The Writer-in-Chief

"I have an amazing story to tell you," she said, stepping into my office.

"She" was the editorial director whose balanced perspective and judgment made her essential to me as Publisher and to the editorial staff.

"Okay, let's hear it."

One of the editors, she told me, had read a profile written by Scott Turow in Salon.com of a forty-something community organizer and published author in Chicago who had thrown his hat into the Illinois Senate race. Turow, who was also in the Chicago area and had known this man for years, hailed him as "the new face of the Democratic party." The editor had done some further research and discovered that his book--a memoir that Turow called "a beautifully crafted book, moving and candid"--was published nine years earlier, in 1995. The book had received a few impressive blurbs and favorable reviews, but had sold only a few thousand copies, so had been out of print for years. The editor couldn't find a copy through any of the used or out-of-print book sellers on the web, but was able to patch together enough selections through disparate sources to get a sense of the book's quality. The writing is fantastic, she said. "And you're not going to believe who published it."

"Who?"

We had, it turned out. Crown, the division or Random House at which I was working, still owned the rights. The book deserved to be republished in paperback, she said--it was richly textured and elegant and quintessentially American.

"Does the author have a media platform now?"

Not that she could tell.

"Any national platform at all?"

Beyond the senate race, there was no national platform to speak of--but she could see where the conversation was going. So she pressed the case on the editor's behalf: we owned the rights, we wouldn't have to earn back a large advance, we could go out with modest expectations and then, well--it was the caliber of writing that's like a lightning rod, and maybe lightning would strike. And if this man fulfilled the potential Turow saw in him, he just might triumph in his Senate race.

"Can I read what you have of it?"

Getting a whole book in hand had proven elusive, but yes, there was some material she'd bring over.

"What's his name?"

"Barack Obama."

"Sorry. What is his name?"

"Barack. Obama." He'd graduated at the top of his class at Harvard Law School, she explained, and was the first Black President of the Harvard Law Review. His educational credentials were impeccable and I was going to love his writing, she felt confident.

That's how it all started. Or at least that's how it started for us at Crown in early 2004. It had really started almost a decade earlier when an editor named Henry Ferris acquired, edited and published Dreams from My Father before he moved to HarperCollins. And publishing turnover being as active as a diner's griddle at breakfast rush, there was no one on staff with institutional memory dating back that far.

I read the available material, loved it, recognized it posed marketing and sales challenges, but also recognized that the editor was right: it did deserve to be republished and accessible to a wider readership. Dreams from My Father was (and remains) one of the most candid, insightful, stirring, eloquent and inspiring memoirs I've ever read. Why was such a polished writer entering politics? Well, an actor had become not only President but an enormously influential one; wouldn't it be interesting and gratifying if a gifted writer were to succeed in American politics? Like an American Vaclav Havel.

"Let's track him down and find out what else he's doing. And let me know if it looks like he stands a chance to win."

We acquired and set a publication date for the book, positioned it as a must-read literary work for the growing memoir readership, written by a gifted up-and-coming politician, announced a modest first print run of 20,000 copies and an even more modest laydown goal of 10,000 copies (meaning, the number of books in stores on the on-sale date), emphasizing a regional focus in Chicago, where he was known. We distributed photocopies of the available materials to various in-house departments and to our sales reps across the country, and made impassioned pleas to read and support the book at cross-departmental meetings. Months passed, support grew slowly but steadily, contractual paperwork was shuffled, and we became increasingly familiar with the author. We were impressed by the evident breadth and depth of his intelligence, his smooth and unflappable demeanor, his undeniable charisma, and knew that these qualities might take him far in his Senate race--and perhaps beyond.

Because I was returning from a business trip to London, I missed the live coverage when Barack introduced himself to the country as a "skinny kid with a funny name" in the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. But there was no missing the next day's coverage blasting from the airport TV screens and shouting from newsstand headlines. Barack was being hailed as a new political celebrity who had galvanized the left and reawakened its nascent political dreams--all in eighteen minutes. I picked up a newspaper and read the transcript of the speech in the backseat of a taxi home and was struck by the perfect pitch craftsmanship, a symphony of words that built to a crescendo of hope and optimism. I nearly gave him a standing ovation in the cab. Three months later he was elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate.

