If you’re an ambitious member of Congress with a national profile, there’s a tried and true way to make some extra money: write a book.
According to recently filed financial disclosures, 8 sitting US senators made more than $100,000 in extra income — on top of the $174,000 annual salary they each receive — from book royalties in 2023.
It’s an ongoing trend. Last year, six senators made more than their annual salary in book royalties.
That includes both Democrats and Republicans, each of whom have cashed in on a mixture of personal biographies, policy blueprints, and political manifestos that they’ve published in recent years.
Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia
Raphael Warnock, the first-term Democratic senator from Georgia, made more than $460,000 in book royalties last year.
That’s on top of more than $655,000 in 2022 and nearly $244,000 in 2021. Altogether, Warnock has made more than $1.3 million from selling books since he was elected to the Senate.
According to a disclosure that Warnock filed last year, covering the year 2022, the senator even went on a book tour for his 2022 memoir, “A Way Out of No Way,” in June and July of that year amid his competitive reelection fight against Republican Herschel Walker.
In his most recent disclosure, Warnock indicated that he had signed a new agreement with Penguin Random House in June 2023 to write two more books, entitled “We’re All In This Together 1” and “We’re All In This Together 2.”
There’s little public information about those forthcoming books, including when they’re set to be released, and a Warnock spokesperson did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas
Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and 2016 GOP presidential candidate known for hosting a thrice-weekly podcast, earned $390,000 last year from book royalties.
But that’s just one portion of a much larger windfall that Cruz is set to receive for his book writing.
In January 2022, Cruz signed an agreement with the the right-leaning Regnery Publishing to write two books for a grand total of $1.1 million, to be paid out in four installments. In total, Cruz has disclosed receiving $890,000 of that sum so far.
Those books include “Justice Corrupted: How the Left Weaponized Our Legal System,” published in 2022, as well as his 2023 book “Unwoke: How to Defeat Culture Marxism in America.”
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas
In 2022, Cotton published his second book, “Only the Strong: Reversing the Left’s Plot to Sabotage American Power.” Since then, he’s received a total of $600,000 in book royalties — $300,000 in both 2022 and 2023.
But while most senators appear to receive their book royalties directly, Cotton does it differently. He has established a limited liability company called TBC Books (Cotton’s full name is “Thomas Bryant Cotton”) that holds his royalty earnings. Then, he draws money from that entity as he sees fit.
In 2023, he withdrew $100,000. In 2022, he withdrew $73,537.
It’s not clear why Cotton uses an LLC rather than receiving the royalties directly, and a spokesperson did not return Business Insider’s request for comment.
Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama
Britt, the freshman Alabama senator best known for her 2024 State of the Union response, earned $233,750 in book royalties last year for her 2023 memoir, “God Calls Us to Do Hard Things: Lessons from the Alabama Wiregrass.”
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky
Paul, the staunchly libertarian Kentucky senator and 2016 GOP presidential candidate, earned $185,000 last year in book royalties for his 2023 book, “Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont
Sanders, the independent socialist Vermont senator and two-time Democratic presidential candidate, earned $148,750 in royalties last year from Penguin Random House.
The Vermont senator has published several books, the most recent of which is “It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.” In 2022, he earned enough in book royalties to essentially double his Senate salary.
“I wrote a best-selling book,” Sanders memorably told the New York Times in 2019. “If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too.”
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri
Hawley earned $127,500 in book royalties in 2023, according to his most recent financial disclosure.
That’s likely a windfall from his 2023 book “Manhood,” which argues in part that the political left is waging an assault on traditional masculinity.
But Hawley has another book on the way, as Business Insider first reported in May.
In October 2023, the Missouri senator signed an agreement with Regnery Publishing to write a book entitled “The Awakenings: The Religious Revivals that Made America — and Why We Need Another One.”
It is unclear when that book will be published, but a manuscript is due in January 2025, according to Regnery.
In 2021, Hawley made $467,000 in book royalties.
Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia
Kaine, the Virginia senator and 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee, earned $114,000 in book royalties last year for his memoir, “Walk, Ride, Paddle: A Life Outside.”
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