The English Roses were acquired by Penguin Group UK. Puffin Books, Penguin's children's imprint, published the books. The joint press release announcing the deal explained that each story book would involve Madonna working with a different illustrator. Madonna confirmed that all profits from sales of the book were to be donated to charity. She partnered with Amazon and recorded an exclusive audio message about the book for Amazon's customers. The message was available from September 3 and was the first opportunity for customers to hear the singer talking about "The English Roses". The book was not available to the press and media in
The Stone Roses often display no interest in promoting themselves, which was typified through reticent and capricious behaviour. Even with The Stone Roses' reformation in 2011, the group continued to provide few interviews. This approach left many journalists confused and sometimes angered. A typical example is the Spike Island press conference in 1990, which was attended by much of the world's music press. This ended in chaos when the gathered journalists began a small riot, believing the band to be deliberately upsetting them. As John Robb commented: "The Stone Roses would stonewall the journalist[s]. With shy guffaws, muttered asides, dispassionate staring, foot-shuffling silences