Blog

Sep 24, 2023

How Republican 2023 hardcover book sales have stacked up so far

EXCLUSIVE — A cohort of top GOP lawmakers, 2024 presidential hopefuls, and other notable conservatives sold hundreds of thousands of hardcover copies for their 2023 books during the first weeks of the

EXCLUSIVE — A cohort of top GOP lawmakers, 2024 presidential hopefuls, and other notable conservatives sold hundreds of thousands of hardcover copies for their 2023 books during the first weeks of the titles being released.

The 10 Republicans, who range from the likes of former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), as well as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), sold at the very least 194,540 combined week one book hardcover release copies in 2023, according to data obtained by the Washington Examiner. That figure is based on BookScan, which, according to its website, tracks 85% of trade print books sold in the United States from major retailers and other entities and doesn't account for all hardcover, e-book, or audio upload transactions.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY CLAIMED HE FIRST VOTED IN 2020 — NOW, HE ADMITS THAT WAS WRONG

"You can usually sort the winners and losers in politician books by looking at which ones are memoirs," a senior publishing industry employee told the Washington Examiner. "Most politicians only know and care about one thing: themselves. The books that sell much better are about topics voters care about."

Among GOP presidential candidates, BookScan data show DeSantis ahead with 94,285 hardcovers sold during the first week for the release of his February memoir, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival. The data also list Trump with 15,979 first-week hardcover sales in connection to the former president's April book, Letters to Trump, by the Trump-allied Winning Team Publishing, which, like the DeSantis book, was a No. 1 Amazon bestseller.

Letters to Trump, which costs roughly $91 on Amazon, is a collection of correspondence to the former president from world leaders, sports figures, and celebrities. However, BookScan's first-week sales data for it likely captures a portion of its market success since the work has also been sold direct to consumers and at events like Trump rallies, which wouldn't necessarily be tracked through the data provider, according to the first employee and also another employee at a top publisher who spoke with the Washington Examiner.

BookScan notably tracks sales through the likes of Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Target, and Amazon, though sales through the Seattle company are reported to BookScan based on title metrics and not specific units in order to combat authors and companies trying to buy their way onto bestseller lists, according to the second employee. The data provider's owner is the NPD Group, a market research firm headquartered in Port Washington, New York.

Trump's campaign told the Washington Examiner that "the vast majority of sales by Winning Team Publishing are direct to consumer," noting that Letters to Trump for the first week sold "many times over" 15,979.

Meanwhile, 2024 Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy's April book, Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street Is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn't Vote For, sold 1,174 hardcover copies during its first week through BookScan, according to data. The wealthy businessman notably admitted to falsely characterizing his voting history in an interview with the Washington Examiner earlier this week.

"BookScan is the industry standard when it comes to measuring book sales," said the second publishing industry employee who spoke to the Washington Examiner. "We understand that BookScan doesn't capture sales from all retailers, but it is an accurate tool used to track and observe sales patterns."

Former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo's January book, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, sold 34,630 hardcover copies during its first week, according to BookScan data. Pompeo is "pleased that so many Americans purchased and read the book."

"I believe it had great appeal because it wasn’t just about me, but about the great Americans that I served with over the past few years and how we never gave an inch on standing up for America," he told the Washington Examiner. "We worked hard to share the real work I did at CIA and State with audiences that normally wouldn’t read a political book and made reading it fun and interesting."

Ex-Rep. Trey Gowdy's January book, Start, Stay, or Leave: The Art of Decision Making, sold 18,482 hardcover copies during its first week, while hardcover sales for ex-Rep. Jason Chaffetz's June book, The Puppeteers: The People Who Control the People Who Control America, slotted 10,412 hardcover sales for week one, according to BookScan data.

David McCormick, the businessman who unsuccessfully ran in 2022 for the Pennsylvania Senate, clocked in at 9,170 first-week hardcover sales in connection to his March book, Superpower in Peril: A Battle Plan to Renew America.

"Our nation is in decline, and the American people are imploring their leaders to lay out a path for renewal," McCormick, who is mulling a 2024 Senate bid, told the Washington Examiner. "I am grateful that my battle plan to educate our people, confront China, and restore America is resonating with so many, and am hopeful that these ideas will be put into action in Washington."

Kari Lake, the Republican Arizona gubernatorial nominee in 2022, released a June book through Winning Team Publishing that sold 1,715 hardcovers in its first week, according to BookScan data. Lake is reportedly among four women being considered to be Trump's possible vice presidential pick but could also run for Arizona Senate.

"An unmatched champion for the America First movement, Kari Lake in her first book, 'Unafraid: Just Getting Started,' outlines her journey from being the most beloved newscaster and broadcast journalist in Arizona to the leader of the largest grassroots movement in the state's history," a description for the Lake book on Amazon reads.

Then there's Rubio, whose June book, Decades of Decadence: How Our Spoiled Elites Blew America's Inheritance of Liberty, Security, and Prosperity, slotted 5,382 hardcovers its first week, according to BookScan. The book focuses on China's influence, globalization, and open borders, among other topics.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"America faces serious challenges, and before we can solve them, we have to understand how we got to this point," Rubio told the Washington Examiner. "Allowing China into the [World Trade Organization] was a crucial turning point, but it wasn’t the only one. There were decades of bad decision-making in Washington and on Wall Street. The good news is that the post-Cold War consensus is crumbling, but we’ll never get America back on track unless we learn from our past."

Hawley's Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs, released in May, sold 3,311 hardcovers, according to BookScan. A spokesman for the senator said the book has now sold roughly 14,000 copies and pointed to how his 2021 work, The Tyranny of Big Tech, has sold over 40,000 copies and was a New York Times bestseller.