Barack and Michelle Obama sign record book deals with Penguin Random House

[JackLuis]

Barack and Michelle Obama sign record book deals with Penguin Random House

Books by former president and first lady said to have been sold for more than $60m and will focus on White House years

Well that pays for the house for a few years.

 

[Hard_Rom]

60M! Might be worth 8 years of being POTUS or FLOTUS and bunch of gray hair. Well maybe not the gray hair.

Of course now Il Donald will demand 60M +1 for his book deal.

 

[domroger]

60M! Might be worth 8 years of being POTUS or FLOTUS and bunch of gray hair. Well maybe not the gray hair.

Of course now Il Donald will demand 60M +1 for his book deal.

That would be a hell of a lot of money for a work of fiction .

 

[Hard_Rom]

That would be a hell of a lot of money for a work of fiction .

But his presidential library will be available online as archived Tweets.

 

[Maidboy]

But his presidential library will be available online as archived Tweets.

I envision the Trump Presidential Library as an empty, cavernous, derelict casino in Jersey, attended only by a few dozen embittered old white guys pumping quarters into the slot machines, and grumbling about how blacks, immigrants and elitist liberals are stealing their money. Meanwhile, as The Donald & Melania perform the ribbon cutting ceremony, Kellyanne Conway gushes about the "tremendous crowds" on Fox News while Steve Bannon negotiates a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

 

[Wifetheif]

Book excess

I say this about ANY presidential memoir. That money is essentially a publicity expense for mainstream publishers. No matter the president, that money could have been better spent launching the careers of a dozen or more first-time authors. Think about how many really nice advances that 60 million could have provided. And these things are the safest kind of writing. Will Obama deliver a bombshell in this literary paperweight such as a list of white chicks he bedded while POTUS? Absolutely NOT!

I don't care who the president is, these deals are ALWAYS bad news for writers of fiction and nonfiction. The money to give ex-presidents such lush contracts HAS to come from someplace, usually from the funds for new writers. So a guy who DOESN'T need the money essentially robs it from the hard working Joe who does! In other words politics as usual.

 

[KingOrfeo]

I say this about ANY presidential memoir. That money is essentially a publicity expense for mainstream publishers. No matter the president, that money could have been better spent launching the careers of a dozen or more first-time authors. Think about how many really nice advances that 60 million could have provided. And these things are the safest kind of writing. Will Obama deliver a bombshell in this literary paperweight such as a list of white chicks he bedded while POTUS? Absolutely NOT!

I don't care who the president is, these deals are ALWAYS bad news for writers of fiction and nonfiction. The money to give ex-presidents such lush contracts HAS to come from someplace, usually from the funds for new writers. So a guy who DOESN'T need the money essentially robs it from the hard working Joe who does! In other words politics as usual.

[shrug] The publishers pay top dollar for presidential memoirs because they know they can sell them.

 

[Maidboy]

Will Obama deliver a bombshell in this literary paperweight such as a list of white chicks he bedded while POTUS? Absolutely NOT!

So a guy who DOESN'T need the money essentially robs it from the hard working Joe who does! In other words politics as usual.

You could have just gone with "a list of women he's bedded while POTUS" but no, you just couldn't resist the "black man bedding white chicks" racist, sexist wisecrack. Yeah I know, I'm just some PC libtard pussy-whipped snowflake or whatever.

Guys who don't need the money robbing it from hard working Joes? That's business as usual in the free market! Welcome to America, Sunshine!

 

[Wifetheif]

[shrug] The publishers pay top dollar for presidential memoirs because they know they can sell them.

But they DON'T sell in the numbers to justify their advance. Will they sell 60 million dollars worth of books? Almost assuredly NO! Even if they take in 60 million dollars they have, perhaps, broken even. NOT a single presidential memoir has sold in numbers to ever justify his advance. And they are safe. No bombshells. Think Obama's going to call Hillary a "B word" or that he never liked Joe Biden? Guess again.These things are vanity projects that allow the publishers to feel good about themselves. Unlike OTHER celebrity memoirs, when these things don't sell they are NOT remembered, can't have these things turning up at the dollar store now, can we?

A WASTE of money no matter who the president is! NONE of these things has a life beyond six months. Does ANYBODY STILL read W's memoirs OR his father's? Clinton got a huge advance as well. When is the last time his book was read, even by his biggest fans?

These things are basically doorstops and paperweights. People buy them to "prove" how great a supporter of said president they are. Not a single person on the planet buys them to read!

Waste of money that SHOULD go to hard working writers whose prose people actually want to read.

 

[sr71plt]

Getting their money in book contracts appears to me to be one of the more wholesome ways for them to be making money now. I really don't see why anyone using this Web site would have a problem with that, since they don't have to buy a copy of the book and it isn't money out of their pocket--unless of course they just want to continue to be asshole back biters. Yeah, I think that's it.

