Regnery Publishing: Boon & Bane, Part II

Well, now Alfred Regnery, former publisher at Regnery (and still a board member), now calls the lawsuit by the disgruntled authors frivolous. Here's what he said in his blog at the American Spectator, where he is now publisher:

"The merits of the lawsuit are hardly worth discussing. To anyone in the book publishing industry they're laughable. I'm a lawyer and know that the contracts they signed are clear and transparent, and are similar to the contracts used throughout the industry. I also know that Regnery puts marketing muscle and expertise behind its books like nobody else in the business -- something that each of the five authors involved benefited from enormously. These disgruntled authors are, perversely, complaining about that muscle. But it's one of the reasons why Regnery has the success it does in putting conservative books where the New York Times doesn't want them -- on its bestseller list."

One, he is correct, Regnery has put a lot of conservatives on the bestseller list. In that sense, they are a boon to conservative authors.

But, two, Regnery, like so many of the larger publishers, offers a contract that is not at all clear or transparent. Regnery should not get off the hook for offering a bad contract to authors. Neither should any of the other large publishers. They offer bad contracts that no author should sign without heavy negotiation. Agents have been doing authors a huge disservice for years allowing authors to sign such author-unfriendly contracts.



Regnery failed to discuss at all the central points of the lawsuit: the self-selling of Regnery books to Eagle at discounts that offer the authors little to no royalty. These sales do not affect the New York Times list. They are simply ways for Regnery to take advantage of authors who sign contracts that are not in any way clear, especially when publishers sell books to themselves at discounts totally out of range of honest business practices.

Posh, again, on Regnery for such self-serving deals.

Posh, again, on the authors for not reading their contracts more carefully and signing what they did. Al is correct in saying that the contracts they signed "are similar to the contracts used throughout the industry." As an industry member, I am not at all proud of that statement. Regnery should also be ashamed.

Posh, again, on the agents that allow authors to sign such bad contracts.

I really do wish publishers would treat authors better. That is the one point Regnery completely ignored. Why would he be happy that the key contributors to the content Regnery publishes are unhappy? What does that say about him as a board member? Let's call the authors fools so we don't have to deal with them anymore. Sad.

Regnery: A Boon and a Bane

Conservative book publisher Regnery is being sued by some of its bestselling authors because it doesn't play fair with them. Regnery gives its authors a paltry, paltry, paltry royalty on books it sells to itself or gives away to its customers (via its Eagle-affiliated sister companies). Now the authors are mad and suing Regnery.



Posh on Regnery for giving publishers a bad name. Their treatment of authors on this issue is shameful. And then a lawyer for Regnery had the temerity to say, "These disgruntled authors object to marketing strategies used by all major book publishers that have proved successful time and again as witnessed by dozens of Regnery bestsellers." When what the authors objected to was not the marketing, but the self-dealing, author-robbing, underhanded, bogus deals Regnery makes with its sister companies.

Posh, of course, on the authors for signing such bad contracts in the first place. When are authors actually going to read the contracts publishers give them and negotiate the hell out of those contracts. Because, believe me, every publishing contract offered by a big publisher is full of such self-dealing, author-robbing, underhanded dealings -- even when those publishers are not selling to themselves like Regnery/Eagle does.

I don't object to publishers robbing authors blind -- if they admit to doing so. But they never do. Personally, I believe authors deserve such underhandedness for their inability to read and negotiate decent contracts.

Posh, of course, also to the agents that let authors sign such contracts. Posh, and be gone to such agents. Posh, posh, and be gone.

Well, now that I've angered authors, publishers, and agents, I guess I should attack the media and booksellers as well. That way I could get everyone in the industry mad at me. But I won't. At least not today.