By irishguy

March 12, 2010 8:09 PM | Link to this

Vick, they don’t really stir me up at all. If you wish to see mass quantities of invective spewed, just type in any of those names on youtube. You’d enjoy it since it’s all directed at us mouth breathing, knuckle dragging, neanderthal minions who only read what our leaders on TALK RADIO tell us is suitable for our narrow minds.

By Raoul

March 12, 2010 11:03 AM | Link to this

OK Vick, liberals buy books by liberals, and conservatives buy books by conservatives. But who gets the $8 million dollar advances? Anyway, I am just going to cling to my guns and my religion, and turn Rush on at noon so I will know what to do and think next. It’s just too complicated otherwise.

By vick

March 12, 2010 11:01 AM | Link to this

Irish, I often whiffed on fastballs. I could usually wait for the off speed stuff, too. OK, so you find that these liberal pundits are “stirring” you up? Oh, Irish-I’m so sorry….Rahm Emanuel is the only liberal I can think of who has served up any stirring invective lately and he lived to regret it.

By irishguy

March 12, 2010 10:55 AM | Link to this

BTW Vick, I would agree that Mr Brown could be classified as a moderate.

By irishguy

March 12, 2010 10:52 AM | Link to this

Talk about a hanging curve ball in my wheelhouse. The “last time I heard stirring invective from a liberal” would be the last time I heard Lawrence O’Donnel, Keith Oberman, Rachel Maddow, Ed Shultz, Sean Penn, Rosie O’Donnell, Rev. Wright, Michael Moore, Patrick Kennedy or Bill Maher. That’s off the top of my head. Let think about it while I’m at my appt and I’ll give some more examples when I get back.

By vick

March 12, 2010 10:35 AM | Link to this

Irish, Bill Clinton has sold millions of books. Ditto, for Barack Obama. Are they conservatives? Even Ted Kennedy’s recent posthumous memoir was a best seller. Was he a liberal? In regard to TALK RADIO; the typical talk radio host is a conservative. Why? They approach their audience knowing exactly what is expected of them; over the top performances and stirring invective. When is the last time you heard stirring invective from a liberal? That is about as common as a liberal shelling out for a book by Ann Coulter - a rare thing. Examine any field of endeavor and certain people tend to excel. Pompous windbags can make great politicians. Really tall, fast guys can play some good basketball. Nerdy little dweebs (like me) can excel at philately (look it up), etc. Glenn and Rush would fail as liberal talk radio hosts. Simple facts. No analysis required. Oh, and how can Sen. Brown be 70% conservative? Sounds like he is a moderate to me?

By irishguy

March 12, 2010 10:18 AM | Link to this

Vick, that’s just more work. I just noticed that, the infrequent times I saw the NYT best seller list, the only political books were by right of center politicians and pundits and I didn’t see any left of center pols or pundits. I was just curious if you noticed that and why you thought that was. After all, you’re the insider, I’m just a casual observer. Since you mentioned it, why do you think people don’t want to listen to Liberal talk radio? I too was surprised to see Mr Brown is penning a book. Guess one must strike while the iron is hot. I’m guessing he’s about 65-70% conservative. He already voted for one boondoggle.

By vick

March 12, 2010 9:44 AM | Link to this

Well, Irish, as I stated previously, they have TALK RADIO. And you might want to divide up your author lists by separating out the elected (and formerly) elected officials like Newt, Hillary, Mitt, Barack, Sarah, etc. from the pundits like O’Reilly, Coulter, Rush, Glenn Beck, etc. After all, you are comparing apples to oranges. Where are the liberal Talk Radio pundits? Air America is gone. Al Franken is in the Senate. And Raoul, what makes you think that Coulter doesn’t command juicy advances? She does. So does Sarah Palin. And I’m sure you guys must know that the newest Republican senator, Brown of Massachusetts just signed a book deal with (you guessed it) Harper Collins, Sarah Palin’s publisher. You know, Harper is owned by Rupert Murdoch, the guy who also owns Fox News. I wonder what Senator Brown will write about? He’s been in office for all of five minutes. The Tea Party helped him get elected right? He must be way conservative? Who knows? The man is a blank slate. I wonder how his book will sell? I wonder if they will ever recover that advance? Publishing is a funny game.

