5 June 2014
Last updated at 20:39 ET
Clinton's book is a memoir, but it reads like a draft "of a potential 2016 convention speech", according to a Wall Street Journal reporter.
Regardless of the politics behind it, the memoir, which will appear on 10 June, is likely to do well. The publisher, Simon and Schuster, has printed a million copies. Here are some facts about the book.
It was not easy to come up with a title.
Hillary Clinton memoir: Five things to know
In
Hard Choices, Hillary Clinton is coy about her marriage and other
personal matters - but forthright about the role she played in Benghazi.
Regardless of the politics behind it, the memoir, which will appear on 10 June, is likely to do well. The publisher, Simon and Schuster, has printed a million copies. Here are some facts about the book.
It was not easy to come up with a title.
One possibility was The Scrunchie Chronicles: 112 Countries and It Is Still All About My Hair, Clinton says, according to the New York Daily News' Lisa Marsh.
Clinton's struggle to come up with the right title shows that she is a conscientious writer - and has a sense of humour.
Perhaps even more important Clinton is thinking about her image, says Marsh, adding that on the book cover she looks like Tina Brown - "tanned, rested, ready and with perfect highlights".
In Clinton's case, Marsh argues, this means that she looks presidential.
In a video released on Facebook, she explains what she means by hard choices, saying that everyone faces difficult choices - and challenges - in their life, such as how to find a good job and then how to keep it.
In addition, she says, they face choices about education and "whether to get married, whether to stay married".
True - but the title she rejected sounds more fun.
The book is not for Washington insiders
It is written for the common man - or woman, she says.
"While my views and experiences will surely be scrutinised by followers of Washington's long-running soap opera - who took what side, who opposed whom, who was up and who was down - I didn't write this book for them," she says, according to Politico.
"I wrote it for Americans and people everywhere who are trying to make sense of this rapidly changing world of ours," she writes.
She says she is hoping to reach out to those "who want to understand how leaders and nations can work together and why they sometimes collide, and how their decisions affect all our lives".
But maybe not at first. Rather than disdaining Washington insiders, as she claims, she has catered to them, at least in the early stages. An advance copy of her book was sent to a consummate insider, journalist Mike Allen, according to NPR News.
The goal is to sell - both the book and her as a candidate
Clinton's struggle to come up with the right title shows that she is a conscientious writer - and has a sense of humour.
Perhaps even more important Clinton is thinking about her image, says Marsh, adding that on the book cover she looks like Tina Brown - "tanned, rested, ready and with perfect highlights".
In Clinton's case, Marsh argues, this means that she looks presidential.
In a video released on Facebook, she explains what she means by hard choices, saying that everyone faces difficult choices - and challenges - in their life, such as how to find a good job and then how to keep it.
In addition, she says, they face choices about education and "whether to get married, whether to stay married".
True - but the title she rejected sounds more fun.
The book is not for Washington insiders
It is written for the common man - or woman, she says.
"While my views and experiences will surely be scrutinised by followers of Washington's long-running soap opera - who took what side, who opposed whom, who was up and who was down - I didn't write this book for them," she says, according to Politico.
"I wrote it for Americans and people everywhere who are trying to make sense of this rapidly changing world of ours," she writes.
She says she is hoping to reach out to those "who want to understand how leaders and nations can work together and why they sometimes collide, and how their decisions affect all our lives".
But maybe not at first. Rather than disdaining Washington insiders, as she claims, she has catered to them, at least in the early stages. An advance copy of her book was sent to a consummate insider, journalist Mike Allen, according to NPR News.
The goal is to sell - both the book and her as a candidate
On 9 June, the day before the book is available, she will do
an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer. It is the first of many
interviews and appearances that are designed to promote the book and
Clinton's views.
That weekend she will sign books at Costco, a warehouse store and one of the nation's most important tastemakers.
Part of the book is personal. In an excerpt that appears in Vogue magazine, she writes about her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who grew up poor and started working as a housekeeper at age 14.
Much of the memoir, however, focuses on her work at the state department. It seems designed to appeal to potential voters, describing the work she has done in the government.
She has not declared her candidacy in the 2016 presidential campaign, but she seems on the verge of making it official.
She wants to put the past behind her
That weekend she will sign books at Costco, a warehouse store and one of the nation's most important tastemakers.
Part of the book is personal. In an excerpt that appears in Vogue magazine, she writes about her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who grew up poor and started working as a housekeeper at age 14.
Much of the memoir, however, focuses on her work at the state department. It seems designed to appeal to potential voters, describing the work she has done in the government.
She has not declared her candidacy in the 2016 presidential campaign, but she seems on the verge of making it official.
She wants to put the past behind her
Clinton is unlikely to devote much, if any, of the book to Monica Lewinsky.
As Clinton said in a recent interview, according to the New York Times, she has decided to "move on" and not dwell on the affair that her husband had with the former intern.
She will attack her enemies
As Clinton said in a recent interview, according to the New York Times, she has decided to "move on" and not dwell on the affair that her husband had with the former intern.
She will attack her enemies
She has a huge fan base - and plenty of detractors. One of the
most controversial parts of the book is likely to be a chapter entitled
"Benghazi: Under Attack".
In this section she tries to defend her actions after the attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed Ambassador J Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
She also lashes out at those who have criticised her.
"I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans. It's just plain wrong, and it's unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me," she says, according to a Politico writer.
Her detractors seem unfazed. They are planning to release an e-book, Failed Choices: A Critique of the Clinton State Department, that attacks her account.
More are likely to follow.
In this section she tries to defend her actions after the attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed Ambassador J Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
She also lashes out at those who have criticised her.
"I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans. It's just plain wrong, and it's unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me," she says, according to a Politico writer.
Her detractors seem unfazed. They are planning to release an e-book, Failed Choices: A Critique of the Clinton State Department, that attacks her account.
More are likely to follow.
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