Publishing Houses See Financial Windfall in Picking Up Books about Trump; Even More Titles are Expected to Appear

Edited by: TJVNews.com

It would appear that book of the month clubs across the country have been deluged with books focusing on our nation’s 45^th president. Despite “Trump Derangement Syndrome” there is an overwhelming appetite among readers for just about anything that concerns President Donald J Trump.

According to a recent report in the New York Times, “the body of work is so voluminous that there’s even a book about all the Trump books.” Every facet of his larger than life personality has been explored in these monographs and tomes including his often turbulent presidency, his rise to political prominence, the sordid details of his family life, his business ventures and even his golfing habits, according to the report.

The Times article said that currently, the Trump book wave is riding high with consumers thirsting for new material on Trump before he leaves office on January 20^th. In particular, the Times notes that publishers are looking to snap up books that examine Trump’s last days in office and all the attendant soap opera drama that many believe is taking place behind the scenes. Also on top of the publishers wish list, as it pertains to new books on Trump, are “comprehensive historical accounts of the Trump era, sober expositions examining how he has changed the Republican Party and the country, and gossipy insider accounts of what really went on in the White House.”

Rafe Sagalyn, a literary agent at ICM said, “Trump doesn’t want to let go of his job, and a shockingly high number of us don’t want to let go of him. There’s going to be an amazing appetite for books about what happened, and all the OMG moments of the last four years. Books are the medium for filling in all these blanks.”

Prior to and subsequent to the presidential election, prominent journalists and pundits have offered their own renditions of the Trump presidency. The Times reported that earlier this year, Penguin Random House also acquired a new book from Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, co-authors of “A Very Stable Genius.” Their sequel will explore the last year of Trump’s presidency as he faced impeachment, played down the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, was hospitalized with COVID-19 and fought to overturn the results of the election, according to the Times report.

Right after the election, Penguin Press announced that “it would publish New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s narrative of Trump’s political career, tracking his rise from his real estate development roots to the final days of his tumultuous presidency, “ according to the NY Times article.

The Times reported that Doubleday, another Penguin Random House imprint, acquired a book that will be co-written by Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, and Susan Glasser, a writer for The New Yorker, which will “analyze how Trump has changed the culture and politics of Washington, “ according to the Times.

Kristine Puopolo, editorial director of nonfiction at Doubleday told the Times, “The books that will endure are those that shape historical perspectives about the period. We’re moving into a new phase where we are going to see Trump as history. We’ve seen that it is only after people leave an administration that they’re open to being completely candid.”

Another major publishing house that has taken a strong interest in books about Trump is Simon & Schuster, according to the NY Times article.  It published several best-selling books about Trump this year and is still investing heavily in behind-the-scenes books about the president and the 2020 election, according to the Times.  After publishing two blockbusters by Woodward, “Rage” and “Fear,” Simon & Schuster plans to release Woodward’s next book, which he is writing with Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, about the final days of the Trump presidency and the beginning of President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, as was reported by the Times.

For the publishing industry, Trump’s presidency has been a financial windfall of sorts. There is no shortage of Trump books written by former administration officials such as former national security advisor John Bolton, former FBI director James Comey and “Anonymous,” who later revealed himself as Miles Taylor, a former official at the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Times report.

Also in the vast collection of Trump books are exposés by journalists (Bob Woodward, Michael Wolff) and tell-alls from estranged confidants and protégés (Michael Cohen, Omarosa Manigault Newman), as was reported by the Times. One of the year’s top-selling nonfiction books, Mary Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough,” sold more than 1.3 million copies in the first week after its release. The Times reported that she recently sold a second book to St Martin’s about Trump’s impact on the nation.