Turns Out, Gavin Newsoms Best-Selling Memoir

When politicians write a guide (and the phrase “write” is doing heavy lifting because they use ghostwriters), they’re typically not likely attempting to promote books; they’re wanting for an excuse to be booked on news exhibits and do a bunch of marketing campaign occasions disguised as a guide tour, and within a few months you will discover copies at Dollar Tree, or the cut price bin at Barnes & Noble if they’re fortunate.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is no exception; he used his latest guide, a memoir entitled “Young Man in a Hurry,” as an excuse to go on a pre-presidential marketing campaign tour. When the guide debuted at quantity 5 on USA Today’s Best Selling Booklist, Newsom issued a assertion thanking his readers:

“I’m humbled and grateful to everyone who picked up the book and engaged with this deeply personal story of discovery, grief, growth and pain. This book reflects on the people and moments that shaped my life — from family and failure to public service — and the lesson that our journeys are rarely linear.”

At that time, NBC Palm Springs reported:

“State officials say more than 91,000 copies were sold through organic, non-bulk purchases across both in-person and online retailers nationwide. The book quickly climbed bestseller lists within hours of its release as readers showed strong interest in Newsom’s personal story and political journey.”

Well, that wasn’t the full story, as anybody who’s adopted Newsom’s profession might predict. Between November and January, Newsom made pleas on social media for followers to contribute “any amount” to his Campaign for Democracy PAC in exchange for a copy of the guide when it was launched.

“I have a book coming out in a few weeks. It’s called ‘Young Man in a Hurry.’ It’s a good book. Very personal. Not your normal political book at all.

. . .

“At the same time, we just spent a bunch of money on passing Prop 50, so now I need to refill that coffers at my Campaign for Democracy for the fights forward — including serving to other states go redistricting to stop Trump from rigging the next election.

“So here’s the part that may be a little crazy.

“If you make a contribution of ANY AMOUNT, I’ll ship you a copy of my new guide when it comes out. The average price per guide is $22.45 including delivery. If you may give that, great. If you’ll be able to only give $5, great. If you need to cowl the price for a few people who can only give a few bucks, great.”

According to Federal Elections Commission (FEC) stories analyzed by the New York Times, the PAC “spent $1,561,875 to buy and distribute copies of his guide through the donation program.”

They sold 67,000 books through the program, “roughly two-thirds of the 97,400 the print copies of the memoir that have been bought,” according to the New York Post.

Oof.

So, if 91,000 books had been bought as of March 4, and at this time that complete has only climbed by 6,400 books, that’s not a great look for Newsom.

I am unable to imagine that the tongue tub Jacob Soboroff gave Newsom when promo’ing this guide did not promote books 🫠 https://t.co/SVTSG4fPj1 pic.twitter.com/OKUZQFOvgl

— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) April 16, 2026

Nathan Click, spox for Newsom’s PAC, claims that they netted more money from contributors who took benefit of the offer than the price of the books and delivery. He added the predictable spin:

“We were thrilled with the response. Our goal was to deepen the relationship between him and the millions of folks who have already expressed support for Governor Newsom’s work. And as it turns out, the tactic more than paid for itself.”

Sure, Jan.

Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the reality about corrupt politicians like Gavin Newsom.

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