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Hillary Clinton meets fans who waited hours at Seattle book store

Quick Facts: 

  • Hillary Rodham Clinton at University Book Store in Seattle.
  • Her book, "Hard Choices," has sold more than 100,000 copies in first week.
  • Some fans waited outside the bookstore for hours - at least one since midnight.

Hundreds of people lined up outside the University Book Store – some as early as midnight – to see former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She was in Seattle on Wednesday as part of a book tour for “Hard Choices," her second memoir that sold more than 100,000 copies during its opening week. For $38, people received a signed copy of the book, a brief meeting with the former first lady and the chance to take pictures.

Kit Kurtz of Edmonds arrived at midnight, sleeping near the book store in her van. She arrived Wednesday night in her black Clinton 2008 T-shirt.

Kurtz joked that she’d she'll ask Clinton to write, "I'm bored with being adored" in her book.

"Hard Choices" sold well enough to earn the coveted No. 1 spot on the nonfiction hardcover list of The New York Times that comes out June 29. But its debut was also far slower than that for her previous memoir, "Living History," which sold around 600,000 copies during its first week.

One likely difference: "Living History," published in 2003, included her first extended comments on the affair between President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Anticipation for "Hard Choices," which covers her four years as secretary of state, focused more on whether it would include any hints that she was running for president.

"Hard Choices," which also included little about her contentious primary campaign against Barack Obama in 2008, ends with Clinton saying she is still undecided about seeking the presidency again.

Many people who went to the University Book Store Wednesday night hoped she would. By noon, the line had dozens of people waiting.

Both of Clinton's memoirs have received mixed reviews, although that has not discouraged her most devoted fans.

Simon & Schuster has said the initial print run for "Hard Choices" was over 1 million copies, similar to the pre-publication total for "Living History." Karp said he was confident "Hard Choices" would sell out its first printing because "Clinton looms so large as a figure on the world stage."

As of Wednesday afternoon, "Hard Choices" was No. 4 on the best-seller lists for both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Information from Associated Press reporter Hillel Italie is included in this report.

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