Wingnut Welfare Don't Pay, Either.

[Partha]

If you ever wondered just HOW Wingnut Welfare works:

Traditionally, authors receive a 15 percent royalty based on the cover price of a hardcover title after they have sold enough copies to cover the cost of the advance they receive upon signing a contract with a publisher. (Authors whose books are sold at steep discounts or to companies that handle remaindered copies receive lower royalties.)

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.

Mr. Miniter said that meant that although he received about $4.25 a copy when his books sold in a bookstore or through an online retailer, he only earned about 10 cents a copy when his books sold through the Conservative Book Club or other Eagle-owned channels. “The difference between 10 cents and $4.25 is pretty large when you multiply it by 20,000 to 30,000 books,” Mr. Miniter said. “It suddenly occurred to us that Regnery is making collectively jillions of dollars off of us and paying us a pittance.” He added: “Why is Regnery acting like a Marxist cartoon of a capitalist company?”

Mr. Miniter proves two points for us: One, he's as sharp as a bowling ball in a business deal, and Two, he now has an idea of what unrestrained capitalism looks like.

[Ddrak]

Two, he now has an idea of what unrestrained capitalism looks like.

You mean that you can sue someone who breaks a contract, or that you should be careful what contracts you sign?

Dd

[Partha]

Well, both, but mostly that the little guy gets the screwing.

[Kulaf]

Man....too bad they only have that one publisher they can market their book to.

[Embar Angylwrath]

I wonder how many books would have been sold at the original price? Perhaps he's actually better off because at least the books sold.

[Partha]

Why do you think I call it Wingnut Welfare? Books full of mush get sold on the cheap to the easily impressionable, who then believe that Ann Coulter types have something useful to say because they're 'NYT bestsellers'.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Why do you think I call it Wingnut Welfare? Books full of mush get sold on the cheap to the easily impressionable, who then believe that Ann Coulter types have something useful to say because they're 'NYT bestsellers'.

So you're saying that, without the help of Wingnut Welfare, this guy would have probably received less money? So in your opinion, this guy would have made less money without Wingnut Welfare because his books would never have been sold on the open market?

[Partha]

Absolutely. Not to mention that you don't end up on CNN as a 'NYT bestselling author' if you don't get half a million copies given away.

[Rsak]

The fact that he is ignoring is that regardless of how much money he made on those sold books the increased sale figures will help him with future book deals. How this is any different from anything done on the left is sadly missing from your shockingly small pile of evidence.

[Partha]

Ok...go to the Conservative Book Club. Find me ANY...I repeat, ANY 'liberal book club' that routinely offers hardcovers at less than $5 like they do.

(Which, by the way, is his argument in a nutshell - how much money do you SERIOUSLY think anyone's making off a $5 hardcover?)

Oh, and the future book deals thing?

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.

Mr. Miniter said that when he was negotiating a book deal with Threshold Editions, a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster, he could have gotten a higher advance if BookScan reflected the true quantity of sales of his books.

According to BookScan, Mr. Miniter’s “Shadow War” sold 46,000 copies in hardcover, and “Losing Bin Laden” sold 36,000 copies in hardback.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/books ... =TOPIXNEWS

[Rsak]

I don't need a liberal book club.. just look at any of the national book clubs:

Doubleday book club

5 books for .99 with a sixth free!

It happens all the time.