Obama Signs Book Deal

President Barack Obama may spend most of his time these days scolding businessmen, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a shrewd one himself: When his brand’s value was at an all-time high (right before the inauguration in January), he signed a two-book deal with Crown Publishing Group. One book will be an abridged young-adult version of Dreams of My Father, which came with a $500,000 advance and 15 percent of hardcover book sales and 10 percent of paperback book sales; the other will be a new nonfiction book that he will write after his presidency. Obama didn’t indicate how much this second deal is worth, and it’s likely that terms will not be negotiated until the end of his term.