Analysis: Bill clinton, superstar

LOS ANGELES, June 15 (UPI) -- Former President Bill Clinton, whose memoir, "My Life," is coming to U.S. bookstores on June 22, is about to embark on a promotional tour likely to stoke public perception that he is part politician, part rock star.

Clinton's book tour began on June 3 when he was the keynote speaker at BookExpo America, the annual gathering of the American Booksellers Association and the publishing industry. Plans call for hourlong interviews with Dan Rather on "60 Minutes" and with Oprah Winfrey on her daily TV show.

Clinton will be on NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America," and -- according to Internet gossip Matt Drudge -- CBS Radio has ordered all of its news and talk radio stations to carry an hourlong special called "Clinton Connects with America," moderated by "CBS Morning News Show" host Harry Smith.

The New York Post reported that Time magazine has secured first print-interview rights with Clinton and will race "60 Minutes" to the marketplace to see who gets there first with the biggest scoop from the 957-page memoir.

Clinton also plans to conduct book signings at stores coast-to-coast -- a tour that is sure to generate widespread local media coverage, probably for months. According to the Boston Globe, hundreds of bookstores have been lobbying publisher Alfred A. Knopf for in-store appearances by the former president.

Veteran Los Angeles publicist Jane Ayer -- whose clients have included Paul McCartney and Kevin Costner -- called Clinton a "super superstar" and said it's no surprise that all the media outlets want in on Clinton when he comes to their town.

"An author gets very little time with the media, period," she said. "A celebrity gets decent time. But a president -- and a president like Bill Clinton who really is like a rock star -- is going to get enormous time. There aren't any other Bill Clintons out there. He's the biggest of big."

Los Angeles publicist Kim Dower -- who co-wrote a book on publicity and promotion, "Life Is a Series of Presentations," with Tony Jeary -- said it is highly unusual for network morning shows to share bookings with a guest.

"There usually are certain rules, like you pick a morning show to go to which is your first choice, and if you don't get that you go to your second choice," said Dower. "They are competitive shows. You have to choose one and not the other. With Bill Clinton people don't care who else has had him, they want him themselves."

Any conversation about the intense focus on Clinton must include the now-familiar observation that the former president's celebrity consumes a disproportionate share of "media oxygen" -- depriving other public figures of their share of the spotlight.

Rich Galen, a GOP strategist who operates the online political Web site mullings.com, said that from a political standpoint, nobody loses more on that account than John Kerry -- who is scheduled to receive the Democratic Party presidential nomination in Boston next month. However, Clinton reportedly plans to use his personal appearances to promote Kerry's presidential campaign, as well as his own book.

"That's a very dangerous game to play," said Galen. "There's a reason why Gore didn't want Clinton to campaign for him. Bill Clinton doesn't share well. He will consume all the media oxygen. He will convince himself he is helping, but it won't be the case."

According to the Boston Globe's Web site, Clinton and his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., have canceled plans for a signing party for their books during the Democratic convention out of concern that such an event would distract from Kerry's nomination.

While political consultants talk politics, Dower -- whose company Kim from L.A. specializes in book promotion -- said the event will also deprive other authors of opportunities to promote their work.

"Ten years ago there used to be two or three morning TV shows in each market," she said. "Today there's only one. Ten years ago every market had at least three or four local morning radio shows. Today with the syndications and the Rush Limbaughs and the Bill O'Reillys, and they suck up all the stations -- so we don't have separate stations the way we used to."

Dower said most U.S. cities have become one-newspaper towns, and most newspapers have cut their feature departments, further limiting the number of places a publicist can place an author.

The media blitz has yet to begin in earnest, but the book has already sold out its first printing of 1.5 million copies, according to the Kansas City Star. The paper said the book was No. 1 on Amazon.com's list last Wednesday and hit No. 1 the next day at Barnes & Noble's Web site.

The demand for Bill Clinton product is so strong right now that audible.com -- which will make Clinton's audio reading of an abridged version of "My Life" available for download at 12:01 a.m. on June 22 -- has had 12,000 takers for its offer of a free download of Clinton's speech at BookExpo.

Audible.com spokesman Jonathan Korzen said the company is not tracking interest in the title -- but that's just because there is no need to.

"That's the great thing about digital distribution," he said. "We receive a copy of the studio master from the publisher, we decode and convert and compress, and then that physical copy is made available for download."

Regardless of how many copies of "My Life" have already sold, Dower -- who is currently planning a 20-city book tour for pornography magnate Larry Flynt -- said Clinton is doing a smart thing by carrying his promotional tour to the retail level.

"There are people -- major celebrities -- who just do a satellite media tour and a few national shows and they call it a day," said Dower. "But he's going out there like politicians do, to meet and greet and talk to his audience of readers, which does ultimately sell books."

Regardless of how carefully planned the Clinton book tour may be, there are likely to be hiccups. Galen said the tour has already been disrupted -- by the weeklong series of memorials for former President Ronald Reagan, who died June 5.

"I think that put a big crimp in the run-up to what was supposed to have been, and may still be, the frenzied run-up to the publication," said Galen.

There is also a question of whether the public will tire of seeing so much of Clinton over the coming months that a backlash could develop. But Ayer doubts it.

"I think there's so much interest in politics right now," she said. "Look what just happened with the Ronald Reagan funeral coverage, which was enormous. I think there's such an interest in politics right now coming to the election, and with the world situation as it is, I don't really see a downside here."

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