Throng of Translucent People Fills Up Bookstore for Christine O'Donnell's Latest Work of Fantasy.
Christine O'Donnell Uses Magic to Turn Crowd of Admirers Invisible: Only Real Patriots Can See Them Now.
Tea party favorite O'Donnell fails to draw crowd in Naples
Former Senate candidate at book signing
Not even tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell could draw a large crowd for her book signing Wednesday in staunchly Republican Naples during August, a month when there are few tourists and many locals are on vacation.
Still, O’Donnell took the turnout of five people - members of the media outnumbered customers - at Barnes & Noble in stride.
“God bless you, Tom,” she told Tom Bruzzesi of Fort Myers, who said he’s launching his own presidential campaign.
“I like her,” Bruzzesi said. “She’s kind of a rogue like me.”
“Thank you for coming out today,” O’Donnell said to Louise Campo of Naples.
“She interests me. She’s very conservative,” Campo said.
O’Donnell, a Christian, then politely turned down a request from a young man who asked her to sign his book on demonology instead of a copy of her book.
Her book, “Troublemaker: Let’s Do What It Takes To Make America Great Again,” recounts O’Donnell’s 2010 Senate bid and her stand on political issues.
“I wrote the book to set the record straight, to serve as an inspiration to others to work for change and to articulate the proper role of government, which I believe should be limited and local,” O’Donnell said.
The book also details her childhood, her rise in politics and the “I’m not a witch” ad released during the Senate race.
O’Donnell said she chose the title “troublemaker” because that’s what Time magazine called her for upsetting the Delaware political establishment, featuring her on the cover in a $6 thrift shop red blazer.
O’Donnell, 41, defeated nine-term U.S. representative and former Gov. Mike Castle in the Republican primary for Senate, but lost in November to Democrat Chris Coons.
During the race, comedian Bill Maher aired statements O’Donnell made in 1999 in which she said that “I dabbled into witchcraft.” Her following campaign ad stating she was not a witch spawned numerous parodies.
O’Donnell said her book points out that she was telling young people about her teenage years and how her life changed when she embraced Christianity. In retrospect, O’Donnell said she would not have launched the ad campaign that just drew more attention to a non-issue.
And that’s another purpose of her book - to give advice on political pitfalls and to encourage others to run for office by saying “if she can do it, so can I,” Donnell said.
O’Donnell said she won’t rule out running for office again.
As she tours the country, O’Donnell continues to draw controversy.
She walked off CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” last week after he asked her about her views on gay marriage. She said she walked off because the show’s videotaping had gone overtime, but volunteered to come back and say that states should individually decide the issue.
Who's Buying Christine O'Donnell's Book?
On Google News, I count more than 300 articles about 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's new memoir, and more than 200 just about an incident from last night -- her walking out of an interview with America's Got Talent host Piers Morgan. I see a serious mismatch of media attention to public interest.
What do I mean? O'Donnell was, sort of infamously, the most-covered political candidate of 2010. Having been a frequent conservative guest on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, there was a lot of tape of her saying stupid things, and she became an irresistable "News of the Weird" kind of story. But there's no evidence that actual humans still care about her story. Today, after the Piers Morgan stunt, her memoir is only the 2,300th 18,656th (as of today) best-selling book on Amazon.com. By comparison, George W. Bush's memoir -- which has been out for nine months -- is the 797th best-selling book on Amazon. O'Donnell's book isn't selling.
And that shouldn't surprise anyone. A month ago, I asked Nielsen's Bookscan what its own sales figures were for a series of recent Tea Party books. Their numbers aren't comprehensive, but they give us a sense of whether books are becoming best-sellers. According to Nielsen, Rand Paul's memoir, "The Tea Party Comes to Washington," had sold 6,000 copies. "Boiling Mad," a highly-touted study of the Tea Party by New York Times reporter Kate Zernike, had sold around 2,000. The best-selling Tea Party book I could find was "Give Us Liberty," by FreedomWorks's Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe. That had moved more than 20,000 units. None of these books, though, was becoming a "Going Rogue"-sized hit.
Will Michele Bachmann's upcoming memoir fly off the shelves? I'm guessing it'll do well in the heat of a presidential campaign, even if she's fading by then. (The post-Ames, post-Perry polls showing Bachmann failing to build momentum don't auger well for her.) A memoir by a 2010 candidate who attracted some tabloid gawks, though? One whose biggets revelation is that the candidate regrets saying "I'm not a witch" in a TV ad? There's no evidence that actual humans want to read this as much as political geeks and TV bookers want to make fun of it.
