Hillary Clinton Shares Book Lessons

Publishers Lunch

In advance of the June 1 publication of her still untitled new memoir, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton provided a slightly delayed closing keynote address at the AAP annual meeting on Wednesday.

As Secretary Clinton made clear (and Carolyn Reidy confirmed), she writes her books herself -- in longhand -- and has already written many versions, but not the final one, of her June book. (Before closing her address Clinton suggested that S&S "is going to get very nervous about whether I can meet my next deadline" if she spoke too long; Reidy said she has "now read several revisions of this.")

Clinton described the book as "about my experiences at the State Department, our rapidly changing and increasingly interdependent world, and the challenges facing us in the twenty-first century," or what she joked is, "just another light summer read," in which she hopes "to both captivate and educate and inspire all at once."

She said she had "tried to apply some lessons from my previous experiences" with three other books. 

Those lessons learned were:

Lesson 1. "Call Carolyn Reidy. I did that, check."

Lesson 2. "Quit your day job. When I was writing Living History, I was a full-time US Senator.... This time I promised myself it would be different.... It has not exactly worked out that way, but I am trying.... [But] If you did see my study at home, you would think it's an episode from The Hoarders."

Lesson 3. "Keep your friends close, and your best readers closer. I have two fantastic editors in addition to Jonathan Karp, namely Bill and Chelsea..." She has "some other friends and former staff" reviewing her work as well. "It is fascinating how with one pargraph you have people violently opposed to it and passionately in favor of it" at the same time.

Lesson 4. "Make sure you check the foreign translations. I learned this the hard way. When Living History came out in 2003, the officially-licensed Chinese edition contained some surprises." Clinton said "my lawyer Bob Barnett assures me we have a tighter contract, and there won't be any funny business with the translation" this time.

Clinton finished by devoting a good portion of her brief address to an appeal on behalf of First Book. (The Clinton Foundation is working with the organization on a "Too Small to Fail" initiative targeting very young readers.) Clinton declared reading is "a gift and a pleasure that I want every child in our country to be able to enjoy and appreciate." She suggested that putting "real book in hands..cannot be replaced by electronic books. The experience of turning a page and turning back and asking a question and learning the words and reciting them...is not substitutable." Clinton said, "We love books -- and we really believe in the importance of First Books."