The media helpfully pointed that out Congressman Matt Gaetz’s original financial disclosure form for 2020 was deficient, omitting his book for Bombardier Press, FIREBRAND. The amended disclosure is odd in a number of respects. For starters, Gaetz indicates he has lost money on the book so far: Paying his previously unacknowledged ghostwriter Todd Seavey $35,000, while declaring receipt of $25,000 from the publisher. Gaetz writes that he has a “profit participation agreement” providing him 60 percent “of all profits received by publisher” on a quarterly basis. The savvy congressman indicates his “agent” was Republican operative Sergio Gor, who helped himself […]
Authors
Judge Allows Most of Gendell’s Counterclaims to Proceed
New York State Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen ruled on Wednesday that all but one of agent Yfat Reiss Gendell’s counterclaims against agent Peter McGuigan can move forward, rejecting McGuigan’s motion to dismiss. Most significantly, the judge ordered what is left of Foundry to “advance attorneys’ fees and expenses to Gendell.” The original counterclaim suggested that amount was already at least $150,000, which will be yet another strain on the resources of Foundry. Judge Cohen found sufficient grounds to let stand the counterclaims of defamation, tortious interference and breach of contract, dismissing only the claim of prima facie tort (which “courts […]
Postponed: Winslow Moves Book to 2022
Don Winslow’s CITY ON FIRE, the first in a trilogy originally scheduled for publication on September 21, has been postponed by the author. Winslow said in a statement: “One of the great joys of publishing a new book is interacting with readers on tour, a hallmark of each of my publications. In light of rising Covid case numbers across the U.S., I’ve decided to postpone the publication of City on Fire until 2022 when I can tour at full capacity, meet with readers in signing lines and shake the hands of the people I value so much. To keep everyone […]
Legal: Fairstein’s Defamation Claims Go Forward
US District Judge Kevin Castel in New York’s Southern District declared that Linda Fairstein has plausibly alleged instances of defamation in the 2019 Netflix series “When They See Us” and will allow the lawsuit to proceed. The judge will also allow defamation claims against director Ava DuVernay and writer and producer Attica Locke to proceed, along with civil conspiracy claims, while dismissing some other claims. Reuters
NY Judiciary Committee Looking Into Cuomo Memoir
The New York Post reported that the New York State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee is looking into whether government employees were tasked with working on Andrew Cuomo’s book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, as part of their impeachment inquiry. The lawyers “clearly have evidence and interviews with staff about [former aide] Melissa DeRosa instructing them to help with the manuscript,” a source said. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi stated, “Any state official who volunteered to assist on this project did so on his or her own time and without the use of state resources. To the extent a document […]
Booker Longlisting Lifts South African Novel That Had 500-Copy First Printing
The Guardian reports that Karen Jennings’ Booker Prize–longlisted novel AN ISLAND had a first printing of 500 copies, now enjoying more demand. The un-agented South African author says, “It was incredibly difficult to find a publisher… I finished the novel in 2017. And no one was interested.” Once it was eventually acquired by indie press Holland House, they couldn’t get any blurbs or reviews. “It’s not that I personally was expecting fame or fortune or anything, but I felt that I had disappointed them,” she said. “So it’s quite an extraordinary moment now to suddenly have all of this attention […]