Red, blue, and Palin books
By Marjorie Kehe | 09.17.08
USA Today has an article about two Christian publishers rushing out biographies of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. One book, “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Alaskan Political Establishment Upside Down” by Kaylene Johnson, is already out but will now be distributed by Tyndale House Publishers (also publishers of the “Left Behind” series) which has already printed up 250,000 copies.
At the same time, Grand Rapids-based Zondervan Publishing is gearing up for the Oct. 10 release of “Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader” by Joe Hilley. The headline of the USA Today piece reads “Christian Publishers Score Big with Palin Books.”
It might be that publishers of politically “red” books are scoring big in general. According to a new barometer devised by amazon.com, books from America’s political right get much wider exposure than those from its left.
To help push political books from now through the election, Amazon has created “Amazon Election 2008 Store.” Here, customers can see a map of the United States, highlighting red and blue states based on sales patterns of political books. It only takes a glance to see that, apart from the Northeast, the US is awash in “red” books.
Amazon has used its own discretion in deciding which books are red and which are blue, but there are no surprises on these lists. (Top of the blue list: “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency” by Barton Gellman, “Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama,” “Change We Can Believe In” by Barack Obama; top of the red list: “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Alaskan Political Establishment Upside Down” by Kaylene Johnson, “The Case Against Barack Obama” by David Freddoso, “Fleeced” by Dick Morris.)
They also recognize a “purple” category – books that neither quite one or quite the other. These include “Hot, Flat and Crowded” by Thomas L. Friedman, “The War Within” by Bob Woodward, and “The Forever War” by Dexter Filkin.
There’s no question, however, what color dominates on the map. As one commentator said, “If you squint a little, you can see some blue.” Maybe.
However, there’s good news for Democrats as well. Sales of books written by Barack Obama handily beat John McCain’s (76 percent to 24 percent at last reading), according to an Amazon meter updated hourly.
Comments
2. danny bloom | 09.17.08
Briefly noted: “According to publisher David Nussbaum, “101 Things You — and John McCain — Didn’t Know About Sarah Palin,” by Gregory Bergman will have a print run of some 25,000 copies.
Nussbaum said the humorous paperback will be in bookstores nationwide by the first week of October, perhaps even by the end of September. A website, 101thingsaboutsarahpalin.com tells all.
3. danny bloom | 09.17.08
According to publisher David Nussbaum, “101 Things You — and John McCain — Didn’t Know About Sarah Palin,” is being written as we speak by Gregory Bergman and will have a print run of some 25,000 copies.
Nussbaum said the humorous paperback will be in bookstores nationwide by the first week of October, perhaps even by the end of September. A website, 101thingsaboutsarahpalin.com, will go live by September 22, he noted.
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1. danny bloom | 09.17.08
Good post. You forgot to include the new humor book about Ms Palin coming out from Adam Media and you forgot to tell the backstory about how Joe Hilley got the gig to write the bio of her:
Will Fiction Writer Joe Hilley Tell the Whole Truth About Sarah Palin?
Alabama Writer Penning Much-Awaited Bio of Republican’s ‘Burning Bush Moment’ Gal — But Will He Tell All?
A trade book announcement earlier this month about Alabama fiction writer Joe Hilley’s planned “biography” of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (and current GOP Vice Presidential candidate) put the story in a soothing, religious light:
“Novelist Joe Hilley’s “Sarah Palin: New Kind of Leader”, exploring themes from her career in politics, her life as a hockey mom, and her strongly-held Christian faith, explaining how they influence her new style of leadership and align with our changing economy in the information age, to Zondervan, for publication on October 10.”
How did the deal go through? Who agented the book? What was the advance? How did Hilley get the nod? Did God have a hand in this?
Inquiring minds want to know.
And Hilley is not the only writer doing a new Palin book. While Zondervan’s book will be bathed in religion and aimed at conservative Christian readers, a humorous paperback is also being planned by a Manhattan writer.
According to publisher David Nussbaum, “101 Things You — and John McCain — Didn’t Know About Sarah Palin,” is being written as we speak by Gregory Bergman and will have a print run of some 25,000 copies.
Nussbaum said the humorous paperback will be in bookstores nationwide by the first week of October, perhaps even by the end of September. A website, 101thingsaboutsarahpalin.com, will go live by September 22, he noted.
Get ready for Joe Hilley’s take on Sarah Palin. While it will be very different from his fast-paced novels, it will be sure to capture the attention of readers in both blue and red states — on both sides of the church aisles — some looking for affirmation and others looking for a few cracks in the the governor’s rosy resume.
Expect the former. This
is will God’s book, with God’s hand surely upon it. It might not be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but it will be sure to light another fuse in the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pantsuits tent.