Milo Yiannopoulos book picked up by Simon & Schuster

WT ever-loving F?

Check out this thread.

Zoombie said:

But you should all bombard S&S with irate E-mails.

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S & S is not a charitable foundation or public institution or literary society.

They're a business. Their job is to make money. They're owned by CBS, which is publicly traded stock, with shareholders.

They publish books they're pretty sure they can sell.

So sure, write letters to CBS, but if you really want to affect them, buy the books they publish by OTHER writers.

Promote THOSE books. Front-face those books in bookstores. Tell your local library to buy them. Write reviews of other S & S books you genuinely love.

Because that will change who and what they publish. They're interested in books people want to read, and will pay for.

Milo is a cretin and a troll and a jerk. Don't reward him with negative attention (negative attention sells books really well), reward good writers.

One of the unfortunate realities of being published by one of the Big 6/X is that the sales they make on big names (no matter how notorious or despicable they might be) funds many mid-list publications. Yes, you can write and tweet and FB your outrage and given your (general) views on the publishing industry, that might be appropriate. For others, El Jefe's advice to buy books by the writers you do support. Let the money they make on the Yiannos of the world support the art you love.*

(* and write those letters anyway)

Zoombie said:

Can I do both?

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The more negative attention Milo gets, the more money he makes.

The worst thing you can do to him is ignore him. Front other books by other writers. Talk about other writers and their books with enthusiasm.

Especially don't give him press / attention in the thirty or so days before the book is released. Once it IS released find other books by the same publisher to lavish attention on. Promote them, if you really like them, review them, etc.

Nothing against S&S...they're in it to win it. The real sadness here is that the scum-sucking dirtbag has an audience. When people of his caliber are given a voice, and are successful at having a voice, it is a reflection on the people listening and reading. So sad that he has risen to this point. So sad people are listening to his vitriol. But it seems indicative of today's temperature.

I know I'm being naive, but how can anyone at S&S even want the money they will make off people like that? (Both him and his fans.)
If it was me, every time I looked at the car I'd bought with that money I'd feel sick.

I totally understand why people want to boycott, but I feel bad for the effect on other authors who are just releasing S&S books now.

I hope the book won't even get released in the UK. He's not remotely famous over here so we might be in luck.

Laurasaurus said:

I know I'm being naive, but how can anyone at S&S even want the money they will make off people like that? (Both him and his fans.)
If it was me, every time I looked at the car I'd bought with that money I'd feel sick.

I totally understand why people want to boycott, but I feel bad for the effect on other authors who are just releasing S&S books now.

I hope the book won't even get released in the UK. He's not remotely famous over here so we might be in luck.

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Their obligation is to make money. Morals? Lots of organizations will ignore the bottom line to adhere to their sense of morality. And lots don't.

Hearing you guys talk about hium, I actually want to read his books now.

I do have to wonder if his target audience is the book-buying sort? S&S will make their money back, but it seems possible that it won't be the blockbuster they're counting on. (And to be fair, when they think they've got an actual blockbuster on their hands, they shell out well more than a quarter-million.)

Milo-fans are steeped in interactive, snippet-based, pack behavior, which is not really the sit-back-and-be-talked-to-for-hours-on-end crowd. They're not listeners and don't seem terribly contemplative, which are two things that make reading worthwhile.

I mean, it could be that they'll buy the book just to support the idea of Milo and let it gather dust on the shelf. But in the age of chatter, opinion, and outrage being free by the bargeload, I wouldn't count it.

Simone.Garick said:

Hearing you guys talk about hium, I actually want to read his books now.

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Go ahead but in this day and age of teh intarwebz, you're probably going to get a repackage of past Breitbart articles with very little new material. Your best bet would be to either find his stuff online and read it that way or page through it at Barnes & Noble.

Sage said:

Well, that answers that question. I thought from AW Admin's posts, "Well, who would be introduced to his book by people decrying how racist it would be, and then would pick it up if they weren't in a like mindset already?" And assuming you aren't, you proved her point that there are people who would.

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I imagine there are some people unfamiliar with MY who might think "Oh, come on, nobody's THAT bad."

Let's hope they hit the library instead of buying their own copy.

*He is that bad. Really. You can google him.
**I still think there's a non-zero chance the book will be vaporware, but I'm an optimist.

I confess I had to Google him, but once I did I knew I wouldn't care for what he had to say nor be inqterested in his book.

His likely readership aside, many of whom are going to be articulate, educated, and thoughtful as much as others are going to trolish parrots, I think he will sell quite a few books based on name recognition alone. A percentage of his readers are going to read it as a show of intellectualism. Rush Limbaugh's first couple books sold like hot cakes for these reasons, even if there was nothing new from what he said on his shows. That was just before the internet got big so his material wasn't available for free elsewhere, but even if X% of his readership is the soundbitey knee-jerk crowd and the book sits unread on the coffee table, a sale is a sale. S&S and all publishers know this.

Why bother with the book? You can hear him spew it from his own mouth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiA0P9iELAA

Well, the goddamned outrage machine has always served him well.

The book doesn't come out until March, but through preorders, it's already #1 in hardcover on Amazon.

I am surprised the deal was for $250,000. I'm not going to participate in any political / social debate. I'm only on here for writing, but I do want to join in on the bit about the amount. With a following like his, I'm quite astonished he only has that much. I don't know why I thought it should be higher. Quite curious, really. Maybe I'm living in a box, but he seems to have a generous following. I'm not saying he deserves more than $250,000. Not at all. I guess my brain really doesn't understand the world of publishing better-known people / celebrities (though he is far from one of these).

Side note, I'm quite entertained by how desensitized I am at the amount. If someone called me asking me to sign for $250,000, I think I would die of shock and happiness. As a plebian, I suppose that is the difference. -Sigh- One day...until then, I will proceed to party...AKA write...AKA sit here and not write due to not being in the mood.

Perks said:

Well, the goddamned outrage machine has always served him well.

The book doesn't come out until March, but through preorders, it's already #1 in hardcover on Amazon.

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Yep. That's exactly the way to think of it; the outrage machine.

So I'd just as soon not contribute to the fodder. I'm planning on a concerted effort to talk about and write about and post about Other books.

Good ones.

I just bought a biography of Ida Wells, a collection of essays by Rebecca Solnit called Men Explain Things to Me, and have ordered some other books by authors I like. With so many good books out there, there's not much time to stress about the bad ones.

Simon & Schuster Australia tweeted this: https://twitter.com/SimonSchusterAU/status/815033537434943488

Have you made any bookish New Year's resolutions for 2017?

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Leading with the chin, as one wag observed.

Roxxsmom said:

I just bought a biography of Ida Wells, a collection of essays by Rebecca Solnit called Men Explain Things to Me, and have ordered some other books by authors I like. With so many good books out there, there's not much time to stress about the bad ones.

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I'm continuing my auto/biography craze apace. I just bought I'll Never Write My Memoirs by Grace Jones. Before that Porcelain by Moby, A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen, Rita Moreno's self-titled memoirs, Call Me Anna by Patty Duke, Bonkers by Jennifer Saunders...a good 50% of my recent book purchases.