Remember when everyone was writing books supposedly “exposing” Donald Trump?
You couldn’t go a day without a new Trump tell-all or insider exposé popping up.
Well, fasten your seatbelts, because it appears that the Biden era has sent the book industry into a tailspin.
Even mainstream journalists and prominent conservative publishers are scratching their heads, wondering if there’s any interest left in reading about a President they see as, well, boring.
When Jonathan Allen co-wrote, Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign, the book sold over 125,000 copies, landing proudly on The New York Times’ best-seller list.
But his latest project, Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency, didn’t even make the list, selling fewer than 10,000 copies since its release in March 2021.
The Biden Presidency, it seems, isn’t exactly setting the book world on fire.
Conservative readers, in particular, don’t appear to be racing to grab copies of books about President Biden.
But why?
As Eric Nelson, the publisher of HarperCollins’ conservative imprint, Broadside Books, puts it, “Biden never does anything interesting.”
In a world where former President Trump’s every move is headline news, President Biden’s “sleepy” demeanor has proven less enticing for conservatives.
It’s not just conservative readers who are staying away – it’s also conservative authors and publishers who are feeling the pinch.
Books about the Bidens, such as Gabriel Debenedetti’s The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama, and the Associated Press’ Jill: A Biography of the First Lady, have struggled to break the 2,500-copies-sold mark.
In contrast, Trump-focused books, like Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury, sold almost a million copies, while Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s Peril sold over 400,000 copies, amongst many others.
Trump’s Presidency was a goldmine for publishers, generating billions in revenue, but the Biden era, it seems, has left them yearning for the good old days of sensationalism and intrigue.
So, why the lackluster interest in Biden’s story?
The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer points out, there are “no sensationalist stories.”
The Trump Presidency set the bar high for excitement and drama, making it challenging for any other political narrative to match up.
CBS News’ chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa acknowledges that Biden’s Presidency “is under-reported, understudied, and often misunderstood.”
Yet, even Costa is focusing on his job at CBS, rather than penning another Biden tome.
One possible reason for the Biden book slump is the tight-lipped nature of the Biden regime.
Perhaps with so many public gaffes at the hands of “Sleepy Joe,” his staff has been well-trained to not add fuel to the fire.
As Keith Urbahn, the President and founding partner of D.C. literary agency Javelin, notes, it’s a “very disciplined no-leaking culture,” making it harder to get those juicy scoops and behind-the-scenes stories that readers crave.
Additionally, the American public has, in many ways, tuned-out the noise in Washington, D.C., leading to dwindling interest in books about the Biden regime.
But Evan Osnos, The New Yorker’s Biden biographer, believes there’s still a compelling story to tell.
Biden’s life has been filled with extraordinary ups and downs, including multiple political resurrections.
However, Osnos acknowledges that his narrative doesn’t pack the same “almost novelistic levels of wildness” as Trump’s Presidency.
So, as you ponder whether to pick up a Biden book, or skip it in favor of something more thrilling, remember that the literary landscape has changed since the Trump years.
If you’re thinking about reading a book about Joe Biden, maybe take a good nap instead.
US Political Daily will keep you updated on any developments to this ongoing story.
