Why Don't Political Books Succeed?

Politicians are writing more and more books, but they aren't selling, says Politico. Publishing insiders say the market for political books is getting crowded, and that many of them are "the equivalent of a speech on C-SPAN." Recent books by people other than a Clinton or Obama aren't doing so well: "Combined, [Senator Harry] Reid and [Nancy] Pelosi have sold just 6,500 books, according to Nielsen BookScan. As a point of comparison, What Happened—the tell-all memoir by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan - has sold more than 170,000 copies." As a pure exercise in vanity, however, it's vital to have a book if you're a politician: what better way to control your message? You can also leave a record of your policy ideas, unmolested by the pesky press. For those reasons alone, maybe it doesn't matter if they don't sell.