Now that Barack and Michelle Obama have returned from their first (and much-needed) vacation since leaving the White House, they’ve got back to work by breaking a major publishing record. All in a day’s work for the Obamas, no?
The former President and First Lady are both hard at work on memoirs documenting their time in office and, after a hotly contested bidding war, have auctioned the rights to Penguin Random House. According to the Financial Times, bidding reached over $60 million – around £48 million – which is the highest amount ever paid for presidential memoirs.
In comparison, George W. Bush was paid around $10 million for his memoir Decision Points, while former Democratic President Bill Clinton received $15 million for My Life. The Obamas are planning to donate a ‘significant portion’ of the fee to charity, including the newly established Obama Foundation.
‘We are absolutely thrilled to continue our publishing partnership with president and Mrs Obama,’ Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle revealed 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.’
The couple are writing separate books, but chose to sell the rights jointly. One publisher told Associated Press that Barack’s book will be a memoir dealing with his years in the White House, while Michelle’s will be an inspirational work aimed at young people, drawing upon her life story.
A release date for both books is yet to be announced. Until then, there’s Obama’s memoir Dreams From My Father, released in 1995, and political treatise The Audacity Of Hope, from 2006, both of which have sold millions around the world. Michelle’s Home Grown cookbook, meanwhile, detailed the growth of the White House’s Kitchen Garden.
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