By Raoul

March 12, 2010 9:29 AM | Link to this

Vick, did Hillary’s book,which she received an $8 million advance for, out-sell any of Ann Coulter’s books? Just curious…!

By Raoul

March 12, 2010 8:11 AM | Link to this

OK, Vick/Irish, go to your corners. If publishing companies wanted to put their money (advances) into winners, Ann Coulter would be loaded. So would O’Reilly. Their books sell, always, every time. I side with Irish in that conservative books almost always sell in big numbers. Not saying they out-sell all others, but from a return on investment point of view they seem to be a low risk, high return product. So, publishers would be smart to put more money and advertising into those books. Seems to me they don’t. Hillary got $8 million in advance for her book. Did she out-sell any of Coulters? Doubt it, but Vick, maybe you can provide some clarity. I hate doing research….unless there is a bet involved.

By irishguy

March 11, 2010 11:17 PM | Link to this

Now Vick, was that so hard? What’s your theory on why liberal themed POLITICAL books don’t sell as well?

By vick

March 11, 2010 8:16 PM | Link to this

Well, Irish, as you know, Talk Radio is dominated by just the sort of folks who you are talking about. This Mark Levin is a talk radio guy. So is Glenn Beck. So is Rush. There you go-instant sales platform. Plus, I can offer a theory based on my own limited anecdotal research: I was on a plane a few years back and the guy next to me was plowing through a new book by Rush. I asked him how he liked it? He said he loved it. Then he went on to say that he never reads books but he got this one because he listens to Rush and he kept hearing Limbaugh tell his listeners to buy it. He said it was the first book that he had read in years. Talk Radio is crucial in marketing a certain type of book and I’m guessing that this dedicated readership only reads those few books that have been properly anointed by their Talk Radio brethren. That’s my theory.

By irishguy

March 11, 2010 6:48 PM | Link to this

Vick, I knew Harvey and Albom were libs not really familiar with the rest. But let me apologize for not making it crystal clear, I was referring to POLITICAL publications. Why do you think conservative, Republican, right leaning POLITICAL books out sell the liberal, progressive, Democrat or left leaning POLITICAL books?

By vick

March 11, 2010 5:09 PM | Link to this

OK, Irish-thanks, for the chart. Now let’s dissect it: 1. Steve Harvey Act like a Lady, Think like a Man (he’s a liberal) 2. Glen Beck Common Sense (he’s not) 3. Mark Levin Liberty and Tyranny(he’s not) 4. Malcolm Gladwell Outliers (liberal) 5. Sarah Palin Going Rogue(not) 6. Greg Mortenson Three Cups of Tea (ultra liberal) 7. David Zinczenko Eat This not That(lose some weight) 8. Randy Pausch The Last Lecture (liberal) 9. Mitch Albom Have a Little Faith(liberal) 10. Glenn Beck Arguing with Idiots (not)…the top book is by a liberal. 5 out 10 are by liberals. 4 out of 10 by conservatives. One book is weight loss-toss that one. Looks like the “liberal” books did quite well after all, Irish. Thanks!

By irishguy

March 11, 2010 3:38 PM | Link to this

OK Vick, here’s a fact: the Nielson Co. top 10 selling Adult Non-fiction books of 2009 1. Steve Harvey Act like a Lady, Think like a Man 2. Glen Beck Common Sense 3. Mark Levin Liberty and Tyranny 4. Malcolm Gladwell Outliers 5. Sarah Palin Going Rogue 6. Greg Mortenson Three Cups of Tea 7. David Zinczenko Eat This not That 8. Randy Paush The Last Lecture 9. Mitch Albom Have a Little Faith 10. Glenn Beck Arguing with Idiots In your opinion why did Beck, Levin, and Palin outsell Kennedy, Pelosi,Zinn, Hersh, Brock or any other left leaning author? Why do you think there were no political books with a lefty slant on the list? Beck was still on little viewed CNN and Levin was never on any of the morning shows or reviewed in the NYT. Mrs Palin obviously had a lot of press for her book tour. I’m curious to hear your opinion.

By Blowfly

March 11, 2010 2:54 PM | Link to this

Well, I’m up from my nap now, and I’d just like to say I prefer the term sar-crap-ism (see what I did there, I made sarcastic sarcastic, that’s like double sarcasm, I hope they don’t cancel each other out like a double negative because that would be irony instead of sarcasm. Funny how that works?). Anyway, no offense intended, my apologies - except to … oh never mind.

