journalist known for his works on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Omid Scobie, has suffered a setback with his latest literary venture.
Royal Spin, which Mr Scobie penned alongside American young adult author Robin Benway, marks his third book on royal matters but represents his debut in fiction writing.
The novel, which arrived in British bookshops last month, follows an American woman who leaves her position at the White House to take up a role at Buckingham Palace.
However, the book has struggled considerably in Amazon's sales rankings across both British and American markets.
Meghan Markle biographer suffers slight setback with latest book
|GETTY / REUTERS
The hardcover edition currently sits at 44,059th place in Amazon UK's overall Books category, while also ranking 8,667th in Contemporary Romance and 3,486th in Romantic Comedy.
The Kindle version fares little better, positioned at 34,969th in the Kindle Store and 6,965th in Teen & Young Adult.
Notably, the paperback edition displays no rankings whatsoever on the British platform.
Performance in the United States proves even weaker, with the hardcover languishing at 63,673rd in Books overall and the paperback plummeting to 645,402nd.
Royal Spin is a royal fiction book by Omid Scobie and Robin Benway
|AMAZON
The American Kindle edition ranks 15,144th, whilst the hardcover manages only 10,106th in Contemporary Romance.
Some royal fans have been critical of the book's performance.
One user questioned whether the figures spelt trouble for Mr Scobie, noting the book "didn't even make the Top 5,000 list of all paid books for Kindle, nor did it make the Top 50,000 for hardcover, nor the Top 500,000 for paperback."
Another commenter observed they had not encountered "a single person on BookTok talk about it, and these days that's how you get a best seller it seems."
Robin Benway (left) and Omid Scobie (right) co-wrote the book together
| ABCHowever, one fan wrote positively on X: "So happy for Omid @scobie. Wish you much luck.
"I'm currently reading (listening to) the novel. Can't wait to watch the show! You had Meghan and Harry's back, I have yours."
Another said: "I'm halfway through Royal Spin and l'm loving it. Can't wait to see it on TV."
A television adaptation of the book remains in development for NBC's streaming platform Peacock.
Omid Scobie famously co-wrote Finding Freedom in 2020 about Harry and Meghan
|AMAZON
Mr Scobie announced the project last month, writing on X: "Very happy to share that the TV adaptation of Royal Spin which I have been developing with our genius showrunner and writer Emily Fox, and Universal Television has a US home at NBC's @Peacock!"
Universal Television is producing the series, with Mr Scobie attached as writer, co-creator and executive producer.
Ms Fox will serve as showrunner, whilst co-author Ms Benway takes on an executive producer role.