U.S. Senator Barack Obama gets $1.9 million book deal

Jet, Jan 17, 2005

U.S. Sen.-elect Barack Obama, whose 1995 book jumped onto best-seller lists after his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention, has landed a three-book deal worth $1.9 million.

Crown Publishing Group and Random House Children's Books, divisions of Random House Inc., announced Friday that Obama will write two books for adults and one for children.

He'll be paid an $850,000 advance for each adult book and $200,000 for the children's book, said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Proceeds from the children's book, which Obama will work on with his wife, Michelle, and their two young daughters, will go to charity, Gibbs said. The contract is contingent on the approval of the Senate Ethics Committee, he said.

Obama, 43, becomes the sole Black U.S. senator-and only the fifth in history-when he is sworn in this month.

The first book, due out in spring 2006, will focus on Obama's political convictions. The children's book, also scheduled for 2006 under the Random House imprint Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, will rely on his experiences as a self-described "skinny young kid with big ears and the funny name" who grew up to be a U.S. senator.

Topic and publication date for the third book have not been determined.

Crown also published Obama's first book, Dreams From My Father. It has spent 14 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list for paperback nonfiction since its re-release.