‘Fire and Fury’ could yield $7.4M for Wolff

Demand for new book on Trump’s White House chaos has caught many by surprise

Michael Wolff may have already reaped $1 million (U.S.) from his controversial book about President Donald Trump and stands to earn $7.4 million or more if readers snap up copies that are now on the way to stores.

Fire and Fury, Wolff’s account of Trump’s first year in the White House, is selling so fast that bookstores have run out and his publisher is rushing to deliver more.

Publishing economics can be complicated, and details of Wolff’s contract aren’t public. Neither the author nor his publisher, Henry Holt & Co., a division of Macmillan, responded to requests for comment.

But to get a rough estimate of what Wolff has made so far, let’s assume he gets15 per cent of the book’s list price — a typical royalty rate — and a $500,000 advance.

In two days, Wolff’s book sold more than 29,000 hardcover copies. Retailers sold 250,000 ebooks and 100,000 audio books

In its first two days, Wolff’s book, with a list price of $30, sold more than 29,000 hardcover copies, according to NPD BookScan, which tracks 85 per cent of the U.S. market. Retailers also sold 250,000 ebooks, and 100,000 audio books, the publisher told The Associated Press on Jan.10. They go for $14.99 and $27.99.

Add up all those sales, multiplied by the prices, and you get revenue of $7.42 million. Subtract the advance, and at15 per cent he gets $1.11million.

Wolff stands to make much more. While updated NPD sales figures won’t be available until Wednesday, his publisher said last Thursday there are1.4 million hardcover copies in the pipeline.

If those sell, he stands to collect another $6.3 million. He could also auction off the paperback rights and movie rights.

It’s too early to tell whether Fire and Furywill shatter any book publishing records, says Kristen McLean, executive director of business development at NPD.

“Demand for the Wolff book took everybody by surprise,” McLean said. “We’re really playing catch up in print and, perhaps because of it, there have been pretty substantial ebook and audio sales. We’ll have to see exactly where it lands in a few weeks.”

Trump has labelled the book “fiction” and its author a “fraud,” renewing his call for stronger libel laws to help people who are targeted by false or defamatory statements. “Can’t say things that are false, knowingly false, and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account,” Trump said Wednesday.

Wolff has stood by his reporting, much of which corroborates previous reports from other news organizations.