#Book publishers ready to hit pause on political titles after the election

Political books, which have powered to the top of bestseller lists throughout this year, appear ready to take a pause in the wake of the combative presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

The one exception is notable, to say the least: “A Promised Land,” the first volume of President Barack Obama’s memoir, whose publisher, Penguin Random House, is cranking out a 3 million-copy first printing for a Nov. 17 launch.

According to a source, the first of two planned volumes for Obama’s memoirs — despite spanning 768 pages — will contain no mention of President Trump. While it’s expected to rack up blockbuster sales, the Obama memoir may not be a trendsetter when it comes to snubbing the current chief executive, said Michael Wolff, who started the Trump book craze in 2018 with the bestselling “Fire & Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”

“My guess is that Trump’s effective (or helpless) transparency has given people a new appetite for going beyond the standard blah-blah of politics and political reporting,” said Wolff, who last year published the follow-up “Siege: Trump Under Fire.” “The premium will continue to be on real, behind-the-scenes, throwing-plates-around stuff.”

“At the same time,” Wolff added, “I think there will also be a premium on escapist stuff — kind of inspirational fluff. In my humble opinion.”

Indeed, as the election has gone into overdrive in the final days, a number of feel-good books already have started to climb the rankings. Of the top 10 items on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list that will appear Nov. 8, political books are in the second tier as inspirational books have taken over.

Debuting at No. 1 is “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey from Crown, featuring snippets from diaries that the “Dazed and Confused” star has kept over the past 35 years. The No. 2 slot goes to “Untamed,” a memoir from Glennon Doyle, founder of the nonprofit Together Rising, from the Dial Press imprint that has been on the list for 33 weeks.

“Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson from Random House dipped from No. 1 to No. 3. A photo book, “Accidentally Wes Anderson” by Wally Koval, debuted on the list at No. 4.

Sen. Ted Cruz’s “One Vote Away,” from the conservative publisher Regnery, shot up to No. 5 from No. 14, followed by the perennial bestsellers Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard with their latest, “Killing Crazy Horse.” Funnyman Jerry Seinfeld is still on the list at No. 7 with “Is This Anything?,” but that is down from No. 2 a week earlier.

Meanwhile, one has to go all the way to No. 8 to find Bob Woodward’s “Rage” from Simon & Schuster. The former No. 1, with its explosive tapes on Trump, dropped from No. 6 a week earlier.

Threshold Editions’ “Blackout” by conservative commentator Candace Owens — which argues that black Americans should leave the Democratic Party, likening it to a “plantation” — was No. 9, down from No. 5 a week ago. “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi dipped to No. 10 from No. 9 a week earlier but has been on the list for 34 weeks.

The pause in blockbuster political  books may only be temporary, according to one publishing executive. “I think there will continue to be a fascination bordering on obsession about Mr. Trump and what he has wrought. He’s someone who sells books — both pro and con.”