Do politicians' books sell?

A French woman (Éditions de l'Observatoire, 2021) by the candidate for the PS presidential candidacy in 2022, Anne Hidalgo, France has not said its last word, self-published by the polemicist and potential candidate Éric Zemmour, or Open School (Gallimard, 2021), by Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of National Education…

Almost obligatory passage when you embark on a campaign or to defend your record, are political books therefore successful in publishing? What is certain is that there are no rules: there are the customary bestsellers and those who struggle to sell. Some examples, since 2010.

Successes…

Faire (Albin Michel, 2015), the program book by François Fillon, then presidential candidate of 2017, had sold more than 100,000 copies. Which had brought him, according to RTL, 250,000 €.

Among the bestsellers, there are also former presidents, such as Nicolas Sarkozy. Passions (Éditions de l'Observatoire, 2019) sold 250,000 copies and the second, Le Temps des Tempêtes (Éditions de l'Observatoire, 2020), sold 230,000, according to the publishing house.

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With The Lessons of Power (Stock, 2018), François Hollande had sold more than 150,000 copies.

And failures

But the next book by the former socialist president, Responding to the democratic crisis (Fayard, 2019) would have flopped. 940 copies had been purchased the first week according to Challenges. On the other hand, his latest children's book, Their Republic (Glénat, 2020) was "a hit", as Franceinfo headlined in 2020. 25,000 copies were printed, 12,000 more were expected the same year.

Prints and clear lines, the work of the former Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, and Gilles Boyer, has been bought more than 50,000 times, according to Paris Match .

But there are also those who do not meet their audience. GQ magazine reported in January 2015 "the highs and lows" of political books. Christine Boutin, for her book What is the Christian Democratic Party? (L’Archipel, 2010) had then sold… 38 copies. Claude Bartolone, for I won't be silent anymore (2014, Flammarion), 268, in two weeks. Delphine Batho – currently in the running for the environmental primary – with Insoumise (2014, Grasset), had sold 715 copies.

Behind the scenes sells

There are books on politicians, but also those on them. And backstage sells. Just remember Merci pour ce moment (Les Arènes, 2014) by Valérie Trierweiler, also published abroad, which sold 750,000 copies, or Un Président shouldn't say that... (Sotck, 2016) , on the presidency of François Hollande by journalists Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme, sold according to Le Parisien, in 2018, more than 250,000 copies.