WORLD> America
An Obama boom in the publishing industry
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-13 10:25

NEW YORK -- Between the books already out there and the books signed up for the future, it's boom time for President-elect Barack Obama in the publishing world.

Barack Obama signs copies of his new book 'The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream' at a bookstore in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood in this Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006 file photo. Barack Obama's historic victory has given yet another boost to his million-selling books, 'Dreams from My Father' and 'The Audacity of Hope.' Both were in the top 25 on Amazon.com's best-seller list early Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 soon after the Illinois Democrat defeated Republican John McCain to become the country's first black president-elect. [Agencies]

According to Nielsen Bookscan, which tracks about 70 percent of the country's sales, more than 100,000 copies of his books sold November 3-9, including 50,000 copies each of "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams from My Father" and 19,000 copies of "Change We Can Believe In," a collection of speeches and policy papers.

Bids on eBay for a signed first edition of "The Audacity of Hope," a million-seller published in 2006, have topped $1,000.

Meanwhile, publishers are grabbing up new books about Obama, the first black president-elect. According to the industry newsletter www.publishersmarketplace.com, which compiles deals, at least seven Obama-related projects have been agreed upon since the November 4 election.

They include William Eggers' and John O'Leary's "If We Can Put a Man on the Moon," a policy "roadmap" for the incoming administration, and "Renegade: The Education of Barack Obama," by Newsweek's Richard Wolffe.