I'd love Trump to pick Palin as his running-mate. The Alternet article says that the shortlist consists of Kasich, Cruz, Rubio, Christie, and Palin. As there is little comfort in any of those candidates, and even less to distinguish among them, I hope it'll be Palin. Yes, I said Palin, and why not? I have a personal stake and it could give new life to the book about Palin that I wrote during her campaign, Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter's Guide to Sarah Palin.
It all started with her selection. I began blogging about this unknown the night she was named. Who was she? Why was she selected? Each day I would dig out another piece of dirt from the interwebz and after a number of postings I was contacted by Harvard Perspectives Press. Would I write a book about Palin in three weeks? No, I said, but I’ll do it in four.
I put on a pair of pajamas and over 28 days and nights I became a Palin expert. We developed a routine. I researched a topic, wrote a chapter, sent it to Barry Hock who edits everything I write, got it back and integrated the copy-edits he suggested, then sent it on to the publisher who prepared it for publication. Then on to the next chapter. The artist Sandy Oppenheimer, created a collage portrait of Palin for the cover. (It’s for sale if you know somebody who’s a fan.) The publisher took care of the front and back covers, some supplementary information, and all the publication arrangements.
I will point out that I changed my pajamas often, but it was rare for me to exit my office chair let alone my flat. I simply stopped after 28 days and nights because that was the deal. On the 29th day my publisher had Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter's Guide to Sarah Palin available as an ebook and a mere ten days later he miraculously turned up with hard copies. Local Democratic town committees invited me to read at their election events. Bookstores refused to stock it because, they claimed in a puzzling approach to books, they’d have to have an author/book from the “other side.” I’m talking about indie bookstores. I’m talking about Brookline Booksmith, for example, despite probably a dozen requests from potential readers. My publisher and I hired Gail Leondar-Wright, the literary PR person, who within a week had me set up for dozens of interviews on progressive radio shows. I did those in my pajamas as well. I managed to remember how to dress myself when it came to doing readings.
Why the huge rush? There were only a few weeks between when we got the book out and when the election was held, after which the book was dead wood. My publisher worked the online marketing angle and as a result the reviews are split. The mixed reviews are divided between those who consider Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter's Guide to Sarah Palin "a comprehensive analysis of Palin's record and stands on various issues but also a blast to read," and those Palin fans who considered it "a vitriolic spewing against her."
And then it was over. I beat her. Of course I don’t claim to have single-handedly taken down Palin. However now, given the choices, I hope that she runs again. Sure, there are plenty of books out there about Palin at this point, and sure, mine is outdated. But it was the first such expose and I kinda broke all sorts of stories, such as her charging victims for rape kits in Alaska and about her promotion to McCain by the evangelicals. There must be a nostalgia market for quickie books about loser politicians.
People who remember Thanks But No Thanks: The Voter's Guide to Sarah Palin despite it being written in the computer version of a frantic scribble ask me if I intend to write a book about Trump. I don’t. However, I have lowered the price of the Palin book (Kindle at 99¢; paperback at half-price) so that everyone will be able to afford to read it as an historic document if she is permitted to revisit her previous role. I can only live in hope.
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