Mike Pence has signed a two-book deal for his memoir that is reported to be worth millions of dollars, making him one of the first of former president Donald Trump’s inner circle to announce such a lucrative arrangement.
Pence’s autobiography, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in 2023. CNN reported that the former vice-president’s deal is worth seven figures, somewhere between $3m and $4m.
“I am grateful to have the opportunity to tell the story of my life in public service to the American people, from serving in Congress, to the Indiana governor’s office and as vice-president of the United States,” Pence said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the outstanding team at Simon & Schuster to invite readers on a journey from a small town in Indiana to Washington DC.”
Simon & Schuster announced on Wednesday that it also signed Pence to a second book but did not immediately provide details. Pence is the first major Trump administration official to have an announced deal since the president left office in January, although the former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo are among those reportedly working on books.
A Pence memoir will probably be subject to tensions similar to those the former vice-president has faced since he refused Trump’s demands that he help overturn the election results. Among Democrats and others who opposed Trump, Pence is widely seen as Trump’s loyal and complicit ally. Meanwhile, Trump supporters, and Trump himself, denounced him for not intervening on 6 January in Congress’s formal certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
The certification – that Pence had no power to change – was delayed for hours after hundreds of Trump supporters, some chanting “Hang Mike Pence”, stormed the US Capitol.
Simon & Schuster’s vice-president, Dana Canedy, said that Pence’s book would be “revelatory”, without specifically saying whether he would address the events of 6 January.
“Vice-President Pence’s life and work, his journey as a Christian, the challenges and triumphs he has faced, and the lessons he has learned, tells an American story of extraordinary public service during a time of unrivaled public interest in our government and politics,” Canedy said. “His revelatory autobiography will be the definitive book on one of the most consequential presidencies in American history.”
Associated Press contributed to this report