We knew in advance of the DNC that Obama had been selected to give the keynote address, so we notified our sales reps to watch for it and to ask their bookseller accounts to do so as well. By then we felt confident that, given his eloquence as a writer, it would probably be a rousing speech, and hoped it would put him on the national map. But we never dreamed it would have the impact it did. It was as if Barack was a baseball player who'd come off the bench as a pinch hitter and, with one swing, hit a home run that had won not only a World Series game, but the entire series.

Everything about the publication process changed. Everything. Bookseller orders doubled, then tripled. Barnes & Noble's order went from 3,000 copies to 20,000. Our publicity department was flooded with requests for him to appear on national media. Print media outlets prepared profiles. A multi-book deal was negotiated and announced. We decided to include the text of the DNC speech in the back of the book. We went to press, and back again, and back again--prior to the on-sale date. Our modest 10,000-copy laydown goal had swollen to 25,000, then 50,000, then 100,000 copies. He went into the studio to read the audio edition of the book that would eventually garner him a Grammy Award--his first Grammy, but not his last.

Shortly after the on-sale date, Barack came to New York for a book signing appearance at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. His editor and I attended and watched as the space packed in several hundred more people than its stated capacity before security cordoned off the area. When the Senator strode in the crowd leapt to its feet and, amid the din of whistling and cheering and clapping, a chant broke out: "Obama in '08! Obama in '08!" I remember thinking how gratifying it was that such an exceptional writer could be embraced so broadly and passionately for his work, but also being mystified by the enormous leap the crowd was taking: a writer? In the White House? What were they smoking?

During the book signing I stood next to Barack at his table and opened each customer's books to the proper page. Before signing each copy, Barack personally greeted each customer with a handshake and a question or comment. One young man in his late 20's, pale and nervous-looking, stepped up and said, "Why won't you appear on Bill O'Reilly's show?"
Because, the Senator explained, he hadn't been invited to appear on the show. "Do you work for Mr. O'Reilly?"

"Why won't you appear on the O'Reilly show?" the young man asked again, turning sideways. I looked and saw that he was being filmed by his own cameraman. I signaled to security.
After repeating that he had never been invited on to Mr. O'Reilly's show, the Senator, keeping his cool, said that he watched the show and would be glad to appear if invited to do so. At this point two security officers escorted the young man off the podium as he raised his voice and asked over his shoulder, "Why won't you appear on O'Reilly's show? What are you afraid of?" In retrospect this may have been a precursor to the current disaffection between the White House and Fox News, and perhaps the first, albeit minor, gauntlet thrown down.

I was there through the editorial and publication process of his next book, The Audacity of Hope, in 2006. Between midnight and 3:00 am each day--after his Senate and family obligations were put to bed--Barack would write, then send his work to his editor for her comments. As the deadlines grew tighter, she would give us regular updates about the progress of the manuscript and sometimes share drafts of chapters for a few of us to read. It was a rare pleasure to watch as the distillation of his message and his vision took shape on paper. Even as a senator Barack continued to care about his work as a writer. He attended the Random House Sales Conference as a dinner speaker and had his picture taken with each of the sales reps. He attended an author-and-bookseller dinner party Crown threw during the annual booksellers' convention (the BEA), a gathering he would also later attend as a breakfast speaker along with John Updike and Amy Sedaris. And I brought my young sons to his Senate office, where they swiveled around in his chair and we were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Senate building.

The night of the election was a momentous turning point in history, one that we will all remember for decades to come. Throughout the evening I kept marveling at what an improbable and exhilarating trip it had been, and when he won I felt so profoundly proud of our country, and of our author, and of the editor who'd read Turow's piece and had the tenacity to pursue the republication of his luminous first book.

