For those eagerly anticipating Barack Obama’s post-White House memoir, you’ll have to wait just a little bit longer.
USA Today reports that Publisher Penguin Random House began alerting foreign partners and others about the status of the memoir on Tuesday, and the word on the street is that the book won’t be released until 2020, during the upcoming presidential campaign.
Much like various White House speeches and his 1995 bestselling novel Dreams From My Father, Obama is writing the book himself using his favored technique of jotting down the first draft in legal pads, according to USA Today.
Obama has made it clear that he wants to have no active role in the upcoming Democratic presidential primary, going so far as to not to endorse his embattled BFF Joe Biden or any other candidate. But as USA Today notes, by being thrust back into the spotlight in the lead up to such a pivotal election, he will command the eyes and ears of millions of US citizens looking for any signs of favor or preference for a presidential candidate.
In 2018, our forever first lady sold out bookstores and stadiums with her own memoir Becoming. It sold 750,000 copies in its first day, 2 million in North America alone its first two weeks, and 10 million copies and counting to date, across print, digital, and audiobooks throughout the globe. It also just so happens to be on pace to become one of the best selling memoirs of all time.
Hopefully our former president’s fourth book experiences similar success. But in the interim, all we can do is remain patient and snatch up those pre-orders when they become available.
The Obamas signed with Penguin Random House in 2017. The financial terms of their deal weren’t disclosed, but word on the street is that Sasha and Malia’s daddy secured the bag, reeling in the largest book advance of any ex-president. Which means, yes—even more than the $15 million Bill Clinton collected for “My Life.”