PVPF 2024

Frontlist | Obama's ‘A Promised Land’ breaks record with 1.7 million sales

Frontlist | Obama's ‘A Promised Land’ breaks record with 1.7 million sales
on Nov 27, 2020

Former President Barack Obama has sold 1.7 million copies of his new memoir called “A Promised Land.” Selling almost 2 million copies in North America in its first week, Obama set a record for publisher Penguin Random House. The first-day sales amounted to 887,000 in all formats and editions, including pre-orders, e-books and audio prior to its official release.

However, a new report from Deadline shows that Obama’s book sales have doubled within a week.

The memoir is one of two volumes, detailing the behind the scene events and decisions Obama made during his presidency.

“We are thrilled with the first day sales,” said David Drake, publisher of the Penguin Random House imprint Crown. “They reflect the widespread excitement that readers have for President Obama’s highly anticipated and extraordinarily written book.” According to Deadline, the first week sales for Obama’s latest memoir surpassed the first week sales of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton memoirs. Bush’s “Decision Points” sold 775,000 copies in its first week, while Clinton’s “My Life” sold 1 million copies in its first eight days. Bush and Clinton’s’ memoirs sold between 3.5 and 4 million copies, respectively, and it is quite possible that Obama will easily surpass them both. The 44th president has had the most anticipated book launch in the print industry with about 3.4 million hardcover copies already printed. Obama did, however, concede that his book cannot top his wife’s memoir, “Becoming” by former First Lady Michelle Obama. Her memoir was released in 2018 and sold more than 10 million copies globally.

While the book is not likely to receive the same amount of hype as “Becoming,” “A Promised Land” sold about 165,000 copies more than “Becoming” in reported first-day sales. In addition to being a recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize and serving two terms as president, Obama has two bestselling memoirs: “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.”