By vick

March 11, 2010 1:27 PM | Link to this

Blowfly, I realize your comment is meant as pure sarcasm. It has a certain Jack Kervorkian vibe going on. I’m also assuming your reference to “babies” is a reference to your taste for veal. I hope so.

By Blowfly

March 11, 2010 12:35 PM | Link to this

Well, I got up this morning and since I didn’t have time to read my liberal dominated newspaper, I thought I’d catch up on my liberal dominated news by tuning to NPR. I caught the tail end of a story on Rove’s new book and the part about how he and Glenn Beck get together once a month and eat babies. I thought, hmmm, I’d like to read this book, so I drove to my local liberal dominated book store, Barnes & Noble, and asked if they had a copy of Rove’s book. The clerk put down his bong and took me to the Fascist Media Pig Section. I picked up the only copy that was not stained with blood, and the clerk said You can’t buy that, we just keep them here for ridicule and ritual sacrificial purposes only. Oh, I said, and thinking quickly, I said, I don’t want to read it, I want to burn it. A smile slowly emerged and the clerk took my to the Flammable section and handed me a copy of the Bible. He said, this is the world’s most flammable book, I highly recommend burning this book. I thanked him, and said I had small children at home and so I needed something a little less combustible - more in the range of gasoline. He looked puzzled but supportive, took my money, and gave me a complimentary book of Barnes Noble matches. Presently, I’m at work asleep under my desk – the world’s only underachieving egomaniac.

By irishguy

March 11, 2010 12:08 PM | Link to this

Vick I’m not trying to have it both ways. I didn’t call Mr R a conservative. Not sure how you’d categorize Mr Ventura, lets say independent. Let me try it again. I’ve just observed, based on occasional checks of the NYT best seller list, that authors commonly recognized as right of center, conservative or Republicans seem to out sell the left of Center, liberal, progressive,or Democrat authors. I didn’t say publishers were liberal or conservative. I just wondered have you noticed this and why do you think that is? I hope you enjoyed you tea :-)

By vick

March 11, 2010 11:50 AM | Link to this

OK, Irish. You can’t have it both ways. You say that Mitt’s book will debut at #1 and he’s a conservative. Then you say Mitt isn’t much of a conservative. So what is he? And where do we assign his sales figures? Conservative column? Liberal column? Moderate? How about Jesse Ventura? His book is selling well. What the heck is he? And you want to know why conservative books outsell liberal books. Do they? So far this is only your opinion. While I enjoy debating opinions I’m also fond of the facts. Show me the numbers that validate your assertion that conservative books outsell liberal ones. Then we can discuss it. Otherwise, it is just another opinion and since you also seem to think that publishing is controlled by liberals it then begs the question; are these supposedly liberal publishing houses cynically cashing in on conservative readers? Oh my, another excuse for having a cuppa tea…

By irishguy

March 11, 2010 11:39 AM | Link to this

Vick, we both know Mr R isn’t much of a conservative. Only the left believes that one. Tax-a-chusetts is so far left they still think Mr Obama’s a centrist. They think Scott Brown’s a conservative. So why do you think conservative books out sell liberal ones?

By vick

March 11, 2010 11:29 AM | Link to this

Good one, Irish. So is Mitt Romney still trying to pass himself off as a conservative? Ha! Wasn’t he the governor of MAASS-a-Chusetts!? Haha. Oh well, anything is possible I suppose. After all, Ariana Huffington started out as an ultra conservative. Times change. And Mitt keeps trying to shed his skin….

By irishguy

March 11, 2010 11:16 AM | Link to this

Very informative Vick. So why do you think the conservative authors, pundits and politicians out sell the liberal authors, pundits and pols? Word is Mr Romney’s book will debut at #1.