Perhaps because I first came to know Barack Obama as a memoirist, and perhaps because I read his DNC speech rather than watched it with the rest of the country, I continue to think of him as a writer. When he gives a major speech--when, for example, the controversy surrounding Reverend Wright threatened to explode and he said he was drafting a speech that would address the issue--I often avoid watching his delivery, and instead find a transcript on the internet and read it. When I read his speech about race I printed it out, photocopied it, and went from office to office dispensing copies because I thought it was the most important and well-crafted speech in years, if not decades. I still think so.

Barack Obama will always be a writer in my mind. He's won two Grammy Awards (one each for Dreams from My Father and for Audacity of Hope), won the most powerful office in the western world, and won a Nobel Peace Prize. Actually, when I heard he'd won the Nobel Prize I assumed it was for Literature and my first thought was, "Well, most writers have to demonstrate a more prodigious literary output before being considered, but bully for them for recognizing such superior quality." But as audacious as it sounds, I'm still holding out hope for a Pulitzer, or a National Book Award, or at least a National Book Critics Circle Award.

So, one year after the election, what do you think Candidate Obama would think of President Obama? Tweet your response (our Twitter hashtag is #OneYearLater), or post it in the comments section.

 

Follow Steve Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/slross58

Comments

[Billl]

We were all caught up in the dreams for change as we were mesmerized by Barack Obama.

We optimistically visualized him as a messiah striding over the waters to correct the injustices that we have suffered from our political systems along with abuses from financial, energy, and health care industries.

We craved salvation.

Barack Obama still talks the talk.

He has a long way to go to walk the walk.

While President Obama, who we elected, continues the mesmerizing banter, the unfair strangle holds controlled by those abusing us are being wrapped tighter and tighter.

Where is the charismatic messiah we thought we elected?

[KingMidas]

Actually doing work, not performing miracles. You need to understand that the hardest part of a Messiah's work is getting his lazy a@@ followers to do something.­..anything­.

Are you still expecting him to hold out a staff and part the Red Sea? Dream on...that is where your much vaunted Independence comes into play...he sets the stage, you perform your part. That is how "DEMOCRACY" works.

[FORLOMC]

Yeah, Obama bringing the nation an world back from the brink of financial collapse is not really a big deal. Having the countries around the world not hating us because of his direction, not a big deal either. Passing equal pay legislation not really important. Preserving millions of acres of America, yeah how pathetic. Sure hope he learns how to walk the walk. Daahhhhhhhh

[Solja]

Nice article! I felt the adrenalin in your writing about the day after the DNC speech. Very exciting! I have the two books. I actually bought them brand new from Barnes & Noble.

I hope you guys get the book about his Presidency. I'd be willing to bet that it too will be a resounding success that Americans will want for their collection. I certainly will.

[Healthwatch2010]

Wingnuts will ALWAYS question ANYTHING associated with the name Barack Obama. If the sun refuses to shine today or tomorrow of course it's ALL Obama's fault.

[MossyOak]

Wingnuts also can't seem to keep from writing complete nonsense about books they haven't read.

[WhoPaidWho]

Curious why this is news. Certainly an op-ed doesn't have to be timely. I wonder if it is because of the anniversary of the election.
This story could also be relevant in regards to the recent comments made by Rocco Landesman about Pres. Obama being the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/28/obama-powerful-writer-julius-caesar-says-nea-chief/ Wouldn't Obama be the most powerful author since J.K. Rowling anyway? A bad joke. Landesman was, of course, referring to his political power rather than artistic power.
Perhaps this op-ed is a response to a recent article alledging that Pres. Obama had help writing his first book. The author cites the dissimilar wording between the two tomes as well as similiarities to the supposed ghostwriter's own work. Best to quell stories like this with well timed mini-memoirs. Worth a read if only to know how the other half is thinking. http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/literary_lion_obama_will_roar.html

[KingMidas]

The Bible says: Think on what things are TRUE.

If liars have a different point of view, why listen to the LIES? That only poisons your mind.

Blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful..­.....my paraphrase.

[tkondaks]

Why is this article about Obama being a great writer coming out now?

Is it part of a PR campaign?

I ask because there are questions out there whether Obama did, in fact, write his own books:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/before_dreams_there_was_roots.html

[JanPoore]

No. You're confused. It's Sarah Palin who didn't write her own book. And Dubbya is not writing his own. Let's just hope he reads it.

