Nice: Michelle and Barack Obama signs a $60 Million Book Deal
Financial terms were not disclosed for the books, for which several publishers had competed, although the Financial Times reported that bidding reached more than $60m – a record sum for US presidential memoirs.
By comparison, fellow Democrat and former president Bill Clinton earned $15m for rights to his 2004 memoir My Life after he left office, while Obama’s immediate predecessor, Republican George W Bush, reaped some $10m from his 2010 book Decision Points.
The Obamas plan on donating a “significant portion” of their earnings to charity.
“We are absolutely thrilled to continue our publishing partnership with president and Mrs Obama,” the publisher’s CEO Markus Dohle said in a statement. “With their words and their leadership, they changed the world, and every day, with the books we publish at Penguin Random House, we strive to do the same. Now, we are very much looking forward to working together with president and Mrs Obama to make each of their books global publishing events of unprecedented scope and significance.”
Titles and release dates were not immediately available. The books will reflect on the Obamas’ White House years, although Penguin Random House declined to give further details. A publishing official with knowledge of the negotiations told Associated Press that Barack Obama’s book will be a straightforward memoir about his presidency, while Michelle Obama plans to write an inspirational work for young people that will draw on her life story.
For more details visit The Guardian