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Hillary Clinton to pen reflections in two book deal

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The appetite for the memoirs of leading political figures shows no sign of abating, even among the vanquished, with Hillary Clinton landing a two-book deal.

After a bruising campaign loss to the celebrity businessman, Donald Trump, the former Democratic presidential candidate is working on a book of personal essays organised around favourite quotations that have inspired her over her lifetime and which will include her thoughts on the Trump campaign and her unexpected election defeat.

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The second will be a children's picture book version of her 1995 bestseller, It Takes a Village, with net author proceeds pledged to charity. This book was the first she ever wrote and came out when she was First Lady.

Clinton reportedly received $8 million for her best-selling memoirs Living History (2003), penned when she was a New York senator, and $14 million for Hard Choices (2014) about her life as secretary of state, and Democratic runner up to Barack Obama. 

Publisher Simon & Schuster said Clinton, 69, will use the quotes to "tell stories from her life, up to and including her experiences in the 2016 presidential campaign" and her thoughts on the future.

"These are the words I live by," Clinton said in a statement. "These quotes have helped me celebrate the good times, laugh at the absurd times, persevere during the hard times and deepen my appreciation of all life has to offer."

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"I hope by sharing these words and my thoughts about them, the essays will be meaningful for readers," Clinton added amid speculation she might run as the mayor of New York.

Former president Obama can expect to attract a multi-million dollar deal when he inks a publishing deal, and so can Clinton, according to University of Melbourne chief executive, Louise Adler.    

"His memoirs will be all the more valuable because he can write which is not always a given in this genre," says Adler, who has published the memoirs of Mark Latham, Tony Abbott and Peter Costello.

"While "losers" memoirs aren't usually great successes, Hillary Clinton's memoirs will break that rule. She certainly has a powerful story to tell that will appeal to the political class, the sisterhood and the cognoscenti still trying to understand why Trump prevailed." 

Ms Adler says speculating on advances for political grandees was "not a simple mathematical calculation of a ten percent royalty of the recommended retail price".

"Publishers with deep pockets will form a view about how many "units" will sell, the commercial value of a Big Name in their stable, the prime retail space the book will command and then reason will give way to the lust to win which is the hallmark of our species."