[tel8034]

Let's just hope he CAN read it ..........­....... The book will probably have big words (more than 3 letters) in it.

[N8tracks]

There are questions about anything if that's what you seek.

[BoomKing]

Yep, add that to accusation to the pile. He's a secret Muslim/Kenyan citizen/Na­zi/Communi­st, who now did not really write his own books. Let's keep 'em coming.

[jcko]

Yes!

He did not deliver himself when he was born in Kenya.

He did not walk on water eventhough everyone expects him to.

Also, he did not win the Nobel prize, a bunch of people forced it into him.

[TomTheAlmostUgly]

"I ask because there are questions out there whether Obama did, in fact, write his own books"

Correction: There is swiftboating slander out there insinuating that Obama did not write his own books.

Meanwhile Caribou Barbie, the darling of the neocons, is openly using a ghostwriter and the Repubs never ask, "Why doesn't she write it herself?"

[tkondaks]

why would that be so surprising? Most presidents of the past 50 years are suspected of NOT having written their own books (including Kennedy's famous Profiles in Courage). So why is it so terrible to think that Obama didn't write his?

[Solja]

Obviously, these people are coming from the same place. It's actually painfully obvious. I'm not surprised that you didn't notice your participation would be done in the light, instead of the dark.

[yvonne61]

Don't forget the NOV. 3 special on THE ELECTION OF OBAMA on HBO.

[Godiva]

Interesting as I read this. As much as it pains me to say this. Barack is too good to be President in these times, it's such a waste of talent fighting against all the Patisian BS.

[donnal]

"He graduated at the top of his class at HLS" and " his educational credentials were impeccable".
How would anyone know this? Mr. Obama, has not released his writings from Harvard, Columbia or Occidental, these impeccable credentials have not been shown to anyone.

I can not trust Mr. Obama, because he has been caught in so many exaggerations, so many lies and different versions of his life story. He is smart, smooth, and can deliver a speech, but he is what Mr. Clinton said he was, a fairy tale, and so are his books.

[MossyOak]

No one gets to be president of Harvard Law Review without impeccable creds. Anyone who goes to college knows this.

[veritas88]

the fact that he went to Columbia and Harvard and was the president of the HLR (and achieved all this w/o being a legacy student) is testament of his impeccable academic credentials. anyone who knows anything about the American educational system can figure that out.
what lies and exaggerations has Obama been caught in, anyway? you will never like or trust Obama b/c you don't want to, not because he is undeserving of being liked or trusted.
you probably think Palin is an intellectual and trustworthy. if so, God help you.

[veritas88]

the fact that he went to Columbia and Harvard and was the president of the HLR (and achieved all this w/o being a legacy student) is testament of his impeccable academic credentials. anyone who knows anything about the American educational system can figure that out.

what lies and exaggerations has Obama been caught in, anyway? you will never like or trust Obama b/c you don't want to, not because he is undeserving of being liked or trusted.

you probably think Palin is an intellectual and trustworthy. if so, God help you.

[jemiltd]

I find your comments hilarious when we live in a country where African Americans have to -- as a whole -- work twice as hard to demonstrate they somehow measure up to the "same standards" as their Anglo counterparts, even when they are far more qualified and especially as they move upward in any given corporation. But let me not assume that you would know that if there was anything -- ANYTHING -- that could have been used to discredit President Obama, they would have used it to do so a long time ago. Go back and look, he told you upfront every little thing they would try to use against him, so it wouldn't be on the table later on. What I suspect you can't believe is that his reality is not what your perception is and you are having trouble with the reconciliation. Unfortunately, that says more about you than him.

[KingMidas]

I guess if he had not, we would have heard from Harvard Law School before this...OR IS IT PART OF A GREATER PLOT??

I KNOW! ALIENS FROM a far off planet KENYA have infiltrated the USA airspace and taken over the bodies of every professor at HARVARD...­so they are not telling the STORY as it IS.

