1,729 readers of James Frey’s concoction A Million Little Pieces will receive $15.82 each to soothe the pain they encountered upon finding out that Frey’s book included a bit of fabrication.
As part of the settlement, Random House has also agreed to include a warning in the book that not all portions of the book may be accurate. Does this mean they can still call it a memoir?
In addition to the $27,348 to settle the claims Random House will pay $783,000 to the lawyers in legal fees, $432,000 for publicizing the settlement (basically an additional marketing expense) and $180,000 to be split by three charities.
So that’s $27,348 going to the people that were “harmed” and almost $1.4 million going other places.
Also keep in mind that the book remained a bestseller for another 6 months after the controversy hit selling almost 100,000 copies and keeping Random House one happy publisher.
Frey is working on his new novel, “Bright Shiny Morning,” which is due out in the summer of 2008.
Sadly, nothing much is expected to change as a result of this lawsuit.