Tea party favorite O'Donnell fails to draw crowd in Naples
Former Senate candidate at book signing
Not even tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell could draw a large crowd for her book signing Wednesday in staunchly Republican Naples during August, a month when there are few tourists and many locals are on vacation.
Still, O’Donnell took the turnout of five people - members of the media outnumbered customers - at Barnes & Noble in stride.
“God bless you, Tom,” she told Tom Bruzzesi of Fort Myers, who said he’s launching his own presidential campaign.
“I like her,” Bruzzesi said. “She’s kind of a rogue like me.”
“Thank you for coming out today,” O’Donnell said to Louise Campo of Naples.
“She interests me. She’s very conservative,” Campo said.
O’Donnell, a Christian, then politely turned down a request from a young man who asked her to sign his book on demonology instead of a copy of her book.
Her book, “Troublemaker: Let’s Do What It Takes To Make America Great Again,” recounts O’Donnell’s 2010 Senate bid and her stand on political issues.
“I wrote the book to set the record straight, to serve as an inspiration to others to work for change and to articulate the proper role of government, which I believe should be limited and local,” O’Donnell said.
The book also details her childhood, her rise in politics and the “I’m not a witch” ad released during the Senate race.
O’Donnell said she chose the title “troublemaker” because that’s what Time magazine called her for upsetting the Delaware political establishment, featuring her on the cover in a $6 thrift shop red blazer.
O’Donnell, 41, defeated nine-term U.S. representative and former Gov. Mike Castle in the Republican primary for Senate, but lost in November to Democrat Chris Coons.
During the race, comedian Bill Maher aired statements O’Donnell made in 1999 in which she said that “I dabbled into witchcraft.” Her following campaign ad stating she was not a witch spawned numerous parodies.
O’Donnell said her book points out that she was telling young people about her teenage years and how her life changed when she embraced Christianity. In retrospect, O’Donnell said she would not have launched the ad campaign that just drew more attention to a non-issue.
And that’s another purpose of her book - to give advice on political pitfalls and to encourage others to run for office by saying “if she can do it, so can I,” Donnell said.
O’Donnell said she won’t rule out running for office again.
As she tours the country, O’Donnell continues to draw controversy.
She walked off CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” last week after he asked her about her views on gay marriage. She said she walked off because the show’s videotaping had gone overtime, but volunteered to come back and say that states should individually decide the issue.
Who's Buying Christine O'Donnell's Book?
On Google News, I count more than 300 articles about 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's new memoir, and more than 200 just about an incident from last night -- her walking out of an interview with America's Got Talent host Piers Morgan. I see a serious mismatch of media attention to public interest.
What do I mean? O'Donnell was, sort of infamously, the most-covered political candidate of 2010. Having been a frequent conservative guest on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, there was a lot of tape of her saying stupid things, and she became an irresistable "News of the Weird" kind of story. But there's no evidence that actual humans still care about her story. Today, after the Piers Morgan stunt, her memoir is only the 2,300th 18,656th (as of today) best-selling book on Amazon.com. By comparison, George W. Bush's memoir -- which has been out for nine months -- is the 797th best-selling book on Amazon. O'Donnell's book isn't selling.
And that shouldn't surprise anyone. A month ago, I asked Nielsen's Bookscan what its own sales figures were for a series of recent Tea Party books. Their numbers aren't comprehensive, but they give us a sense of whether books are becoming best-sellers. According to Nielsen, Rand Paul's memoir, "The Tea Party Comes to Washington," had sold 6,000 copies. "Boiling Mad," a highly-touted study of the Tea Party by New York Times reporter Kate Zernike, had sold around 2,000. The best-selling Tea Party book I could find was "Give Us Liberty," by FreedomWorks's Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe. That had moved more than 20,000 units. None of these books, though, was becoming a "Going Rogue"-sized hit.
Will Michele Bachmann's upcoming memoir fly off the shelves? I'm guessing it'll do well in the heat of a presidential campaign, even if she's fading by then. (The post-Ames, post-Perry polls showing Bachmann failing to build momentum don't auger well for her.) A memoir by a 2010 candidate who attracted some tabloid gawks, though? One whose biggets revelation is that the candidate regrets saying "I'm not a witch" in a TV ad? There's no evidence that actual humans want to read this as much as political geeks and TV bookers want to make fun of it.