 "Book deals might finance the Obamas post-White House")
After he is out of the White House, President Obama has said that he wants to become a venture capitalist, own part of an NBA franchise and avoid taking off his shoes during security screenings at commercial airports.
All of those goals, serious or not, might soon be achievable if Obama and his wife, Michelle, sign post-presidency book contracts for what literary agents and major publishers say could amount to $20 million to $45 million - more than enough to pay the estimated $22,000 monthly rent for the nine-bedroom home they will occupy in the Kalorama neighbourhood of Washington and foot the bill for flights on private jets. (Obama has said he would like to avoid commercial flights once he surrenders Air Force One.)
"His is going to be easily the most valuable presidential memoir ever," said Raphael Sagalyn of the ICM/Sagalyn Literary Agency, who predicted that Obama could earn as much as $30 million with a two- or three-book contract. "And I think Michelle Obama has the opportunity to sell the most valuable first lady memoir in history."
Other agents suggested similar numbers, but publishers - who are the ones who actually sign authors' checks - baulked at such lofty evaluations, with several saying Obama is unlikely to earn more than $12 million and the first lady $10 million. Robert B Barnett, who served as Obama's agent on a 2004 book deal, and representatives for Crown, which published Obama's three previous books, declined to comment. So did the White House.
"There will be plenty of time post-presidency to discuss books and book contracts, but for now the focus of the president and first lady is on squeezing every last ounce of progress out of the next five months," said White House communications director Jen Psaki.
Obama may be the most successful presidential author since Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote 42 books, including the popular "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman", published in 1885, and "The Wilderness Hunter" (1893). But every winning presidential candidate since 1952 has written at least one book before entering the White House. John F Kennedy was a success with "Profiles in Courage", a best seller that won a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy's authorship of the book has since been questioned.
Obama's three books - "Dreams From My Father", "The Audacity of Hope" and "Of Thee I Sing" - have sold more than four million copies, according to publishing lists, and earned him more than $10 million, according to financial disclosures.
Publishers hope that Obama's writing ability could make his memoir not only profitable in its first years but perhaps for decades. Among presidential memoirs, only the one by Ulysses S Grant, published in 1885, is considered by many historians to be timeless.
Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father", has been praised as literary, and since taking office, Obama is widely seen as one of the most skilled speechwriters to ever put pen to legal pad in the Oval Office. There is also hope that he might open up about himself, as he did in his first book.
"You're going to sell a lot of books when you first publish Obama's memoir, but you could also sell a lot to your children's children," said David Black, a New York literary agent. "That doesn't happen all that often, but because this guy's a real writer, it has a good chance."
© 2016 The New York Times
