Former President Bill Clinton Speaks to Publishers

Former President Bill Clinton defended his local independent bookstore in a speech today. GalleyCat editor Ron Hogan has been Twitter-ing all morning at the Association of American Publishers’ annual meeting, live-blogging the former President’s speech. Follow all the AAP updates here.

Some highlights from Hogan’s feed: “Clinton is ‘still trying to keep our independent bookstore in Chappaqua alive.’” “Clinton is still calling Steven Johnson‘s book ‘Into Thin Air.’ Sorry, Steven. But he clearly read and loved it.” “Clinton just said Malcolm’s Gladwell’s Outliers is his best book. He learned ‘even genius needs opportunity.’”

The AP recalled the former President’s affection for publishers: “[Clinton] has appeared before the book community before. In 2004, he was the keynote speaker at BookExpo America, the industry’s annual national convention. Clinton was promoting the upcoming release of ‘My Life,’ which went on to sell more than 1 million copies.”

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