Obama's Book

Books written and inspired by Obama get an election boost

By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY

With a huge election bounce, sales of books by and about President-elect Barack Obama are soaring:
The Audacity of Hope, his 2006 book on politics and faith, is No. 8, up from No. 43, on the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list to be published Thursday. Dreams From My Father, Obama's 1995 memoir, reissued in 2004, is No. 9, up from No. 56 on the list. Both have been best sellers, with 5.1 million copies in print. Brookings Institution analyst Stephen Hess can't think of another president-elect to hit the best-seller list.

"Obama's books, especially his memoir, stand apart," says Hess, author of What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect. "Books by candidates usually have a short political life, not a literary life."

Audacity of Hope was part of a three-book deal Obama signed with Random House for $1.9 million in 2005. Campaign aides have said plans for the remaining two books — including one for kids to be co-written by his wife, Michelle — are on hold.

Also moving up the list: Change We Can Believe In, Obama's campaign promises (No. 33) and LIFE's The American Journey of Barack Obama (No. 48). Three kids' books got a boost: Nikki Grimes' Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope (No. 108), Jonah Winter's Barack (No. 115) and Roberta Edwards' Barack Obama: An American Story (No. 135).

AbeBooks.com reports that since the election, 20 books signed by Obama have sold for $500 or more, including $5,500 for a rare first edition of Dreams.

A shelf of new books is on the way, including Gwen Ifill's The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama (Jan. 20), Jabari Asim's What Obama Means (Jan. 27) and two photo collections titled Yes, We Can— a $30 hardcover for adults (Dec. 1) and a $5 paperback for children (Jan. 1).

Also in the works: Renegade: The Education of Barack Obama by Newsweek's Richard Wolffe and an as-yet-untitled campaign review by The Washington Post's Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson. Newsweek's Jonathan Alter and The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza are writing separate books on Obama's first year in the White House.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-11-11-obama-sales_N.htm