Motoko Rich writes in the New York Times that some conservative authors are suing their publisher, Regnery.
Five authors have sued the parent company of Regnery Publishing, a Washington imprint of conservative books, charging that the company deprives its writers of royalties by selling their books at a steep discount to book clubs and other organizations owned by the same parent company.
In a suit filed in United States District Court in Washington yesterday, the authors Jerome R. Corsi, Bill Gertz, Lt. Col. Robert (Buzz) Patterson, Joel Mowbray and Richard Miniter state that Eagle Publishing, which owns Regnery, “orchestrates and participates in a fraudulent, deceptively concealed and self-dealing scheme to divert book sales away from retail outlets and to wholly owned subsidiary organizations within the Eagle conglomerate.†… In the lawsuit the authors say that Eagle sells or gives away copies of their books to book clubs, newsletters and other organizations owned by Eagle “to avoid or substantially reduce royalty payments to authors.â€
The authors argue that in reducing royalty payments, the publisher is maximizing its profits and the profits of its parent company at their expense.
Jeez, guys, welcome to capitalism. I don’t know what socialist paradise you’ve been living in, but it’s all about the company’s profit in these parts, buckaroos.
(FYI, it’s not at all unusual for a niche publisher to run its own book clubs and other distribution outlets that sell books at deeply discounted rates. Regnery didn’t invent this practice.)
Well, we’re all looking for justice, aren’t we? But if a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged, what do you call a conservative who’s come face to face with the naked face of vertically integrated capitalism?
Maybe they can form a union.
Just knowing that Corsi is being “screwed”, whether perceived or otherwise, gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Couldn’t happen to a “nicer” guy.
WOW! Wingnut hacks are closet Marxists! Who knew?
“orchestrates and participates in a fraudulent, deceptively concealed and self-dealing scheme to divert book sales away from retail outlets and to wholly owned subsidiary organizations within the Eagle conglomerate.â€
Do they think their books will sell honestly without the use of the rightwing nepotism machine?
Aww, poor little wingnuts. Gee, don’t they know this is what unfettered capitalism is all about? Don’t they believe that the invisible hand of the market will solve this “problem”?
Poor guys. First they get mugged by a thug, and turn neocon. Then they get looted by a suit. So now what?
Every time someone calls Ann Coulter a best selling author, the speaker should be reminded that her books are $1.00 a piece on the Conservative Book Club sites.
“Maybe they can form a union”
Good one Maha!
What are the Neocon writers complaining about? Were it not for the deeply discounted intra-company sales, they would not have sufficient numbers to get the “best seller” labels they crow about on FoxNews. If only the full-list price sales were counted, the numbers would not even make triple digits (and that probably includes the hundreds of copies the White House likely buys with our tax dollars for their “staff review”).