McClellan was paid $75,000 for his book...

[cynatnite]

LOS ANGELES - The allegations of deceit in Scott McClellan's book have been a surprise not only for Bush officials enraged with the former White House spokesman but also for publishers who turned down what is now the industry's hottest release.

"Books by spokespeople rarely contain anything newsworthy and have generally not proven particularly compelling to consumers," said Steve Ross, publisher of the Collins division of HarperCollins and head of the Crown Publishing Group at Random House Inc. at the time McClellan was offering his manuscript. "It was shopped around but, like others who publish in the category, we didn't even take a meeting based upon past history."

snip:
McClellan's advance did not approach the level of Barnett's writers. According to an official with knowledge of McClellan's contract — who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the confidentiality of the pact — McClellan received only $75,000 from PublicAffairs, which specializes in policy books by billionaire George Soros, Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus and others.

snip:
Osnos said he didn't even read the proposal, but instead sought out people who knew McClellan and said they regarded him as an honest man unhappy in his job. According to Osnos, and the book's editor, Lisa Kaufman, "What Happened" evolved as McClellan wrote it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_en_ot/books_mcclellan_s_path

[aquart]

1. Do you mean he only got a $75,000 advance?

Because the way sales are going, a few more checks should be winging their way to his bank account.

[bhikkhu]

3. That's a pittance. Almost an insult.

It puts the writing of the book in a bit of perspective.

Though I have to say that, a having heard some interviews since, he reads his audience and performs in accordance with expectations, as ever. Not the posture of a man who knows the difference between truth and lie.

[cynatnite]

4. Karl Rove was looking for 3 million for his book...

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12062007/business/industry_eyes_3m_for_rove_memoir_528137.htm

75K could put one kid through a decent college these days. So, Scott wasn't looking to cash in compared to Rover.

[RamboLiberal]

2. The way the book is selling I bet he gets more

Sure hope so.

[tularetom]

5. Jesus that seems like a paltry amount

A guy I know paid that much for a bull.



Pretty impressive bull (red angus) to be sure but still.....

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. Oh well, back to the drawing board for O'Reilly and Blimpbaugh

[orleans]

7. bet those "rival publishers" are really kicking themselves now.

from your link:

"Rival publishers say they had no sense that McClellan would make such explosive observations, a belief scorned by PublicAffairs founder Peter Osnos."

$75,000? what a deal (for the publisher)

[cynatnite]

8. Ari Fleischer recieved $500,000 for his boring book...

http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2005/04/ari_fleischers_.html

[melody]

9. The publisher was probably concerned about the legal ramifications

They had to defray those costs somehow.

Still, an advance is just an advance against royalties. He'll get a lot more money after that.

[KharmaTrain]

10. Last Week Would You Have Bought It?

Most of us are pleasantly surprised by what Snotty has written, but how many of us expected it? I recall even after resigning Snotty still defended the regime and surely his original deal on the book is not what it turned into. In the scheme of things, Snotty was a small fish compared to a Rove or even Fleischer...more low profile in many ways and what some would call an "unknwon commodity".

This is a small publisher...seems like the larger ones (such as Regenery...owned by Murdoch) weren't interested. Sucks to be them. Still 75gs is not a bad deal for a first time writer...and I imagine now that the book is a best seller he'll be getting a bit more.

It was fun seeing that talking point shot to hell last night by Jon Alter...

[shireen]

11. Wow! $75k is pocket change considering who he is ....

I hope he gets more money from the royalties. He's also in good company ... other authors in that wing of the publishing house were Soros and Yunus.

[bigdarryl]

12. Thats what Jonathan Alter was talking about he said the company that published the book....

pays no more than one hundred thousand dollars.So the wing nuts can't say he did it for money.

[cynatnite]

13. kicking because Scott did NOT do this for the money...

He got far less than Ari Fleischer who was paid 500K for his boring book.

[Bozita]

14. How much did Bob Dole earn by shilling Viagra?