Shortly after the election, Obama was photographed with the newly released Fred Kaplan's Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer, sales shot up. As one observer noted, "Even people who don't generally pay much attention to the book world are scrutinizing those long-shot photographs of [Obama] disembarking from car to plane and back again, trying to read the title of whatever is tucked under his arm."
Then, in a 60 Minutes interview a few weeks after the election. Obama said he had been reading "a new book … about FDR's first 100 days." Obama never mentioned the title. Yet sales of Jonathan Alter's The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope, increased 810 percent on Amazon the next day. It quickly rose to number eight on the site's list of bestselling history books. What was besting it? Team of Rivals was Amazon's best selling history book, gaining additional traction as word circulated that Obama was considering appointing Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State.
Just the last two weeks demonstrate the magic might even be increasing.
When Obama attended the Summit of the Americas on April 18, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave him a copy of Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano. Considered a classic in Latin America since its publication in 1971, within 24 hours the book shot from an Amazon sales rank of 54,295 to second. The book, a historical account of the exploitation of Latin America by Europe and the U.S., has since dropped out of the site's top 10 but continues to be the its best selling "popular economics" book.
Less than a week earlier, the Obama family welcomed a dog, "Bo," to the White House. Within days, Bo had his own book, a children’s book called Bo, America’s Commander in Leash.
Even if publishing is going to the dogs in the more traditional sense of the phrase, the book world relishes Obama. At the National Book Awards ceremony in November, emcee Eric Begosian told the crowd that "now we are going to have a president who comes from the literary empathetic complex. Our new president is in the broadest sense of the word… a reader, and a writer."
So, as long as Obama keeps carrying or mentioning books, it seems he will be an economic boon for the book industry. And publishers probably needn't go into total crisis mode if the time comes when he isn't seen carrying books. After all, two books critical of Obama sold nearly half a million copies last year. A book about the media's "slobbering love affair" with Obama hit the bestseller lists less than a month after the inauguration. Together, these suggest an area that may itself be a growth industry in the years to come.
Article comments
1 - Helen Gallagher
Tim - your article is great, and the impact of Obama in the publishing world is staggering.
I could almost see the number climbing higher, since people reading your post will also click to buy those influential books. Great job!
Helen Gallagher
2 - Eric Olsen
agree Helen! Great job to you all! The books numbers are staggering, though
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
Sportsman-in-chief. I demand a new title.
4 - Eric Olsen
for yourself?
5 - charlie doherty
Nice job Matt - and don't forget the other sports connection with Obama he took with him to the White House from the campaign: former Duke b-baller Reggie Love as an assistant political director-now presidential aide. Makes sense since he majored in political science in college.
Also, look at what people are doing with that colorful Obamaicon image - making one for celebrities, bands and other notable politicians. PASTE magazine is promoting it.
6 - charlie doherty
BTW, is it just a coincidence that there's a J CREW ad at the top right side of this page or was that put up there knowing full well that Michelle Obama wears this brand of clothes? Either way, nice touch.
7 - Mongo
Nice comment re: the J Crew Ad. Online ads keep getting smarter all the time. Our president is also definitely the smartest online president ever.
8 - Tan The Man
obamiconme is pretty awesome...
9 - Eric Olsen
very interesting input guys, thanks!
10 - romm
So Obama is a book sales man? He mentions a book he is reading and sales of it go through the roof. He brushes his shoulder like a Jay-Z video and the dumb Americans cheer. He might be a good showman, trained in the art of media appeal, but I see nothing great about him, except the huge praise he gets from the talking heads, he has after all given huge amounts of money to his paymasters.