COUNTY LIFE
Printing money: How celebrity book deals stack up
by Felix Richter, Nov 17, 2020, statista
Three and a half years after signing a joint book deal with his wife shortly after leaving office, Barack Obama’s account of his time in the White House is hitting bookshelves across the globe on Tuesday. “A Promised Land” is almost certainly the most anticipated book of the year and perhaps of the past decade. The book will be available in 19 languages at launch and its publisher Penguin Random House is expecting to sell as many copies as it can possibly print amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to publisher information shared by the New York Times, Michelle Obama’s “Becoming”, published two years ago, has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide, setting the benchmark for what is already all but certain to become a global megaseller. Mr. Obama’s previous two books “Dreams From My Father”, originally from 1995, and his 2006 political manifest “The Audacity of Hope” sold 3.3 million and 4.3 million copies, respectively, indicating what may have convinced Penguin Random House to offer the Obamas one of the largest book deals in history.
As the following chart shows, the $65 million deal the former first couple signed in 2017 stands as the largest publicly known non-fiction book deal by quite a distance. Bill Clinton’s $15 million advance for “My Life” is the second largest known deal while Hillary Clinton rounds off the top 3 with the $14 million she netted for “Hard Choices.”
Musicians from around the area attended the New Year’s Eve jam for Jammin’ at the Justin. There was a variety of musicians and singers to entertain the big crowd, that also enjoyed lots of great good-luck foods served up by guests and the jam organizers. Along with the music groups played games and a few folks danced. (Photos by Barbara Green)
The new year opens with the first county-wide event this week, the 2025 Montague County Youth Fair, Jan. 8-11 at various locations.
It should be a strong show with 1,160 entries across all the categories and 333 students represented. Here is the basic schedule of activities.
Leadership Day
This year’s contests will be at the Montague County Cowboy Church.
Competition day starts with check-in between 7-8 a.m. for speaking events and the robotics contest. Categories will include junior and senior prepared speaking, plus junior and senior Montague County ag. advocacy speaking. Robotics contest also takes place that morning.
Contestants sign in for the skill-a-thons from 12:30 to 1 p.m., followed by the beef and horse skill-a-thons. Sign-in for the barbecue cooking contests is from 1-2:30 p.m. with the contest starting at 3 p.m. Judging follows at 4 p.m. Awards will be given to the top two individuals for each division of the contest.
Home economics
Home economics entries can be dropped off at the Nocona Community Center from 4 to 6 p.m. on Jan. 7 and 7-9 a.m. on Jan. 8.
Judging will be from 10 a.m. to noon with results posted by 6 p.m. Public viewing is 8 a.m. to noon on Jan. 9. Home economics is a massive competition covering food, fabric and artworks.
Read the full schedule in your weekend Bowie News.
Top photo:A Nocona student works on a welding project for the 2025 youth fair. (Courtesy photo)
Gus Clark and the Least of his Problems Band entertained at the Bowie Community Center New Year’s Dance this past week. Guests enjoyed black-eyed peas, cornbread, dancing and music to welcome the year.
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