Little, Brown to publish Obama’s deputy chief of staff

Little, Brown is publishing a memoir by former President Barack Obama’s deputy chief of staff that is already a New York Times bestseller: Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco.

David Bamford at Little, Brown signed UK, Commonwealth rights excluding Canada, and European rights to Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House from Nicole Bond at Grand Central Publishing in the US.

The book is a frank behind-the-scenes political memoir revealing what working in the White House was like. It contains anecodes from meeting the queen to bursting in on secret climate talks, following Mastromonaco’s career alongside Obama’s. In it, Mastromonaco also shares the strategies that made her successful in politics and beyond, meditating on the importance of confidence, the value of "not being a jerk", and why ultimately everything comes down to hard work.

TV series rights in Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? have been optioned by Mindy Kaling, creator and star of "The Mindy Project".

Little, Brown will publish Who Thought This Was a Good Idea in trade paperback, e-book and audio download in August.