Now then, the practice of selling books to affiliated organizations, and then distributing them for reduced prices is nothing new. Heck, the Scientologists perfected the practice to stockpile books, then sell them a few more times. Hubbard has actually sold more books than he's printed because of the practice. Brilliant, no? The practice has created many "best selling authors" who actually haven't generated a huge amount of sales at actual retailers. It has gotten buzz, and the number of books printed, and shipped can be verified, but the books that actually make it to market, that's a whole different ball game. And Saint Sarah is certainly a beneficiary of the practice.
Though, she may not be paid as much as she thinks she will. While, Unfit for Command was touted as a grand triumph of Conservative publishing, and Anne Coulter and Michelle Mallkin and a few others have stuck their toes in the water, their sales are, in part, illusionary, in that so many copies are bought up in pre-sale, and by folks who either distribute them at under the cover price, or simply toss them into storage to give away later. It is a practice that creates buzz, it creates numbers, but means little, since people don't necessarily have books in their hands, but it drives up PR to be able to say that they have a "best seller" on their hands.
Best selling, because the copies are bought. Just not necessarily paid to the author, and not necessarily in folks' hot little hands.
It shows a marked disconnect, and a dedication to style over substance that many Conservatives decried in the 80s, and so many publishers themselves wailed over with the rise of slick authors without much under the hood.
Saint Sarah's book is flying out of warehouses, but is it really flying off the shelves? It will get into a good number of hands, but a good many of them will be free or reduced price copies that illustrate the problem within the "Conservative Movement" that creating image and market presence is more important than the actual ideas. Rove and his ilk have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams to reshape the GOP and how it is marketed, and our party may never recover from their victory...
