Swift Boat publishers rip off their writers
Regnery Publishing, the slimy house that produced "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry" and other works of popular demagoguery, is being sued by its writers for ripping them off on royalty payments. Regnery sells books to its own sister companies (conservative discount clubs, newsletters, and "other organizations") at a huge discount, then pays the authors a minuscule royalty based on the discounted price -- meaning that the authors get a $0.10 royalty (or less) instead of $4.50 per copy.
The authors also say in the lawsuit that Regnery donates books to nonprofit groups affiliated with Eagle Publishing and gives the books as incentives to subscribers to newsletters published by Eagle. The authors say they do not receive royalties for these books.Link (via Making Light)“You get 10 per cent of nothing because they basically give them away,” Mr. Patterson said in an interview.
The authors argue that because at least a quarter and as much as half of their book sales are diverted to nonretail channels, sales figures of their books on Nielsen BookScan, which tracks about 70 percent of retail sales but does not reflect sales through book clubs and other outlets used by Eagle, are artificially low. Publishers use these figures when determining future book deals, and the authors argue that actions by Eagle and Regnery have long-term effects on their careers.
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So the guys who coined the current Washington jargon meaning a pejorative, misleading attack that is held in reverence by its propagators, "swiftboating," find themselves in bed with swindlers.
How apropos!
This is one of the very many ways that the right-wing press inflates its circulation numbers and spreads its views through non-market mechanisms. Quite simply, these books (like much of the Murdoch/Richard Mellon Scaife) empire would not survive if not heavily subsidized by a small group of rich wackjobs.
I can't believe some conservatives are using the judicial process to get money. I thought suing people was the business of liberals.
Though it's not fair, they deserve what they get.
delicious ironing for sure. swiftboaters getting swiftboated!
All authors - whether scum-sucking propagandists or otherwise - should be wary of the terms in many boilerplate writing contracts that mandate significant reductions in royalty percentages for "special sales." Special sales can include books sold at deep discounts at discount retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco, as well as books sold at full price in "specialty stores" as varied as museum gift shops and pet supply stores. In a phone seminar on book marketing I took from The Authors Guild, the instructor went so far as to discourage us from doing book signing events at specialty stores because we probably wouldn't earn enough from the royalties on the sales to pay for our gas mileage.
As for the books being given away by the publisher or sold at a loss to subsidiaries, well, maybe these guys can call up John Kerry and ask him how to ease the pain of getting screwed.
My sympathy is limited. You lie down with dogs...
Cry me a river....
My favorite line was Richard Miniter's:
Three guesses, guys.Regnery isn't the only publisher that's scamming conservative authors. For the ones whose manuscripts get turned down by Regnery, there's Townhall Press, a shameless rip-off vanity POD that encourages unsuccessful writers to believe the reason they haven't been able to get their work published is that the industry is full of liberals. Townhall's prices start at $1,000.
Naive writers don't deserve to be ripped off, no matter what they write.
MrFitz (3), I'm desolated to have to inform you that conservative organizations have a long history of using the judicial process to get money, and you don't have a leg to stand on.
I dunno. If Regnery didn't exist, these guys wouldn't be getting paid either. This way at least they're making a little money, and getting a little publicity out of the deal too.
Is Regnery really making the big bucks off these guys? I always thought Regnery was about making propaganda, not money. Did these writers really think otherwise, or are they just getting whiny?
(from the article)
He added: “Why is Regnery acting like a Marxist cartoon of a capitalist company?”
Umm, maybe because that is actually how capitalist companies are supposed to work according to the Great God On High, Milton Friedman ? All they're doing is externalising the costs of their business, it's just that in this case they've externalised them to the dupes - er I mean authors - instead of the community at large.
Yes, "pure" capitalism looks great from the outside, because you think you will be the one making the money, unfortunately you are more likely to be the one in the sweatshop.
It never occurred to me that the authors were doing it for money, I always thought it was "patriotism"-- they needed to save the USA from the EVIL John Kerry. If conservative pundits insist we can't trust the word of climate scientists about global warming because they are "in it for the grant money they get to do all these studies"-- well, should I trust the 'swiftboaters' who are also in it for the money?
...Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting.
Sinking, the frog asked "Why would you do that!?"
The scorpion shrugged.
"I am a scorpion. It is my nature."
Karma's a bitch.
Regency is a well known bit of wingnut welfare. Once they get some early hyped sale numbers, they then quickly transition to selling books through their 'conservative book club' for a buck. suprisingly, this doesnt produce much by way of residuals.
And they do this for all the nutjob right wing authors: Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Jonah Goldberg....
"Naive writers don't deserve to be ripped off, no matter what they write."
True.
And while those who purposefully wrote hurtful things with intent to do damage, dick around with those confederates who purposefully damaged them, there rest of us are all free to not care.
This was propaganda not art or history. Propaganda is still free speech, but we do well to remember that it is also war.