 

[phrodeau]

Getting their money in book contracts appears to me to be one of the more wholesome ways for them to be making money now. I really don't see why anyone using this Web site would have a problem with that, since they don't have to buy a copy of the book and it isn't money out of their pocket--unless of course they just want to continue to be asshole back biters. Yeah, I think that's it.

Shareholders maybe?

I think it will definitely be a bestseller for a long time. Right wingers will buy copies just so that they can burn them.

 

[Maidboy]

But they DON'T sell in the numbers to justify their advance. Will they sell 60 million dollars worth of books? Almost assuredly NO! Even if they take in 60 million dollars they have, perhaps, broken even. NOT a single presidential memoir has sold in numbers to ever justify his advance. And they are safe. No bombshells. Think Obama's going to call Hillary a "B word" or that he never liked Joe Biden? Guess again.These things are vanity projects that allow the publishers to feel good about themselves. Unlike OTHER celebrity memoirs, when these things don't sell they are NOT remembered, can't have these things turning up at the dollar store now, can we?

A WASTE of money no matter who the president is! NONE of these things has a life beyond six months. Does ANYBODY STILL read W's memoirs OR his father's? Clinton got a huge advance as well. When is the last time his book was read, even by his biggest fans?

These things are basically doorstops and paperweights. People buy them to "prove" how great a supporter of said president they are. Not a single person on the planet buys them to read!

Waste of money that SHOULD go to hard working writers whose prose people actually want to read.

Publishers aren't in the business of giving away money. Some times their huge advances pay off, other times not. Just like major Hollywood studios tend to stick with formulaic, safe bet profitable garbage. And just like small independent film producers support aspiring filmmakers, so do small independent publishers with aspiring writers. There's also this thing called the Internet where writers can publish their work on these things called blogs. Should their work prove to be popular, they can use paywalls or solicit donations from their readers to reap the financial rewards of their literary efforts. You may be surprised at the generosity of their appreciative audiences. I happen to know a couple writers who do just that.

I respectfully suggest that you channel your anger over "economic inequality" to the plight of those who put food on our tables, clothes on our backs, and mine the minerals for our electronic devices; instead of bemoaning the fate of artsy hipster literary types with a privileged sense of entitlement. Good evening.

 

[Wifetheif]

Publishers aren't in the business of giving away money. Some times their huge advances pay off, other times not. Just like major Hollywood studios tend to stick with formulaic, safe bet profitable garbage. And just like small independent film producers support aspiring filmmakers, so do small independent publishers with aspiring writers. There's also this thing called the Internet where writers can publish their work on these things called blogs. Should their work prove to be popular, they can use paywalls or solicit donations from their readers to reap the financial rewards of their literary efforts. You may be surprised at the generosity of their appreciative audiences. I happen to know a couple writers who do just that.

I respectfully suggest that you channel your anger over "economic inequality" to the plight of those who put food on our tables, clothes on our backs, and mine the minerals for our electronic devices; instead of bemoaning the fate of artsy hipster literary types with a privileged sense of entitlement. Good evening.

But publishers ARE in the business of giving money away, that is what an advance is all about. Some are large, some are small, but every reputable publisher offers them. The pool for advances with most publishers is fixed meaning the more paid for one author the less for all of the others. Sine Obama is getting 60 million, EVERY other writer will get less. That is a FACT. Not even Steven King or J.K. Rowling merit advances on this scale and their worst books are going to sell far more copies than the doorstop Obama's ghostwriter will turn in. Yes, every ex-POTUS uses someone ELSE to tell their stories! How much of that sixty million is going to the ghost? Not a hell of a lot comparatively!
Deals like this are a SCAM! a way for every ex-POTUS to line their pockets in retirement. It essentially a bribe from the publishing industry to make both the publisher and the ex-POTUS look good. It is not about the book at all!

I respectfully suggest that you channel your anger over "economic inequality" to the plight of those who put food on our tables, clothes on our backs, and mine the minerals for our electronic devices; instead of bemoaning the fate of artsy hipster literary types with a privileged sense of entitlement. Good evening.[/QUOTE]

Funny, how when it's an ex-POTUS you admire, the issues of economic inequality suddenly cease to matter. These contracts are also a bad precedent. Since Obama got sixty million, Trump is SURE to demand SEVENTY Million and SOME publisher will give it to him! I'm sure when that happens concerns of "economic inequality" will have tons of relevance!

Enjoy your evening.

 

[sr71plt]

But publishers ARE in the business of giving money away, that is what an advance is all about.

No it's not. The word "advance" should be a clue to you. It's an advance on earned royalties and they anticipate (and are betting) that the return will be greater than that. The author doesn't start receiving any more money until the advance has been paid back from royalties. It's really naive and nonsensical to think that publishers are in the business to lose money--or that the major publishers do lose money. And an advance isn't "giving money away" anyway. It pins the contract down. You can't take an advance and walk away from the contract without paying the advance back. I take it you've never had a book contract with a real publisher.

