Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new book is called “Hard Choices” — but not many people have been choosing to buy it.
The former US first lady and New York senator’s tome is more bomb than bombshell, according to a new report on its sales.
The 656-page book — in which Clinton (right) writes about her tenure as secretary of state under President Obama — has sold only 60,000 hardcover copies and 24,000 e-books in its first week, a source told The Weekly Standard.
The book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, was “hoping and praying” that 150,000 print copies had been sold in the first week, the source told the magazine.
“Between us, they are nervous at S&S,” the source said. “It’s a bomb, but it will be interesting to see how they spin it.”
The magazine said that some 1 million copies of the book were reportedly shipped when it went on sale June 10.
“The 60K represents a less than 10 percent sell- through based on what they shipped,” the source said. “They will be lucky to sell 150,000 total lifetime.”
The book has reached the top of the Barnes & Noble best-seller list, according to BuzzFeed, with 24,000 copies sold there alone.
But the Web site noted that the book has not performed as well as Clinton’s 2003 memoir, “Living History,” which sold 1 million copies in its first month.
They also said that, when it came to sales at Barnes & Noble, the new book beat a historical sci-fi romance book by novelist Diana Gabaldon by only 319 copies.
Despite the B&N success — which has been helped by a series of book signings around the country — The Weekly Standard said sales did not meet expectations.
“The book will probably debut on the best-seller list at No. 1 and then fall like a rock,” a source told the magazine.
“With tens of thousands of books sitting in warehouses collecting dust, there’ll be a lot of hand-wringing, and probably a few people without jobs.”