Tales from the top: In new book, Heath native Sarah Hartshorne reflects on not becoming ‘America’s Next Top Model’

Models, mayhem, and a sneak peek into the madness: Heath native Sarah Hartshorne has released a book detailing her time competing on “America’s Next Top Model.”

Hartshorne, who now lives in New York, where she performs as a stand-up comedian and writes for various magazines, was the only plus-size model on the hit show’s 9th season. “You Wanna Be on Top? A Memoir of Makeovers, Manipulation and Not Becoming America’s Next Top Model” is her first book and was released July 8 by Penguin Random House.

“Every step of the way has been pretty surreal,” Harshorne said.

Hartshorne said the book was born in her TikTok messages, after seeing the positive reactions to videos she made in 2020 about competing on the show.

“I had been making TikToks about my experience on Top Model for about a year or two. It started in the COVID quarantine, I just kinda idly made one, not really thinking anything of it,” Harshorne said. “There are people who were, and still really are, interested in what happened.

“It’s been a crazy series of events set off by just making a TikTok in my bathroom,” she continued.

Hartshorne said after working with her agent to create a proposal, pitching and selling the book to a publisher, it took her about a year and a half to write. In the book, she tells stories about her own experiences, as well as stories from other contestants, crew members, and producers she interviewed.

“The whole process has been a little bittersweet, although since the book came out, it’s been definitely heavy on the sweet,” Hartshorne said.

She said that during the process of editing the book, her grandfather passed away. He had been a former book publisher and novelist, and writing “You Wanna Be on Top?” has helped her remember him and connect with a childhood dream.

“While we were going through his stuff, we found this letter that I’d written to him when I was 10, asking if he would help me become an author and how I really wanted to be an author,” Hartshorne said. “I loved the thought of someone reading something that I wrote.”

At the time, Hartshorne had been writing a story about “Quentin the Quail,” who had been her father’s pet quail. She said her grandfather politely told her no, and that if she was going to become a writer, she would do so with her own talents.

“I had totally forgotten I wrote that letter,” Hartshorne said. “Being a published author is really beautiful, and it feels like getting back in touch with that 10-year-old.”

Hartshorne said it felt particularly beautiful to be writing about her time on ANTM, a period of her life when she felt “disinformed, disenfranchised, and spiritually challenged.”

“I was so disempowered and disconnected from my inner child,” she said of that time. By contrast, she said releasing the book “feels very empowering and really lovely.”

Hartshorne said her favorite part of the book is the chapter on the makeover episode.

“The makeover episode was one of the favorite episodes of the season. Everyone really loses their mind at that, and it’s also just really exemplary of how we were treated on the show,” Hartshorne said.

The chapter describes the tactics used to break models down and to provoke them to give entertaining responses to having dramatic haircuts and style changes.

“They thought I was going to cry and be really upset, and actually I was super stoked,” she said.

To celebrate the release on July 8, Harthsorne returned to Franklin County for a book reading and author meet and greet at Mocha Maya’s and Boswells Book’s in Shelburne Falls.

She said it felt like a full circle moment, as Mocha Maya’s had hosted watch parties when she was on the show, and she’s grateful to see there is still local support for her endeavors in the fashion industry.

“I’m just really grateful to be from western Mass,” she said.

With her first book complete and on the shelves, Hartshorne is now beginning the process of working on a second book focusing on her experiences fitting into the fashion industry as a plus-size model, and how the industry has changed, both for the better and the worse.

She said representation for plus size models in the industry has ebbed and flowed in recent years, and she hopes to see more momentum for the inclusion of plus sizes in the industry.

“A lot of progress has been made and a lot of that progress is a double-edged sword and has a lot of consequences attached that people aren’t aware of,” she said. “Greed is a really big problem in a lot of industries, and that includes the plus-size fashion industry, and it impacts people’s everyday lives.”

More information about Hartshorne and her book can be found at sarahbhartshorne.com.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.