Republican John McCain signs a copy of his book, Why Courage Matters, at the opening of his presidential campaign office in Henderson, Nev., in June.

WHO IS YOUR 2008 MATCH? WHO IS YOUR 2008 MATCH? USA TODAY's issues game lets you compare your views with those of Barack Obama and John McCain. Weigh in on the issues, find your match and share the result with a friend. Enlarge By Alex Brandon, AP Author and Democratic candidate Barack Obama signs a book for a supporter in Columbus, Ohio, in June. Presidential race one for the books Best-selling authors and presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain again have their names on book jackets — this time in the title only. The shelf of books about the candidates and their campaigns is more crowded than usual this election season, and publishers are aiming at a wider audience because of the historic race between the Illinois Democrat and the Arizona Republican. Nearly two dozen books about Obama, including an unusually large number of kids' books, are out or on the way compared with about a dozen for 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry. At least half a dozen books are out or coming on McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee. "There seem to be a particularly large crop of books about Obama," says Sara Nelson, editor of Publishers Weekly. That's not surprising, she says: Obama is a relatively new national figure and, as the first African-American nominee of a major political party, has already made history. McCain's story is better known because of his 2000 campaign and the books he wrote about his military service and years as a Vietnam POW. His life story is "important and riveting and substantial," Nelson says. "It's just that people know it." The campaign bookshelf this year will include biographies, comics and humor books (Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle, and 72 Things Younger Than John McCain). A glossy photo book, The Rise of Barack Obama, features pictures by Pete Souza, who has trailed Obama since he arrived in the Senate in 2005. "We have pretty high expectations" for sales, says Natalie King of Triumph Books. She thinks the photo book will appeal to people who want to know more about Obama: "what is he like as a family man, how he is able to capture the audience and what is the rock-star persona that he has been able to create." Random House announced Monday it will publish Change We Can Believe In, a compilation by Obama's staff of his policy proposals and his campaign speeches. Two books critical of Obama appeared just this month: The Case Against Barack Obama, by David Freddoso, and The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, by Jerome Corsi, co-author of a 2004 book about Kerry's Swift Boat record, Unfit for Command. Corsi's book debuted on best-seller lists last week. Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group, says the book falsely characterizes Obama's position on nuclear weapons as far left and incorrectly claims a global anti-poverty bill he is sponsoring would require the U.S. to spend a fixed amount annually on foreign aid. The Obama campaign would not comment on the critical books, but spokesman Hari Sevugan said Obama's anti-poverty bill did not call for any specific funding. He said it would require the president to produce and implement a strategy to reduce global poverty. Biographies written for children are timed to hit the back-to-school market. Meghan McCain is writing a picture book called My Dad, John McCain for Simon & Schuster, which will also put out picture books on Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Jean Feiwel, publisher of a children's book imprint at Macmillan, commissioned Yes We Can, for 8 to 12 year olds, after her daughter's interest in Obama made her realize kids are following the election. "This young audience, all of which had grown up essentially with one president, all of a sudden was paying attention to politics and to the world in a way that I thought was galvanizing," Feiwel says. Still, the new crop of books will have a hard time beating those written by Obama and McCain themselves. Obama's autobiography, Dreams from My Father, written in 1995 and re-released in 2004, and McCain's Faith of My Fathers, published in 1999, both spent weeks on best-seller lists. Paul Begala, the Democratic commentator who is writing Third Term: Why George W. Bush (heart symbol) John McCain — one of several anti-McCain books being published — says the definitive Obama book has already been written — by Obama. "You'd have to be quite a writer to do justice to this man's story. And if you read Dreams from My Father, you'd say, 'OK, this has been done.' " Only half of the books about Obama or McCain now being published will have a shelf life beyond Nov. 4. The question is, which half. The Chicago Tribune will publish a book on each candidate to provide "what you need to know about these candidates," says Mark Silva, who wrote a book on McCain, due out Sept. 1. "They're out there at the time when they're important to voters. If they're in the recycling bins in June of 2009 — life goes on." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more