Robert Stacy McCain on Obama’s book deal:
A 28-year-old law student gets written up in the newspapers, then gets a call from a literary agent? She calls him?
The agent then signs this 28-year-old nobody—whose only credential as an author is student law journal stuff—with Simon & Schuster. Hello? In what alternative universe does this happen?
He misses his deadline, but that’s OK, because he then gets another big contract with a $40,000 advance.
…
But the real killer is how, having gotten a contract based on a proposal for a book about race relations, Obama pulls a bait-and-switch, and instead delivers … a memoir. A memoir! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?? Unless you led the league in RBIs and helped the Yankees win the Series, how the hell does a 28-year-old get away with selling a memoir to a major publisher for $40,000?
Peter Osnos, who appears semi-regularly on Teleread, has additional information. Apparently there’s a facebook group for Authors against Obama (BTW, can anyone recommend any other frivolous Facebook groups to join?)
David and I would both like to indicate our willingness to field similar solicitations from agents—while retaining of course the ability to turn in whatever manuscript we want. I have in mind a children’s book about a singing potato.
One of my favorite retorts to anything along this line (“how did THEY get such a sweet deal?!) is simply this: “You can apply for that job.” (Tongue-in-cheek, but only partially…) I’ve used that reply for any number of situations (Company Board position pays $1M per year for 2 days work, Company President craters company, gets $25 golden parachute, etc.)
I’ve worked in a number of software startups and have learned that: not only is life not fair–it seems to be kind of random. Our society is not a meritocracy (though every engineer I know would argue that it SHOULD be!). Pretending it is one is a bad idea.
People who work the system do better than those who do not. To that extent, it is a level playing field. So, rather than spend any time obsessing about those who “undeservedly” got a break, redouble your efforts for making your own breaks. And good luck to you!
— Scott
Oh please. If anyone wants to carp, just read Elizabeth Wutzel’s self-indulgences.
Now, if this group is on MySpace, I’ll Add it.
This thing is pretty common in politics some big fat cat wants to put legitimacy to a prodigy or something similar so they trow some weight behind a book deal probably even promising to simply bye up whats not getting sold on the market. It’s not even a big secret.
But for Obama it’s potentially a scandal because his supporters paint this picture of him as the eternal underdog fighting against all of this crap and as such he cannot be a part of the political system the way you have to, to get those deals.