Bachmann memoir coming in November

[August 30, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Michele Bachmann has a book deal.

Sentinel, a conservative imprint of Penguin Group (USA), announced Monday that the Republican presidential candidate's memoir will arrive in November and already has been completed. The book, reports of which first circulated in June, is currently untitled.

Sentinel declined comment on whether Bachmann had assistance on the book. Former Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund said reports that he worked on it were wrong. He said that he had no involvement with the book.

As a member of the House of Representatives, Bachmann is not permitted to receive an advance against royalties.

According to Sentinel, Bachmann will "share previously untold stories" about her private life, "including her roles as a tax attorney, a wife, a mother of five and a foster mother of 23." Virtually all of the Republicans candidates have published books, a standard for modern presidential campaigns.

"People are the most important ingredient in life," Bachmann said in a statement issued Monday through Sentinel. "I love people, and I care deeply that our nation's economy turns around so they can realize their American dream. This book will help to share my enthusiasm for an energized, pro-growth economy, and the life experiences that inform my optimism for the American people and for American greatness."

Bachmann formally entered the race to seek the GOP nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 in June. By August, she was celebrating a win in the closely watched Iowa Republican straw poll, a test of strength in the leadoff caucus state. But Texas Gov. Rick Perry's decision to join the field has weakened Bachmann's standing in the polls. She trails Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, with Texas Rep. Ron Paul also in the race.

Doug Sachtleben, a Bachmann spokesman, said the book rollout shouldn't detract from her campaign.

"Throughout Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida, the congresswoman has kept a full schedule of meeting and talking with thousands of people, and she will continue with that full campaign schedule all through the days up to and beyond the release of her memoir," Sachtleben said.

Bachmann's climb comes barely five years after her arrival in Washington. The outspoken congresswoman tapped into anger about taxes and government spending that gave rise to the tea party and paired it with a social conservative following she honed in Minnesota.

She also has a history of controversial remarks, most recently when she said that Hurricane Irene and last week's earthquake near Washington were signs that God was unhappy about government spending. Bachmann later explained that she was joking.

Now 55, Bachmann didn't get her political start until her mid-40s, when she won a state Senate seat the year after losing a local school board race.

[Associated Press; HILLEL ITALIE]

Associated Press writer Brian Bakst in St. Paul contributed to this report.

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