By vick

March 11, 2010 10:28 AM | Link to this

Raoul, publishers pay big advances to authors who they think will sell a boatload of books. Sometimes, it is a gamble. They recoup their money on some. How much was Sarah Palin’s advance? I wonder if Harper Collins has gotten their money back yet? She had that massively expensive book tour which no doubt was footed and subsidized by her publisher. By the way, Harper Collins is one of the big 5 publishers. Who, you might ask, owns Harper Collins? Why the same guy who owns the Ultra liberal Fox News and the wildly left wing New York Post. That’s RIGHT, Rupert Murdoch, the mega-gazillionaire CONSERVATIVE (born in Australia) media magnate owns Harper Collins. In fact almost all the big publishing houses are owned by European conglomerates. So, how are these publishers liberal or conservative when it comes to the impact of their publishing on American politics? I can picture all those pencil pushers crunching numbers over in Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. How do they decide where to allot their cash? They put their money where they think it will grow. Sarah Palin? Bill Clinton? Karl Rove? Hillary? Colin Powell? Alan Greenspan? Every book by these politicos was well financed. Some repaid the investment, others failed. Sounding familiar? The banks finance the publishing industry. So many bad gambles all around. Might as well just head to Vegas or heaven forbid, take up farming.

By Raoul

March 11, 2010 7:02 AM | Link to this

Wow, now I want to read Leon’s post. Kidding…Vick, Irish is on to something. The liberal controlled publishing companies pay huge advances for their favorite political authors, like Hillary and Bill Clinton, and lavish them with great fanfare. The NYT reviews almost all books with a liberal perspective. Not so with conservative authors, who tend to hawk their books by doing endless book signings and TV and radio appearances. Am I right, or just being partisan?

By vick

March 10, 2010 10:08 PM | Link to this

Leon, would you like to borrow a bar of soap and apply it liberally to that blasphemous language of yours? When you say stuff like that Leon it ends up circling the drain. It won’t get posted. Other readers find your language offensive-do you prefer Palmolive or just plain old lye soap?

By The Old Cold Warrior

March 10, 2010 9:48 PM | Link to this

I won’t buy it. Oh, why won’t he an Lame Brain McCain go away? We can only hope and pray.

By irishguy

March 10, 2010 8:03 PM | Link to this

I was just curious. The last time I looked, awhile back, Morris, Malkin and Levine were all in the top five. No Franken, Oberman, Matthews or liberals to be seen. The Conservative authors weren’t on all the morning shows or tours like Palin and Rove, but still seem to out sell the Liberal authors. I’m just saying, on what little evidence I’ve seen, conservative authors out sell the liberal ones. Just curious if that’s how it’s been and why you think that’s so. I’m sure there are publishing houses who put out a good bit of conservative titles and those who publish mostly liberal books. I’m sure some don’t publish political books at all. I’m not familiar enough with the publishing world to make that call.

By vick

March 10, 2010 7:45 PM | Link to this

Well Irish, are you saying that most books are conservative? If that were true then I would have to agree with you. Rove’s book just passed up the new Chelsea Handler (liberal comedian) and the novel “Help” (definitely a liberal book) on the Amazon hourly sales list. In 4th place on Amazon is the new book by Jesse Ventura. Is Jesse a liberal or a conservative? That’s debatable. As is your question. Rove’s book is surging because Rove is heavily promoting it this week. That’s how the market reacts to such a media blitz. That is why Rove is doing it. Marketing 101, Irish. Sarah Palin did the same thing. The last time I checked the entire media was supposedly liberal. Books are part of that media. So how would “conservative” books outsell “liberal” ones if the “liberal media” is controlling what is published? Do you see my point? You can’t claim that conservative books outsell liberal ones and then say that most books are published by liberals.

By irishguy

March 10, 2010 7:31 PM | Link to this

Is it just me, or do Conservative authored books seem to out sell the Liberal books? If so, Vick, why do you think this is?

By red

March 10, 2010 6:28 PM | Link to this

Guess there’s a whole lot of stupid conservatives out there eh Vick? Your congrats is silly, write about liberal books that don’t sell well, maybe you can help that cause.

By Raoul

March 10, 2010 6:06 PM | Link to this

Vick, I saw an interview with Rove last night. I always thought him to be a class act, and even more so now. I think I will get this book and read it. I don’t go much for political books, but I am interested to read this one. Rove has been been praised and vilified as much as anyone in recent times. He seems to remain true to his self, not a common trait in these times from someone so influential.

By vick

March 10, 2010 5:22 PM | Link to this

Having the top selling book in the country is something to be proud of-that’s the REALITY here…

By REALITY

March 10, 2010 4:58 PM | Link to this

I bet that congrats hurt