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current Monday
Report below!
This week's report by Patrick Simonelli, ULA
Simon & Schuster: Keeping it in the Family?
On March 22nd it was announced that Mary Matalin will head up Simon &
Schuster's new conservative publishing imprint. Matalin is a noted
Republican strategist who served as an advisor to President Bush and VP
Dick Cheney during their first term in office. The as-yet-unnamed imprint
will release between six and 10 books per year, starting in 2006.
The Associated Press quoted Simon & Schuster's David Rosenthal,
executive vp & publisher of the adult trade division as saying, "Mary is a
distinctive voice in politics...and we thought she might be interested in
doing this. It seemed like a cool idea."
"Cool idea?" "Interested in doing this?"
Is publishing really so easy-breezy for Simon & Schuster, that they can
manifest a conservative publishing imprint on a lark and implant it in the
bosom of the first high-profile politico who expresses interest?
"Distinctive" voices in politics can be found among real people in any
public library, university, bar room or street corner. Perhaps some of
these people might also be interested in running a publishing imprint
that's tailor made to the demographic they represent?
Hold up, the story gets better! On March 29, a Drudge Exclusive Report
revealed that Matalin's imprint had made its first acquisition, signing Dick
Cheney's daughter Mary to a book deal worth mid-six figures!
Drudge reported that a top exec at Simon & Schuster parent company
VIACOM expressed alarm that the deal would be seen as a favor-flipper
from Matalin to the Cheneys. Of course, an anonymous Simon & Schuster
source vehemently dismissed that notion, stating that the move was
merely "...to secure a great political story. Period."
Simon & Schuster has apparently found a bevy of great and prolific writers
in the Cheney/Matalin inner circle. The company (or its imprint) has
recently published:
"Letters to My Daughters" by Mary Matalin (2004)
"Lu and the Swamp Ghost," a childrens book by James Carville, the high-
profile Democratic consultant and Mary Matalin's husband (2004)
"When Washington Crossed the Delaware" by Lynne Cheney, the VP's
wife (2004)
"Had Enough?" a book on bullies by James Carville (2003)
"Buck Up, Suck Up" by James Carville (2003)
"A is for Abigail," a childrens book by, Lynne Cheney (2003)
"America: A Patriotic Primer" childrens book by Lynne Cheney (2002)
"Stickin: The Case for Loyalty," by James Carville (2000)
"And the Horse he Rode in On" by James Carville (1998)
"Kings of the Hill" by Dick and Lynne Cheney, (second edition 1996)
"Telling the Truth" by Lynne Cheney (1995)
What a small and whimsical world we must live in!
Question: Is there NOTHING wrong with political insiders running
publishing companies, writing fistfuls of children's, motivational, and
political books for the same publishing company, and handing mid-
six-figure book contracts to a former boss’s daughter?
According to the White House bio for Lynne Cheney, "Mrs. Cheney's net
proceeds from her three best-selling books are being donated to charity."
That's very generous of her, but it would be even better if the Cheneys,
Matalin-Carvilles and their ilk would stop flexing celebrity, wealth, and
power to gobble up book contracts, and let someone else (an outsider)
have a voice in this supposedly free country we live in!
Meanwhile, back at the Cheney Mansion...
"Brrrr, it's getting a bit chilly in here! Will someone please throw another
Simon & Schuster publishing contract on the fire?"
Sources:
AP, Hillel Italie: http://news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&cid=487&u=/ap/20050322/ap_en_ot/books_mary_matalin_1&printer=1
Drudge Report, Matt Drudge:
http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2005/03/29/20050329_224200_flash3mmb.htm
White house bio: Lynne Cheney:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/mrscheney/bio.html
Book info: www.amazon.com
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