Right-Wing Book Publishing Ponzi Scheme Coming Apart

8:09 pm EST November 6th, 2007 | News | 8 Comments

Yum.

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 Regnery’s case, according to the lawsuit, the publisher sells books to sister companies, including the Conservative Book Club, which then sells the books to members at discounted prices, “at, below or only marginally above its own cost of publication.” In the lawsuit the authors say they receive “little or no royalty” on these sales because their contracts specify that the publisher pays only 10 percent of the amount received by the publisher, minus costs — as opposed to 15 percent of the cover price — for the book.

Two things of note:

1) Liberal writers have consistently made the NY Times bestselling list without the benefit of a similar scheme on the left, for example: Al Franken, Paul Krugman, Eric Alterman, Joe Conason, etc.

2) Redstate.com is owned by Regnery’s Eagle division.

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8 Responses to “Right-Wing Book Publishing Ponzi Scheme Coming Apart”

  1. midderpidge says:
    November 6, 2007 at 11:08 pm

    What a bunch of whiners.

    If they don’t like the way their contract pays them, don’t sign it, go somewhere else. Oh.

    If the publisher didn’t do this, no one would buy their books anyway. They would sell for $25/ truckload and end up at DISCOUNT!!! Books in the crappy strip mall.

  2. Enlightened Liberal says:
    November 7, 2007 at 6:30 am

    There they go again, tying up the courts with frivolous lawsuits. Note that Jerome Corsi is the writer of the Swift Boat Liar book. I do hope they win however- after a protracted and expensive court battle which results in a judgment of $1 (no costs).

  3. Jamey says:
    November 7, 2007 at 10:13 am

    Cue Nelson Muntz:

    “Haa-haaaaaa!”

  4. Quaker in a Basement says:
    November 7, 2007 at 11:15 am

    If the publisher didn’t do this, no one would buy their books anyway. They would sell for $25/ truckload and end up at DISCOUNT!!! Books in the crappy strip mall.

    AND their writing would still be seen only by those who actually read the posts at Free Republic.

    Stop you sniveling, Corsi. No one would even know your name if Regenery wasn’t willing to peddle your crap for you.

  5. Joe Conason says:
    November 7, 2007 at 11:20 am

    This is a ridiculous lawsuit because ALL publishers sell at steep discounts to book clubs (including mine, Franken’s etc.) The reason they do it is the same reason that Regnery has moved literally scores of worthless titles onto the Times bestseller list. Book club selections are a big factor in promoting authors and books, even though their sales aren’t counted in compiling bestseller lists.
    The Conservative Book Club has played an important role in slanting the national debate over the past 20 years. Luckily, the progressives are about to get their own book club soon…

  6. Sean D. Martin says:
    November 7, 2007 at 12:22 pm

    “The Conservative Book Club has played an important role in slanting the national debate over the past 20 years. Luckily, the progressives are about to get their own book club soon…”

    Why are the “progressives” always soooo slow to counter right wing tactics?

  7. mahnahmahnah says:
    November 7, 2007 at 11:45 pm

    No, no, no, people! This should be encouraged. If they destroy their own infrastructure, it’ll save humanity a lot of time.

  8. C.S.Strowbridge says:
    November 8, 2007 at 1:13 pm

    “This is a ridiculous lawsuit because ALL publishers sell at steep discounts to book clubs”

    True, but do they all sell to book clubs they own?

    If the publishing house makes $1000 in profits and the book club makes another $1000, are the writers entitled to their share of $1000 or $2000?