Are Politicians Bribed By Book Money?

When recent news came out that SCOTUS Clarence Thomas failed to disclose getting hundreds of thousands in compensation over the years from a billionaire, public discussions started taking place about whether people in high power positions are corrupt, including Supreme Court justices. Well, it may be the book industry is a significant player in a corrupt system.  

Let me explain. 

As for Justice Thomas, there are daily reports of his “friend,” billionaire Harlan Crow, taking him on lavish trips, buying his mother’s house, paying for his great nephew’s college, etc. Thomas either did not disclose these payments because the ethics system permits silence (terrible) or he intentionally skirted the existing rules (crime). A system that normalizes such behavior leads to corruption. We need better rules, better enforcement of such rules, and more stringent penalties for violations. 

Justice Thomas is not alone in hiding money funneled to him. It apparently is how the court operates. Retired liberal justice Stephen Breyer publicly supported Thomas as not doing anything different from other justices. In other words, he is dirty — and so are some other justices.  

Many judges take money and don’t disclose it. Even when they do, not all recuse themselves. Look at thus running list: 

Recent Times in Which a Justice Failed to Recuse Despite a Conflict of Interests fixthecourt.com

When you look further at outside money to the justices, many of them, past and present, got lucrative book deals. See below: 

Justices earned extra money from books and teaching in 2021, disclosures show scotusblog.com

Further, many in Congress carved out big book deals. See this list as a point of reference:

https://www.senate.gov/senators/BooksWrittenbySittingSenators.htm  

So, here are some obvious questions: 

Should current office holders, such as judges and elected or politically appointed officials, be allowed to get book compensation while in office? Does this pose a conflict of interest? 

Why are these judges and political office holders often getting paid with advances that often far exceeds the income likely to be generated by their books? In other words, why do so many of these books fail to earn out their advances — and why do publishers come back for more?  

You can forgive a few bad business decisions and it is true that a publisher’s brand or image may benefit from its attachment to certain politicians, but is there a darker reason behind multi-million-dollar book deals that appear to be duds on paper? 

Could these book deals just be elaborate schemes to funnel bribes and campaign donations anonymously to the politician?  

Of course, this would require a lot of coordination between many publishers, literary agents, authors, and donors.  

I can’t say for sure if this has happened or how often it is taking place, but the numbers are suspicious. It seems publishers overpay and don’t profit from deals with politicians. So, why do the publishers keep throwing millions to a risky cause? 

Publishers can recoup money from the sale of: 

·         Hardcover sales

·         Paperback sales

·         E-book sales

·         Audiobook sales

·         Foreign rights

·         Film rights 

Is it enough? 

It depends on how much a publisher nets on a book. If it makes an average of two dollars per book sold, it needs to sell 500,000 copies to break even on a million-dollar advance. How often does that happen? Not very. 

The next time you hear of a big book deal for a politician, wonder if it is just a money-laundering scheme.

 

Need Book Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

Read This!

Should You Write Another 10 Books?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/05/should-you-write-another-10-books.html

 

Can Libraries Overcome The Pandemic Setback?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/05/can-libraries-overcome-pandemic-setback.html

 

What Helps Authors Get Media?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/what-helps-authors-get-media.html

 

Book Trends Coming Out of the London Book Fair

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/book-trends-coming-out-of-london-book.html

 

Impressions Of My First London Book fair

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/impressions-of-my-first-london-book-fair.html

 

Avoid These Book Marketing Mistakes

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/avoid-these-book-marketing-mistakes.html

 

What Is The New Media Landscape For Authors?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/what-is-new-media-landscape-for-authors.html

 

Blog Posts That Sell Books

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/blog-posts-that-sell-books.html

 

The Book Ban Conundrums

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-book-ban-conundrums.html

 

Is American Media In Severe Decline?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/is-american-media-in-severe-decline.html

 

Why Don’t More People Read Books?

https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/04/why-dont-more-people-read-books.html

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2023. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.3 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.