One Week into Release, Quinn's Memoir is Reluctant to Sell

The personal memoir of Christine Quinn, the leading Democratic candidate in New York City’s mayoral race, was made available to readers last week and has since been slow to sell.

As of Wednesday afternoon, “With Patience and Fortitude: A Memoir” had sold only about 100 print copies, according to Nielsen BookScan, and was ranked number 26 in the category of biographies and memoirs on Amazon.com.

Peter McCarthy, president of the publishing consulting firm McCarthy Digital and a former executive at Random House and Penguin Group, says this kind of book takes time to become popular and the mere fact that it was published is a victory for Quinn.

“My experience working with politicians’ books is the mere fact that they get published often satisfies about 70 percent of the goals,” McCarthy said by telephone.

McCarthy says Quinn’s book is regional – meaning that its significance has little bearing on readers outside the Greater New York area  – although the book has the potential to become more popular across the country if Quinn gains public notoriety (like if she wins the election).

“It’s a little early to start judging how the book is performing overall,” he said.

Despite the sluggish sales, Quinn maintains an optimistic attitude: “If this book and my experiences as a young woman can help even one young girl worried about whether things get better after difficult moments in life, then it will have been worth every second spent writing it,” she told the New York Daily News.

Click here to learn about the making of Quinn's book.

Andy Dodds, a spokesman for Harper Collins, did not return a request for comment.