Simon & Schuster senior v-p and publisher Simon & Schuster Dana Canedy acquired a currently untitled autobiography by former Vice President Mike Pence. The book, S&S said, will tell "the story of Pence’s faith and public service, covering his trajectory from Columbus, Ind., to his time as the second-highest ranking official in the Trump administration."
Pence is the first major Trump Administration official to sign a book deal with one of the country's biggest publishers. Canedy bought the title in a two-book, world rights agreement from David Vigliano and Thomas Flannery at Vigliano Associates. The book is scheduled for a 2023 publication. The subject of the second book was not disclosed.
Elaborating on the book, Canedy said the book will stand as "the definitive book on one of the most consequential presidencies in American history." The publisher added that, in the title, Pence will "address the many pivotal moments of the administration, from the time he was selected to run as Vice President through Inauguration Day on January 20, 2021."
S&S had huge hits with a string of political books last year, including bestsellers by Mary J. Trump, John Bolton, and Bob Woodward, which were critical of Trump. Sean Hannity's Live Free or Die was also a bestseller last year, published by S&S's conservative imprint, Threshold Editions. The Pence autobiography will be published under the flagship S&S adult trade imprint.
Authors, book business workers, journalists reporting on the industry, and others were vocal on Twitter yesterday in their opposition to the acquisition from both ethical and business standpoints. The acquisition comes three months after a group of publishing professionals wrote an open letter asking publishers not to acquire books by former members of the Trump administration.
This is practically guaranteed to be a commercial failure. You might not get walkouts but you'll get bad press for the next couple of days and bad press when the book comes out. The book itself is going to be bad because Pence wants to be president.
— Alex Shephard (@alex_shephard) April 7, 2021
@simonschuster follows the same broken, white hegemonic, corporate capitalist model as the other major publishers. Until they are broken up by the government, these behemoths will keep these practices in place just to make the millions they need to pay white editors' salaries.
— David Bowles (hiatus to write GÜERO sequel) 🏳️🌈 (@DavidOBowles) April 7, 2021
Offensive AND boring. Congrats. https://t.co/mBoohyff21
— Hillary Kelly (@HillaryKelly) April 7, 2021
Earlier this year, S&S dropped plans to publish Senator Josh Hawley's The Tyranny of Big Tech after the Capitol was attacked on January 6. Hawley was seen by many as playing a role in the insurrection because of his ongoing efforts to question the legitimacy of the presidential election. The Tyranny of Big Tech was picked up by Regnery and will be released next month.
