BARACK OBAMA BOOK PUBLISHING SUCCESS AND INSIGHTS

Barack Obama’s book, A Promised Land, has proven to be an incredible success, selling over 890,000 copies JUST within the first 24 hours in the US & Canada. This puts Barack Obama as the number one author of a presidential memoir in our modern history. Simply put, it’s an astonishing success in book publishing and a masterclass of marketing delivery. Beyond setting records as the best-selling presidential memoir, it also shattered records at Penguin Random House for pre-orders, audiobooks, and ebook downloadables. The success is unprecedented; and there are few public figures that carry the same star power and influence as the 44th President of the United States. But beyond the wide reach that Barack Obama has for his book, we wanted to go deeper into what we could learn from his publishing success. After all, at Made for Success, we’re tuned to pay attention to the success of others and understand what makes it work. A Masterclass in Book Publishing Strategy The first thing to consider around Barack Obama’s book is the top-of-the-line marketing engine that powers it. Certainly, the publisher Penguin Random House had unlimited budget and resources to get the book distributed to as many readers and listeners as possible. But there’s more that you can learn from Barack Obama without having the same level of national reach. Here’s a few things that we think our aspiring authors at Made for Success can learn from former President Barack Obama’s success. The Power of Timing in Publishing a Book Barack Obama’s book comes at a time when presidency, democracy, and leadership are at the top of peoples’ minds. The book being released two weeks after our presidential election is no accident at all. It’s true that many books are released in the fall, to make it onto the holiday wish lists of many avid readers. But the timing of this book release was perfectly synchronized with the audience’s demand to hear from a former leader to help remember where we’ve come from and paint a picture of where we might be heading.