Andrew Cuomo Book — He Was Paid $65 for Every Copy He Sold

I used to be the books editor of People magazine, and I’ve written a couple of books myself, so I understand more about the book business than most, but I’m at a loss to explain how the political segment of publishing works.

We all know about the “campaign book,” usually with a title like My American Journey or An American Journey or Hooray for America. We know that the politicians whose names grace the covers haven’t written the book and in some cases haven’t read them, but that’s fine because the intended audience for the books isn’t expected to read them. Only a handful of contemporary American politicians (Ben Sasse comes to mind) are capable of writing anything recognizable as a real book.

About the Author

Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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I used to be the books editor of People magazine, and I’ve written a couple of books myself, so I understand more about the book business than most, but I’m at a loss to explain how the political segment of publishing works.

We all know about the “campaign book,” usually with a title like My American Journey or An American Journey or Hooray for America. We know that the politicians whose names grace the covers haven’t written the book and in some cases haven’t read them, but that’s fine because the intended audience for the books isn’t expected to read them. Only a handful of contemporary American politicians (Ben Sasse comes to mind) are capable of writing anything recognizable as a real book.