Will Write for the White House: Are Hopefuls Betting on Book, Presidency or Both?

(Commentary) In the Golden Age of Hyper-Marketing, consumers of books and politicians alike are often left pondering this question: Which came first — the book or the presidential bid? Better yet, is campaigning for president of the United States merely a front for getting a book published, if not a catalyst for promoting the book?

I’ve often applied these same questions to the movie industry, which sells movie soundtracks before the actual movies are released. Did the filmmakers come up with a soundtrack and build the narrative around a series of favorite songs that fit the underlying motif? Or did they thread the songs in after filming the narrative, the story itself inspiring songs of yesteryear that will tap into the nostalgic pockets of moviegoers?

It’s clear that having a book published is an unofficial prerequisite in the race to win the White House. Sen. John McCain’s “Hard Call” and Sen. Joe Biden’s “Promises to Keep” are currently ranked 20th and 26th, respectively, on the New York Times Bestsellers’ List for non-fiction. Every presidential contender has had, or will have, a book published before the political dust settles next year. Whether or not this translates to votes has yet to be seen, especially considering an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released earlier this month found that one in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year. Of those who did read, women and seniors were the most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices. The latter finding thins out all but one of the presidential candidates, leaving God’s senator, Sam Brownback, in his own literary army of one.Having published author listed on your resume, however, doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory — as was the case in the 2004 presidential election. Author and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry failed to wrestle the White House away from the unpublished George W. Bush. Kerry’s “A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America,” published in October 2003, made about $89,000 in book royalties during his run-up to the election in 2003, but did not report any for 2004. A used copy of Kerry’s book can now be found on Amazon.com for a penny, whereas President Bush’s translation of the U.S. Constitution remains costly to this very day.

Speaking of royalties, candidate Hillary Clinton made an $8 million book deal for “Living History,” published in 2003. In the last two years, the New York senator chalked up about $1.2 million in book royalties, according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70 percent of book sales.

Other Nielsen BookScan findings reveal:

-Sen. John McCain’s book sales are consistently profitable, despite the Death Watch placed on his campaign by Iowa Independent. McCain made $80,390 in 2006 from Random House book royalties and about $255,000 in book profits the year before.

-McCain’s foray into publishing, “Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them,” co-authored by Mark Salter, is currently ranked 20th on the New York Times non-fiction Bestseller list. If McCain’s presidential bid doesn’t pan out a second time around, he’ll at least have a writing career to fall back on.

-Also finding literary success was Sen. Barack Obama, who received a $425,000 advance against royalties for “The Audacity of Hope,” published last October. Listed as a best-seller for dozens of weeks on the New York Times list, the book has sold more than 1 million copies

-HarperCollins paid former Sen. John Edwards a $500,000 advance for “Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives,” a collection of mini-memoirs he edited. Edwards donated his royalties to charity – something politicians sometimes do with a portion of their book proceeds.

-Although he leads the Republican field in most polls in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s “Turnaround,” published in 2004, has sold only about 11,000 copies.

-Democrat Bill Richardson’s memoir, “Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life,” published in November 2005, earned the New Mexico governor somewhere between $15,000 and $50,000 in book royalties last year and sold about 11,000 copies in hardcover and paperback.

-Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, received between $15,000 and $50,000 in royalties for “In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America’s Border and Security” in 2006. The book, published last summer, has sold 10,000 copies.

-Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat and also a long-shot presidential candidate in 2004, made a mere $1,700 that year for “A Prayer for America,” published in late 2003. It has sold 8,000 copies so far.

-Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has written five books, made $148,750 in book royalties from the Margaret McBride Literary Agency last year. The agency helped Huckabee, who gained national attention after he lost more than 100 pounds, release his weight-loss book “Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork” in 2005.

For all of you aspiring writers out there still looking to get your foot in the publishing world’s door, you should seriously consider running for president as a springboard to a writing career. People who believe in your message will contribute money to your campaign, and these funds can be loosely translated as a monetary advance to get your message down on paper, hence a book.

Then comes the campaign trail, or in the case of an aspiring writer, a book tour. Lifting passages form your book or work-in-progress, you can mesmerize voters during stump speeches and entice them to buy all of your ideas, which are neatly packaged in a hardcover book. Be careful not to mesmerize folks too much, for this may propel you into the White House, which will have a dire impact on your writing career. Who knows, maybe I’ll take my own advice and announce my bid for the presidency. After all, I’ve always wanted to be a published author.

Regardless of who wins the “Presidential Hopefuls’ Book Wars,” it’s refreshing to finally see a field of candidates who have not only read at least one book in the past year, but also have written one as well. Now that’s something worth writing about.

Current literary leaders in “The Presidential Hopefuls’ Book Wars” (plus Amazon.com sales rank as of 8/29/07):

1. John McCain (and Mark Salter): “Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made them,” (837)* (20 NYT)
2. Barack Obama: “Audacity of Hope,” by Barack Obama (783)
3. Barack Obama: “Dreams of my Father: A Story of race and Inheritance (1,236)
4. Joe Biden: “Promises to Keep,” by Joe Biden (26 NYT) (7,687)*
5. Ron Paul: “A Foreign Policy of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship” (18,517)
6. Chris Dodd: “Letters from Nuremberg: My Father’s Narrative of a Quest for Narrative,” (29,081; based on pre-order released on 9/11)*
7. Mike Huckabee: “From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 Steps to Restoring America’s Greatness,” (33,857)
8. John Edwards: “Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives,” by John Edwards (41,386)
9. John Edwards: “Four Trials,” by John Edwards (79,465)
10. Tom Tancredo: “In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America’s Borders and Security,” (98,319) June 2006
11. Mike Huckabee: “Character Makes a Difference: Where I’m From, Where I’ve Been, and What I Believe,” (103,442)*
12. Hillary Clinton: “Living History,” by Hillary Clinton (112,320)
13. Bill Richardson: “Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life,” by Bill Richardson (101,201)*
14. Sam Brownback: “From Power to Purpose: A Remarkable Journey of Faith and Compassion” (130,107)*
15. Mitt Romney: “Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games,” (149,729)*
16. Rudy Giuliani: “Leadership,” by Rudy Giuliani (153,496; currently out of print)
17. Dennis Kucinich (and Studs Terkel): “A Prayer for America” (308,185)

*Released book after announced presidential candidacy and/or made presidential bid clear to the voting and reading public.