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The Publishing World Won’t Touch a Biden Book

The people just have no appetite for how Biden is faring as president.

With a built-in paying audience of 81 million faithful President Joe Biden voters, one might think a famous presidential biographer and publishing house would be salivating to initiate a coffee table tome. And one would be wrong. Instead, it appears that Biden will be the first president not to have his own place in the famed psychoanalytical series On the Couch by Justin Frank, and the excuses are piling up for just why this is a terrible idea.

Frank is a Washington psychiatrist who morphed into a New York Times bestseller with his 2004 debut Bush on the Couch. Then came Obama on the Couch. And two years into the reign of 45, Trump on the Couch was released. But somehow, this extremely popular president has not received an invitation to enter the former practicing psychiatrist’s consulting room.

Excuse Number One: It’s All Trump’s Fault

“The reason is, I’m tired,” Frank said in a recent interview. “The book on Trump almost killed me.” But he also acknowledged, “I haven’t really been approached by any particular publishing house. So I don’t think there are people who want it. And I don’t know why.”

Hmm. Is this a poison pen pill for those willing to tell Biden’s woeful and grief-stricken tale? A few brave folks have taken that death-defying risk. The talented Ben Schreckinger of Politico went deep into Biden’s family history and reported a tad over 4,000 in cash register receipts. A book on First Lady Jill Biden by two Associated Press journalists, Darlene Superville and Julie Pace, attracted only 1,867 folks to snag a hardcover. None of these numbers includes public library purchases and bulk buys for campaign events, loyal political party operative gifts, or the units a publisher ships to any of the aforementioned.

Two years into President Trump’s term, his name was associated with dozens of books, making every list in the publishing world. Maybe, like he did Frank, he just wore folks out on anything US president-themed.

Excuse Number Two: We’re Just Not That Into Biden

GettyImages-1446081500 Joe Biden

Joe Biden (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Interest in shelling out $40 or more for a hardcover with Biden’s handsome mug on the cover might be met with a quick accounting of what’s in the wallet. Is 46 more enticing than, say, 10 gallons of gas? One book agent in the Swamp, Howard Yoon, described the industry as “personality and character-driven: And for whatever reason, [consumers have] decided that we don’t want too much of Biden’s personality.” Love or loathe the guy, the subject of Trump is fascinating.

By his own admission, Joe Biden is boring. Who wants to purchase uninteresting fodder on the man who shakes hands with invisible friends and wanders in random directions?

Excuse Number Three: Right Wing Press

The big publishing houses have spooked most writers who may wish to make the Biden administration, minus son Hunter, more salable. Inking a great deal on the pitch today could end in disaster with a scandal or a significant impact event before the book makes it through the publishing process. And then there is the Regnery imprint established in 1947. Regnery is now labeled right-wing press by those who won’t print the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Dinesh D’Souza.

And because Regnery does not sugarcoat the Obama administration or annihilate the last one, why hasn’t Biden, the subject of a controversial aftermath of election 2020, appeared on its book list? Regnery has no difficulties signing deals for and publishing all sorts of books that people like to read. But it seems Americans prefer an old-fashioned knock-down-drag-about fight instead of mundane drivel on how 46 starts his day.

The Possibilities Are Endless

Here are oodles and gobs of great book ideas for Doubleday, St. Martin’s Press, or Avon: Top 10 unintelligible quotes, how to pull out of Kabul, or why my son Hunter is not the smartest guy I know. The possibilities are endless; the offers are finite: zilch.

The political climate in 2022 has people devouring books rife with controversy and scandal, but they have no appetite for how Biden is faring as president. That much should be obvious. And who can afford to buy that book anyway?

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