Add The New York Post on Google Former First Lady Jill Biden’s memoir had a brief run atop the New York Times bestseller list before tumbling out of the rankings just weeks later — fueling online speculation that its lofty debut owed more to bulk book orders than to sustained reader demand.
“View from the East Wing,” which was published by Simon & Schuster’s imprint Gallery Books, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction list on June 21 with a dagger (†) symbol indicating that retailers reported some bulk purchases.
The sharp drop has sparked claims on social media that the 299-page book reached the top through orchestrated buying campaigns instead of real consumer demand.
Former FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver was among the most prominent critics, writing on X that the memoir “debuted at #1 on the NYT due to astroturfed bulk orders” before noting that it was “completely” off the list two weeks later and calling such a rapid decline “very rare.”
Publishing experts caution that the reality is more nuanced.
“I don’t think there is anything sinister about it,” Lauren Cobello, founder and CEO of Leverage with Media PR, told The Post.
“I think it’s a strategy, a smart strategy for how people are engaging their network so that they can get more books in the hands of their readers,” she said of bulk buying.
Cobello, whose agency specializes in launching bestselling books, said bulk purchases are a routine feature of modern publishing campaigns — particularly for politicians, celebrities and high-profile authors embarking on national book tours.
It debuted at #1 on the NYT due to astroturfed bulk orders (not my opinion it got the infamous † indicating this) and is now *completely* off the list 2 weeks later. Very rare for a "#1" to fall that fast. Virtually no one except political reporters are actually reading it. https://t.co/dUU8kswlDN
Rather than reflecting warehouse-stuffing or phantom sales, many bulk orders come from bookstores hosting author appearances, speaking engagements or conferences, where hundreds of copies may be purchased in advance for attendees.
“It’s almost impossible to not have bulk orders” for major political figures and celebrities, Cobello said, noting that bookstores hosting large events often place orders for hundreds of books at a time.
Those purchases are still legitimate sales, she said, even if the Times flags them with its dagger symbol.
The Times has never fully disclosed how it compiles its influential bestseller lists, which rely on a proprietary methodology rather than raw sales totals alone.
“When The Times has reason to believe that sales of a book include a mix of organic and bulk sales, the book’s best-seller ranking is accompanied by a dagger,” a spokesperson for the paper told The Post.
Circana BookScan, whose retail sales data is widely used throughout the publishing industry, often produces rankings that differ from the Times’.
“You can have the highest number of sales, but still not hit the New York Times list,” Cobello said. “The New York Times is very elusive in terms of who gets on their list.”
Publicly available Circana data paints a picture of a book that launched strongly before quickly losing momentum.
According to Publishers Weekly’s Circana BookScan rankings, “View from the East Wing” fell from No. 2 to No. 5 and then to No. 16 on the hardcover nonfiction chart over successive weeks.
Those figures broadly mirrored the trajectory on the Times list, even if the exact rankings differed because the two organizations use different methodologies.
Cobello said the timing of Biden’s national book tour likely explains much of the bulk-order activity.
The former first lady held several high-profile appearances shortly after publication, a strategy commonly used by publishers to build early momentum and maximize first-week sales by having participating bookstores place their orders before events begin.
“She probably had bulk purchases, but because she’s on a book tour, that would make sense,” Cobello said. “The bulk purchases are linked to her book tour.”
She also pushed back on the suggestion that the memoir’s rapid decline necessarily signals failure.
“It wasn’t a complete flop,” Cobello said, pointing to its continued appearance on the USA Today bestseller list after it exited the Times rankings.
“She definitely had some bulk orders, but I think they were tied to the events that she had.”
Especially for political memoirs, industry veterans say bulk purchases have become an accepted part of the marketing playbook rather than evidence of wrongdoing.
“Some people think that bulk orders are bad, and they’re not all bad,” Cobello said.
The memoir has generated headlines for more than its bestseller status.
In one of its most startling revelations, Biden writes that as she watched then-President Joe Biden struggle through his disastrous June 2024 debate against President Trump, she briefly wondered whether her husband was “having a stroke” or had been drugged.
She ultimately concludes it was neither, but the passage fueled suspicions that those closest to Joe Biden recognized the severity of his condition even as the White House publicly insisted he remained fit for office.
“Gallery is thrilled with our publication of Jill Biden’s memoir ‘View from the East Wing’ which has spent two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list,” a spokesperson for Gallery Books told The Post.
“After debuting at #1, the book was #3 for a second week on the list.”
The spokesperson said that “sales have been driven across retailers with a launch that included national media coverage and in-conversation events at venues partnered with independent bookstores.”
The Post has sought comment from the Times and Jill Biden.
