On Friday morning, POLITICO published a piece by Max Tani highlighting "The Rise and Fall of the Star White House Reporter." The nearly 3,000 word report about how much of "a bore" it is to cover the Biden administration as a White House correspondent. Buried in there, though, is a mention that a book about First Lady Jill Biden sold just 250 copies in its first week.
From the report:
Gone are the Tweets that sent newsrooms scrambling. So long to the five alarm Friday news dumps that had editors frantically rearranging weekend plans. Bye-bye to the massive TV budgets for White House specials and the firehose of publishing deals for books about the administration. NPD BookScan, which tracks book sales in the U.S., said that prominent books about Trump released in his first two years of office outsold Biden books during his first year and a half by, what an official there said was, “essentially 10:1.” A newly released biography about Jill Biden, by two well-respected Associated Press journalists, sold just 250 units in its first week, according to the company.
The book in question, "Jill: A Biography of the First Lady," by Julie Pace and Darlene Superville of the Associated Press, was released earlier this month, on April 19, 2022. While it has five stars on Amazon, these are only based on two reviews. Sure enough, there are no indications it's a top-seller in any category.
Our friends at Twitchy highlighted this tidbit on Saturday morning, calling it "legit ROFL funny," which Gov. Ron DeSantis' Press Secretary Christina Pushaw noticed on Twitter.
POLITICO: “A newly released biography about Jill Biden, by two well-respected Associated Press journalists, sold just 250 units in its first week, according to the company.”
— Christina Pushaw ?? ???? (@ChristinaPushaw) April 29, 2022
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These poor sales come even as the book has quite the advertising spread on its Amazon page. And, as the Twitchy post also highlighted, the book was promoted not only by Pace and Superville in interviews, but also by bookseller Barnes & Nobles.
We ?? New Release Tuesday!!#bnplazavenezia #bn #bnvolved #drphillips #bnbuzz #booklove #books #new #NewRelease #TBR #tbrpile #newreleasetuesday #newbooks #takemymoney pic.twitter.com/aXeluvoBBn
— Barnes & Noble (@bn_plazavenezia) April 19, 2022
.@JuliePace promoting "Jill," our biography of the first lady this morning on CNN. pic.twitter.com/YUGPMLxUjS
— darlene superville (@dsupervilleap) April 19, 2022
Curious about @FLOTUS Jill Biden? Read my and @JuliePace's interview with https://t.co/y00crmX8Q8 about "Jill," our reported biography of the first lady. https://t.co/w6PzFQmoXS
— darlene superville (@dsupervilleap) April 21, 2022
Jill: A Biography of the First Lady charts the story of Jill becoming a mother to Beau, Hunter, and Ashley, and breaking barriers with her decision to work outside the White House. https://t.co/FWxw6fK7HY
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) April 24, 2022
Many took to Twitter to mock the book's sales when it comes to the 81 million votes President Joe Biden received in the 2020 presidential election.
Why aren't the 81 million Joe Biden voters rushing to buy Jill Biden's new book?
— George (@BehizyTweets) April 30, 2022
Jill Biden’s book only sold 250 copies in the first week…
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) April 30, 2022
But you want us to believe Joe got 81 million votes?
You’re a special kind of stupid aren’t ya… pic.twitter.com/oClbkWW9sm
Joe Biden - 81 million votes.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) April 30, 2022
Jill Biden's book - 250 copies.
Sounds reasonable. https://t.co/x0Icd6EW8P
EIGHTY-ONE MILLION VOTES FOR THE MOST POPULAR PRESIDENT IN HISTORY https://t.co/AVueoHZdXR
— Nick Searcy, INT'L FILM & TV STAR SINCE 1776 (@yesnicksearcy) April 30, 2022
Last April, when Hunter Biden's "Beautiful Things" came out, his book's debut was considered terrible as well, as it only debuted twelfth for Publisher's Weekly. Perhaps he's feeling better about it now, considering he at least ranked.
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