WILL THIS PERNICIOUS PRESIDENCY NEVER END??????H­ORROR!!!!-

And, I love Bill Clinton, but TRUSTWORTHY? Lets keep our trust for those who do not betray the people they claim to love, ok?

[EuroMom]

I just happen to be reading DFMF at the moment. Beautifully written, with a fantastic feeling for language; insightful, circumspect, empathetic, self-critical, humble... it is reassuring to know that someone of such intellect and sensitivity has been elected president.

[sposton]

First we had eight years of an mental arbusto and now we must endure a charming memoirist. ;-)

[yankee222]

A memorist who has time to pen his own accolades, but is just too busy to even think about Afghanistan.

Groan!

[BoomKing]

When you have a moment, you should look up the meaning of "time" and you'll see why that comment makes no sense.

[oldwhitewomantoo]

I would argue that Afghanistan is probably more in his thoughts & a part of his daily schedule than you could imagine. Get a grip.

[Melissa]

He should be a college professor, not president.

[oldrwizr]

The books were written before he became President, so they will not interfere with his Presidential duties in the present.

[kat1944]

Here I thought we would finally learn what strong arm tactics by the Chicago political machine were used to get an unknowns book published and republished just in time for the miracle to come. Low and behold we find that it was the wonderousness that is Obama alone that played here. I'm thrilled!

[Paul Loeb - Huffpost Blogger]

It's interesting to compare Obama's two books. Dreams from My Father holds nothing back. It's relentlessly honest and self-reflective, and all the more powerful precisely because Obama was not yet in the public light. Audacity of Hope, in contrast, is much more guarded. It's a good book, but written by someone who knows his words may be used to attack him, so therefore far more careful. The stakes now are higher still, but the Obama presidency could use a bit more of that unvarnished honesty in telling the hard truths about the difficult issues we face.

Paul Loeb Author Soul of a Citizen
www.paulloeb.org

[jozzie]

"Dreams from My Father holds nothing back."

Huh? It's a memoir, not an autobiography. (Even autobiographies hold stuff back.) A memoir is a genre of writing that follows one chosen theme. It is not a history. It is a literary form that necessarily leaves MUCH material out -- all that is unrelated to the chosen theme or focus.

One person can write many memoirs. One person can write only one autobiography.

See Barrington on the genre.

http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Memoir-Truth-Second-Edit/dp/0933377509/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257275400&sr=8-1

There are boat loads of books on the memoir genre. Obama stays true to the highly edited version of a life that would fit the memoir genre.

[SpankedMeGood]

but the wingers said bill ayers wrote this book. he must have written audacity, too. i bet ayers sent the pages of audacity to obama every day, who then sent them to the publisher. lol

[stillfresh]

i read The Audacity of Hope while on a trip to Italy last October, as the market was tanking and the election neared. Being out of the country as I read made it more remarkable as I made my way through Constitutional thought from Barack Obama. I couldn't wait to get home and vote. There are a lot of hideous remarks on this post from people who make America a mean place.

[sski74]

It is so refreshing to have a President who is not only superbly intelligent, but also a thought provoker too. He inspires so many to just be better people.

[JanPoore]

and he angers so many who hate intelligence.

[jpmccn]

Obama's books are fantasy beyond fiction. The article explains how the publishing business can make an author without merit famous for one reason, greed for money, and give us their opinions and praises as their excuses to publish such works.

[MossyOak]

If you're going to critique a book, at least read it. Both his books stand on their writing merit alone.

[jpmccn]

Audacity of Hope, gives us a taste of the politician in Obama. A true Pulitzer writer would not hold back on his beliefs for fear his words would be used against him but would defend his words as he sees them as truth. Politicians don't have time for meaningful words in literature.

[BoomKing]

yawn... come back when you've actually read his books.

[EuroMom]

What exactly is the basis for your assertion that this is "an author without merit" ??? I am currently reading DFMF. This book is most certainly written by an author of considerable merit... beautifully crafted, great feeling for language, highly intelligent, sensitive ... truly a social chronicle of the time. It's absolutely riveting. It stands entirely on its own merits. So it comes as no surprise to me that it was published even before the author became "somebody".