Amanda Gorman’s books top Amazon bestsellers after inaugural poem

Two books by Amanda Gorman, the youngest person ever chosen to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration in the United States, have become bestsellers on Amazon’s online book retailer.

Gorman rewrote the history books on Wednesday after delivering a piece at the inauguration of Joe Biden as 46th president.

But hours after the widely lauded performance, which has now dominated conversations on social media, ‘The Hill We Climb’ and ‘Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem’ clocked in at number one and two respectively on Amazon sales.

Announcing the feat in a post via her Twitter page, the 22-year-old poet wrote: “I am on the floor. My books are #1 & #2 on Amazon after 1 day! Thank you so much to everyone for supporting me and my words.”

I AM ON THE FLOOR MY BOOKS ARE #1 & #2 ON AMAZON AFTER 1 DAY! Thank you so much to everyone for supporting me and my words. As Yeats put it: "For words alone are certain good: Sing, then"

— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) January 20, 2021

Surprisingly, the books aren’t even commercially available yet until September 21 — but people still inundated the website to pre-order.

The poet’s works dwell on topical issues like feminism, race, marginalization, and Africans in the diaspora. In 2017, she became the first to be named National Youth Poet Laureate, a title for the young who have shown skill in arts.

In 2015, she published the poetry book ‘The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough’. She was born in Los Angeles in 1998.

So humbled by everyone's support! If you'd like to read more of my words, you can pre-order my first ever poetry collection, The Hill We Climb, here! @penguinrandom https://t.co/vNSo3WFpuf

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— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) January 20, 2021

Apart from her books, Gorman’s following on Twitter has also witnessed exponential growth, shooting from below 50,000 followers on the morning of the US inauguration to more than 1.2 million followers and growing.