NEW Hillary Clinton Memoir

Brace yourself. This summer: Hillary on book tour.

A LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER OF Hillary's BOOK

Dear Reader,

I was trying to convey to my young daughter the significance of publishing Hillary Rodham Clinton, so I typed “Most Admired Woman in the World” on Google. You can guess whose name came up first, again and again.

Much will be written about Secretary Clinton’s latest book, Hard Choices. Here’s what I know, based on my own experience as her editor and her long history with our company:

Secretary Clinton has been a loyal Simon & Schuster author for 18 years, working with Carolyn Reidy, Simon & Schuster’s Chief Executive Officer, who acquired all five of her books. It Takes a Village (1996) explored the ways in which public policy affects children. Living History (2003), her first memoir, spent 18 weeks on The New York Timesbestseller list, was published in 36 countries, and sold approximately four million copies worldwide.

The author worked on Hard Choices from February 2013 through May 2014, mostly on the third floor of her home in Chappaqua, New York. The book principally covers her four years as America’s 67th Secretary of State, but those experiences are informed by events throughout her entire public life, which she also describes. As her editor, I’m pleased to report that Secretary Clinton addressed every topic I raised while working on the manuscript, through numerous drafts.

While she was writing, she had to balance a challenging set of objectives: to tell interesting and entertaining stories while offering substantive analysis of policy; to describe her experiences as Secretary of State accurately and candidly without compromising the trust of her former colleagues and ongoing diplomatic efforts; to cover recent history while also looking forward; to raise awareness of crucial issues; and to engage readers of general nonfiction as well as those who follow international issues closely.

The result of those efforts is a brilliantly perceived, behind-the-scenes account of how world leaders make decisions that affect our lives.

No one has had the range of experience Hillary Clinton has had. Over the past 22 years, she has been our First Lady, a U.S. Senator, and a Secretary of State. Only a few people in the world have had such a close and sustained view of major events. That’s why the stories and analysis in Hard Choices are so illuminating. With this remarkable book, Hillary Clinton has made a lasting contribution to the historical record, and, more immediately, an important contribution to an international conversation all of us will benefit from having.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Karp

President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster