'Afraid Biden Might Be Disrupted'... Obama Memoir to Be Published After US Presidential Election (Update)

'The Promised Land' Released Two Weeks After US Presidential Election
3 Million Copies Printed for US First Edition... Sold in 25 Countries
Expected to Gain Popularity Regardless of Biden's Election Victory Outcome

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Former U.S. President Barack Obama's memoir, A Promised Land, will be published after the U.S. presidential election.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

On the 17th (local time), Crown Publishing, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House Publishing Group, announced that the memoir covering Obama's first term in office will be published on the 17th of next month, two weeks after the election. The publication date for the sequel covering his second term has not been announced.

Former President Obama revealed the memoir's cover on Twitter that day, saying, "I tried to tell an honest story about my presidential campaign and time in office," and added, "I reflected on how we can heal our country's divisions and how our democracy can work for everyone."

Penguin Random House purchased the rights to the autobiographies of former President Obama and his wife in 2017 for an estimated $60 million.

Obama's memoir is already expected to be a bestseller. Approximately 3 million copies of the first edition have been prepared in the U.S. alone. Due to limited printing capacity in the U.S., the publisher plans to print 1 million copies in Germany and import them to the U.S. The New York Times (NYT) reported that despite the high price of $45 per copy, demand for the book is very strong. The memoir will be published worldwide in 25 languages, including Korean.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama also published her memoir Becoming after leaving office in 2018, selling 8.1 million copies in North America alone and 14 million copies worldwide.

The timing of this memoir's publication is also attracting attention. Unlike former President Trump's close aides who released memoirs before the election, former President Obama chose to publish after the election. If published before the election, the content could influence the election outcome.

Obama's spokesperson explained to the New York Times (NYT) that the focus was on supporting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign without interfering. The intention was to prevent public attention from shifting from Biden to Obama and to avoid giving Republican presidential candidate President Donald Trump any grounds for attack.

Bradley Graham, co-owner of the Washington D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), "If Biden wins, there will be enthusiastic demand to look back on the Obama era," and even if Biden loses, "readers will seek comfort in this book."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.