Weeks after Bill Clinton was first elected president, Simon & Schuster was among the publishers pawing around for a book on First Cat Socks. Cat books are one of the few safe bets in publishing, but this feline-elect was off-limits.
Six years later, however, children's letters to Socks and Buddy, the family dog acquired in 1997, are being gathered into a Simon & Schuster book that will carry the byline of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The publishing house announced Wednesday that it will bring out "Dear Socks, Dear Buddy" in November in an arrangement that will direct all author earnings from the book to the National Park Foundation, a nonprofit supporter of the National Park Service.
The book, aimed at children and parents, will feature a few dozen photographs of the first pets in action and an introduction by the first lady on the importance of encouraging youngsters to write.
"Some of the kids' letters are hilarious, some are sad, some are inquisitive; all of them are interesting," said Robert Barnett, a Washington attorney who specializes in high-profile book deals and represented Hillary Clinton.
Linda Kulman, a Washington-based journalist, is collaborating on the project.
The first lady's first book with Simon & Schuster, "It Takes a Village," focused on children's needs and ways to improve family and community life. Published in 1996, the book spent months on the national bestseller lists and has more than 500,000 copies in print.
The Clintons have paid taxes on earnings from "It Takes a Village"--author profits totaled more than $1 million through last year--and given the balance to charity. All royalties and ancillary author earnings, such as book club proceeds and magazine excerpts, from the Socks-Buddy book will go directly to the National Park Foundation, which will hold the copyright.
This could be a big seller, if recent presidential history is any guide.
Barbara Bush "helped" two of her family's dogs to write books. The second memoir, "Millie's Book," earned the former first lady $900,000 in charity-bound royalties in 1991 alone.
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