Bill Clinton in new book deal

May 18, 2006, 18:11 GMT

New York - Former US President Bill Clinton has signed a new book deal that could see him hit the publicity trail just as his wife Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is campaigning for President.

According to a statement by Clinton, the still-untitled book will focus on public service and come out late next year or in early 2008 - just as the next presidential campaign heats up.

'Since leaving public office, I have met so many good people who are doing tremendous work to help improve the lives of people in the US and around the world,' Clinton said.

'We all have the capacity to do great things like this, and I am writing this book to encourage others to join their ranks.'

Clinton, 59, was paid an estimated 12-million-dollar advance for his 957-page 2004 autobiography, My Life, which went on to sell 2.2 million copies in hardcover and millions more in paperback and in an audiobook version read by Clinton.

Clinton has been active since leaving office, setting up the nonprofit Clinton Foundation, which fights AIDS in the developing world, childhood obesity in the US and climate change globally.

Clinton also teamed up with his former rival and President George HW Bush to raise millions of dollars for the victims of the 2005 Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.