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Obama Alum Ready to Write Bestsellers
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Who’s walking out of the White House with the biggest book deal?
The Wall Street Journal is kicking off a new season of political speculation — this one about Obama’s post-presidency literary plans. History shows that leaving the oval office is one of the most opportune moments to shop a book. Just look at Bill Clinton, who brokered a $15 million contract for his presidential memoir, My Life. Given President Obama’s already tremendous literary success (both of his previous memoirs won Grammys for Best Spoken Word Album, among other accolades), he might have more leverage than any other President before him to cash in on a mega book deal.
According to the WSJ, in 2004 Obama signed a contract with Random House to deliver three books. He still owes one non-fiction volume, but the arrangement is flexible. Who knows, perhaps after eight serious years in the White House, Obama would like to try his hand at penning a novel for another publishing company. He’s a known lover of fiction (Lauren Groff, Colson Whitehead, et al.) It could be that this nauseating election season, coupled with having read Neale Stephen’s Seveneves over the summer, provided Obama with the right amount of inspiration to write the earth-shattering dystopian novel we’ve been waiting for since Orwell’s 1984.
But POTUS isn’t the only one who will have the opportunity to cash out on a lavish book deal. First Lady, Michelle Obama’s high approval ratings suggest that her hypothetical memoir would be a big success. The much loved Joe Biden has also expressed an interest in writing a book. Political memoirs are anticipated from aides in the Trump camp, too. After every election season, there’s a glut of political tell-alls, and 2016 promises plenty of dirt. However, if Trump plans on writing about his valiant campaign, it looks like he’s SOL with his original ghost writer. It will be interesting to see how the race for all of these book deals pan out in the coming months. One thing for sure is if Obama’s next book is anything like his previous works, no matter the genre, it will definitely be something for readers to look forward to.
