It’s an unspoken requirement of the book industry to keep readers informed, the content just a thin veil away from reality. It is thus a given that every election you can count on a slew of books on the candidates. This election year has been no different. We’ve seen a painful amount of novels on the respective candidates, but unlike past elections, the spectrum of books and the publishing rush is focusing on one candidate.
When Trump first announced that he’d take a whack at the candidacy, publishers scratched their heads and brushed off what appeared to be a comedic stunt. But as the chasm between joke and reality shrank and the notions of celebrity and candidate became extremely difficult to disentangle, publishers made a snap decision to board the Trump train and treat a dawning reality with greater seriousness. Biographies, autobiographies, children’s books, parodies, comic books, exhumed titles, even coloring books – the variety of Trump novels we’ve seen is amazing. And the books have been doing incredibly well: Trump’s debut 2016 book, Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again has sold over 235,000 books in the past 8 months.
Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again by Donald Trump
All these books came in a tsunami of glossy covers when Trump became the presumptive nominee in May, prior to which most publishers found themselves at the receiving rather than the producing end of the sensation. “We thought, he’s going to implode, there’s no point,” Jamie Raab, president of Grand Central publishing shared with the New York Times.
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The turnaround from May until now was incredibly fast, even for the publishing world, but there’s still plenty of material for satirsts and biographers alike. When presidential figures seep into celebrity culture it’s a jackpot for publishers, but when the figure of discussion is one that sparks the utmost degree of ambivalence and emotion, publishing a Trump book is more than just hopping on the bandwagon.
Taking a stance, even as a publisher making a lucrative decision to push content, is a political move. Everyone has an opinion, and in such a contentious election packaging and putting a shiny cover on these opinions caters to more than just book sales. Its works to embolden support and strengthen opposition. It relays a non-neutral message that works to curry more pro or anti-trump sentiment, and stir sensation further.
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There’s always a fine line to walk as a publisher, and a delicate balance between business and not feeding into a sensationalist political culture. Furthermore, it’s slippery terrain because of the balance between providing information or a channel for personal opinion. Many left leaning writers and publishers feel it their civic duty to prevent a Trump candidacy, aligning the book industry and politics even more intimately. It’s a notion that Ariana Huffington of Huffington Post has alluded to in many interviews: that there’s a shift in the news (and publishing) climate to put competition on the back burner and focus on banding together to keep Trump out. Or for others, get him in. When publishing becomes political, it begs the question: is reading a political act too?
Whether pro-Trump or anti, the spectrum of books over the past several months has brought an ideological bounty to election-lit. Not surprisingly, it’s also brought little neutrality. Despite the political intentions that may lay behind what’s selling at your local Barnes and Noble, non-neutral books actually relay a positive trait of this year’s election. The discussion has been yuuuge and with all these recent titles it’s continuing to grow. If a lack of neutrality means a lack of indifference, we’re happy to see every parody and biography alike, regardless of who we’ll support in the fall. That publishers are the conduits of such impactful opinions is admittedly scary, but the perceptual shift of reading from leisure act to political act is just as equally empowering.
Featured image courtesy of The Gateway Pundit.