Robert Barnett, "a giant in the publishing world who negotiated book deals for presidents, royalty and bestselling novelists while acting as a kind of consigliere for many of his political clients," died September 26, the New York Times reported. He was 79. Barnett "wielded enormous influence in the market for political memoirs and helped to usher in the era of megadeals. He got eye-popping advances for his clients, in the seven- and eight-figure range."
Barnett helped negotiate Hillary Clinton's $8 million advance for her memoir, Living History (2003), and landed a reported $10 million deal for Bill Clinton's memoir, My Life (2004) memoir. In 2017, he helped Barack and Michelle Obama negotiate a joint book deal with Penguin Random House for a reported advance of about $65 million.
With some of his high-profile clients, however, Barnett "did more than just negotiate deals; he acted as a political consultant and sounding board," the Times noted. In Living History, Hillary Clinton described how, when she was in denial about her husband's affair with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky. It was Barnett who gently suggested that they might be true.
"Bob was a dear friend, a brilliant lawyer, and an indispensable political adviser," Hillary Clinton said.
Noting that Barnett carved out an unusual role for himself in publishing, The Times wrote while the major publishing houses are largely based in New York City, Barnett worked in Washington, D.C. In addition, he was a lawyer, not an agent, and rather than taking a commission he charged an hourly fee, reported to be in the $750 to $1,000 range, "a relative bargain when a book deal reached into the millions."
Barnett also represented George W. and Laura Bush, Senator Mitch McConnell, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Republican strategist Karl Rove, and political consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin. He worked with business leaders such as former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, as well as the Prince of Wales, Queen Noor of Jordan, and Barbra Streisand.
Bob Woodward was a client, as were journalists Brian Williams, Lesley Stahl, and Brit Hume. In addition, Barnett represented bestselling novelists, including James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, and Khaled Hosseini.
Barnett urged Bill Clinton to write a thriller and introduced him to Patterson, which led them to co-write three bestselling novels. Barnett also sold to publishers a thriller written by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny, as well as a novel by Patterson and Dolly Parton. This year, Barnett helped negotiate a deal for a novel co-written jointly by Patterson and Jimmy Donaldson, the YouTube star known as MrBeast.
"He was the man to see," said Jonathan Karp, the CEO of Simon & Schuster. "When you negotiated with Bob Barnett, you always knew he was being transparent, that he was telling you the truth, and that he was doing the best for his clients."
Asked about his ability to remain above political rancor in a 2004 interview with the Times, Barnett replied, "In law school, I majored in tightrope-walking."
HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray observed: "He was a classic of that generation where your humanity came first and politics was not even second."