16 August

Joanna Gaines to release highly anticipated memoir, The Stories We Tell, with Harper Select on November 8 

THIS MARKS THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR’S FIRST SOLO MEMOIR.  

The Stories We Tell

Today, Joanna Gaines announced that her first solo memoir, The Stories We Tell, will be released on November 8, 2022, with Harper Select. The Stories We Tell invites readers on an authentic and deeply vulnerable journey into Gaines’ story—and helps shine a light on the beauty of our own—guiding us to release the weights that hold us back so we may live and share our story in truth. 

The book is described as an invitation to take stock of the chapters we’ve lived—the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly—to glean what’s gold and carry only that forward. “Very few people innately capture beauty like Joanna Gaines,” said Matt Baugher, publisher of Harper Select. “She has now taken that ability and turned it inward to shine a light on the deepest parts of her own story while showing us how to do the same.” 

In a social media post, Gaines shared directly with fans why she wanted to write the book “Earlier this year I started jotting down memories and stories from my past, journaling about things I was still, years later, trying to work through. Half of my life is behind me, and I’ve been longing for clarity about what I should carry forward and how I could hold this next chapter well. At some point, I realized I was writing a story—my story. The bits and pieces that shape who I am. It was messy and winding and beautiful, and graciously revealed about a million wonders. Some of it broke my heart—and some of it pieced it back together. I took this picture the day I finished it—and today we sent it off to the printer!! It’s out of my hands and time to share it with the world. I’m feeling a little bit of everything: nervous, excited, vulnerable, but mostly hopeful. That any part of my story might shine a light on the fullness of yours.” 

“We all have a story to tell. This happens to be mine—every chapter a window into who I am, the journey I’m on, and the season I’m in right now,” says Gaines. “Because this is my story, maybe you won’t always relate, or maybe it will feel like you’re looking in a mirror. Whatever we have in common and whatever differences lie between us, I only hope my story can help shine a light on the beauty of yours. That my own soul work will stir something of your own. And that by the time you get to the end of my story, you’re also holding the beautiful beginnings of your own. A story only you can tell. And I hope that you will.” 

Gaines’ previous literary works The Magnolia Story, Magnolia Table, Homebody, and two children’s books, We Are the Gardeners and The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be, have sold more than 10 million copies to date.   

The Stories We Tell will be available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook with Gaines narrating. You can pre-order today at http://magnolia.com/storieswetell. 

ABOUT JOANNA GAINES: 

Joanna Gaines is the co-founder of Magnolia, a New York Times bestselling author, editor-in-chief of Magnolia Journal, and creator and co-owner of Magnolia Network. 

Born in Kansas and raised in the Lone Star State, Jo graduated from Baylor University with a degree in communications. It was an internship in New York City that prompted her desire to discover how she could create beauty for people. In a big city unknown to her, Jo always felt most at home whenever she stepped inside the cozy and thoughtfully curated boutique shops, which inspired her to open a shop of her own in Waco, Texas. 

Alongside her passion for design and food, nothing inspires Jo more than time spent at home with Chip and their five kids—whether they’re messing with recipes in the kitchen or planting something new in the garden. 

ABOUT HARPER SELECT: 

Harper Select is a boutique-style imprint, based in Nashville, TN, publishing an exclusive number of hand-selected memoirs and narrative nonfiction focused on stories of hope and determination.  

Media Contact:

Kevin Smith

Harper Select, Publicity Director 

[email protected]