 

[Wifetheif]

No it's not. The word "advance" should be a clue to you. It's an advance on earned royalties and they anticipate (and are betting) that the return will be greater than that. The author doesn't start receiving any more money until the advance has been paid back from royalties. It's really naive and nonsensical to think that publishers are in the business to lose money--or that the major publishers do lose money. And an advance isn't "giving money away" anyway. It pins the contract down. You can't take an advance and walk away from the contract without paying the advance back. I take it you've never had a book contract with a real publisher.

Au contraire. I've been published academically. Award-winning nonfiction actually so I know exactly how advances work. THESE ARE NOT CONVENTIONAL ADVANCES. Think they are going to ask for the advance back if Obama's ghost is late? Yeah, sure! These books STEAL from legitimate authors plain and simple!

So Obama gets thirty million and gives his ghost, perhaps a million or so of that. At deadline time he receives another thirty million dollars and pockets every bit of it. The book sells to every college library, a lot of city and town libraries and MAYBE 10 million people (A HIGHLY unlikely number) There is NO WAY it will earn its advance back, especially with discounts and gratis copies for reviewers and charities. Almost NO political books make any kind of money no matter WHO the author is!

These may "look" like conventional book deals with "Standard" advance wording but they are very far from that reality.To be a success at that advance rate. Obama's ghost will have to outsell Stephen King AND JK ROwling's best sellers COMBINED and that just ain't gonna happen.

As I stated, deals like this are a SCAM! A way for every ex-POTUS to "legally" become a millionaire. This and speaking fees make for a very comfortable retirement for former residents of the White House. In the case of publisher advances that comes at a cost of legitimate authors. But continue to occupy your fantasy that ex-Potuses are JUST like regular authors. How many regular authors get sixty million dollar advances? Oh, that's right NONE of them!

 

[sr71plt]

I think you're full of crap.

And you obviously just want to backbite the Obamas. Just being petty.

 

[Wifetheif]

I think you're full of crap.

And you obviously just want to backbite the Obamas. Just being petty.

No, I just hate mendacity no matter which side perpetuates it. These contracts also set a bad precedent.
Since Obama getting sixty Million Trump will demand SEVENTY and some publisher will agree to it! And the cycle of stealing from legitimate authors will continue. These deals are bad for EVERY writer no matter their political persuasion. I'm not trying to be petty or backbite people, I'm trying to relay unpleasant news they need to know. Sorry if it hurts your feelings to find your hero involved in the very same scam as Bush II, Clinton, BushI, Regan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Ike and Truman!

Only one presidential memoir was a true best seller, General U.S. Grant's and that was largely ghosted by Mark Twain!

Obama's just as human as his predecessors

 

[ishtat]

!

Only one presidential memoir was a true best seller, General U.S. Grant's and that was largely ghosted by Mark Twain!

And with that statement you prove conclusively you do not know what you are talking about. The first part of the first volume was partly Ghosted by an author named Adam Badeau. The 'voice' of the book is so clearly Grant and not Twain that only a low grade academic with failed literary pretensions would make such an assertion. Further, there is much extant material in Grant's own hand, that is found in the book

Twain was the publisher and came up with a brilliant marketing strategy using veterans to sell the book.

Grant only finished the book a few days before he died and if you took the trouble to read it, it is not a Presidential memoir - the Presidency is hardly mentioned. It is a story of a soldier and his personal recollections of military life.

 

[Rightguide]

60 million will be a record for the story of one who came in second, a distinction that normally consigns one to obscurity, but today there's a large constituency for the worship of failure, so maybe it works out in the end.

 

[phrodeau]

60 million will be a record for the story of one who came in second, a distinction that normally consigns one to obscurity, but today there's a large constituency for the worship of failure, so maybe it works out in the end.

Who came in second? Donald Trump, you mean?

 

[Hard_Rom]

60 million will be a record for the story of one who came in second, a distinction that normally consigns one to obscurity, but today there's a large constituency for the worship of failure, so maybe it works out in the end.

A two term black POTUS will not be consigned to obscurity!

You do realize this is being paid to the Obamas not the Clintons.

If you are going to rant and rave at least have the correct target of your hatred in sight.

 

[Rightguide]

A two term black POTUS will not be consigned to obscurity!

You do realize this is being paid to the Obamas not the Clintons.

If you are going to rant and rave at least have the correct target of your hatred in sight.

I do not rant and rave and I did not confuse Obama with Clintons, both dishonored their country, both aided and abetted the enemy, both were lawless.

 

[Rightguide]

Who came in second? Donald Trump, you mean?

Only to those too friggin stupid to understand the popular vote never counted in a presidential election in the history of the United States.

 

[Maidboy]

I do not rant and rave and I did not confuse Obama with Clintons,

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." -Bill Clinton

"I am not a crook." -Richard Nixon

 

[KingOrfeo]

But they DON'T sell in the numbers to justify their advance. Will they sell 60 million dollars worth of books?

Probably much more. The publishers have been doing this a long time. They know how many copies of previous presidential memoirs sold. They wouldn't pay Obama this much if they weren't confident of making even more off his book.