Former President Barack Obama’s new book, A Promised Land, sold more copies on the first day it was available than any other memoir from his predecessors.
The 768-page tome, released on Tuesday and published by Penguin Random House, sold nearly 890,000 copies in the United States and Canada in its first 24 hours, according to the Associated Press, which includes preorders and e-books.
“We are thrilled with the first day sales,” David Drake, publisher of the Penguin Random House imprint Crown, said in a statement. “They reflect the widespread excitement that readers have for President Obama’s highly anticipated and extraordinarily written book.”
“We’re seeing a strong performance across all channels but independent bookstores, in particular, are reporting unprecedented first day sales. They have been worried about their financial survival during the pandemic. I hope this book will make a meaningful difference to their year,” he continued.
Sales for the 44th president’s book is outpacing that of former first lady Michelle Obama’s 2018 memoir, Becoming, which sold approximately 725,000 copies in North America on the first day. Her book has topped 10 million copies sold worldwide. It’s still so popular that Penguin has yet to produce a paperback version of the book.
The former president’s book is currently atop the list of Amazon’s Most Sold weekly book list and on Barnes & Noble’s website as of Thursday morning. The publisher also said that the sales represented “the largest first-day sales total for any book ever published” by the company, according to CNN.
Comparatively, the books of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush eclipsed 500,000 copies sold on the first day in North America. Clinton’s book, My Life, sold around 400,000 copies, while Bush’s Decision Points sold about 220,000 copies. To date, each of their memoirs have sold between 3.5 million and 4 million copies.
A Promised Land is the first of two planned parts. The second volume has not been given a release date.
