HILLARY Clinton is testing her worth on the free market by returning to the speaking circuit.

Clinton has signed on with the Harry Walker Agency, the Associated Press reported, where she regularly commanded $US200,000 ($263,700) or more per speech before her failed campaign for the White House.

The AP reported Wednesday that Clinton will also be writing a book, still untitled, featuring a compilation of personal essays, “inspired by the hundreds of quotations she has been collecting for decades”.

“These are the words I live by,” Clinton said in a press release from her publisher, Simon & Schuster. “These quotes have helped me celebrate the good times, laugh at the absurd times, persevere during the hard times and deepen my appreciation of all life has to offer.”

The publisher said Clinton will use the quotes to “tell stories from her life, up to and including her experiences in the 2016 presidential campaign” and into her thoughts on the future.

“I hope by sharing these words and my thoughts about them, the essays will be meaningful for readers,” Clinton said.

Clinton worked with the Harry Walker Agency after she stepped down in 2013 as secretary of state. Clinton’s lucrative career as a speaker, notably her talks sponsored by Goldman Sachs, were criticised by primary opponent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and others as a sign that she was too close to the financial industry.

Clinton does have some speeches arranged, but not through the Walker agency, Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill told the AP.

On March 8, she will address an International Women’s Day event organised by Vital Voices, the initiative Clinton and then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright founded in 1997. Clinton will speak at a gala for the LGBT Community Center in New York on April 20, and, on May 26, she will give the commencement address at her alma mater, Wellesley College. Her student address at the 1969 graduation ceremony helped make her a national figure.

Wednesday’s announcements mark a growing re-emergence for Clinton, who ran twice for the White House, hoping to become the country’s first woman president. She lost to Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primaries and, despite winning the popular vote, to Trump in 2016.

Clinton, 69, was defeated in one of the harshest presidential elections in modern times, with Trump threatening to jail his opponent because of her use of a private email server while secretary of state. She has made few public comments since the election, but attended Trump’s inauguration earlier this month and has been critical of his policies.

She tweeted in support of the nationwide women’s marches held the day after his inauguration and condemned his recent executive order restricting immigration. Her pinned tweet quotes remarks she gave November 9, the day after Election Day: “To all the little girls watching ... never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world.”

News reports have speculated that Clinton may run for mayor of New York City this year, although her book plans and return to the Walker agency make that unlikely. Merrill declined comment.

In addition to the fall release of her book of essays, Clinton is slated to publish a children’s book. That volume, also scheduled for the fall, is said to be based on her 1995 book It Takes A Village. Clinton will collaborate with Marla Frazee, a two-time Caldecott finalist for the year’s outstanding picture book.

It Takes a Village was Clinton’s first book and came out in 1995, when she was First Lady. Clinton has since published Dear Socks, Dear Buddy and the best-selling memoirs Living History, which covered her life through her years as first lady and her successful Senate run in New York in 2000, and Hard Choices, about her years as secretary of state during Obama’s first term.

If the 2016 campaign was her last, her book of essays would be her first written while she was neither in public office nor anticipating a future run. A Simon & Schuster spokesman said the book’s expected length was 384 pages, but declined to say how far along Clinton was with the manuscript. Simon & Schuster Carolyn Reidy said in a statement that she had been discussing such a book with Clinton since 1994.

“We are delighted that Secretary Clinton finally thinks the time is right to share the words and thoughts that nourished and enriched her, and defined the experiences of her extraordinary life,” Reidy said.

Financial terms were not disclosed for her essay collection. Clinton was represented by Washington lawyer Robert Barnett, whose other clients include former President Obama and Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton. Net author proceeds from It Takes a Village will be donated to charity.