The Iraq Study Group Report is fast on its way to becoming a bestseller. It has already gone into a third printing with about 250,000 copies in print and the report has also been downloaded for free over 700,000 times.
Like the “The 9-11 Commission Report”, which was released two years ago and sold more than 1 million copies and received a National Book Award nomination, the Iraq report is a government document.
Historically, government documents where printed, published and distributed by the government. It is only recently that these reports have started being published by mainstream publishers.
Yes, each publisher has promised that a “portion” of the proceeds will be donated to various causes.
The Iraq study group will be donating theirs to the National Military Family Association.
and W.W. Norton donated $400,000 to New York University’s Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response (CCPR) and one of its programs, the International Center for Enterprise Preparedness (InterCEP) and $200,000 to the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University to endow the new Norton-9/11 Fellowships in International Relations
I am not a math guy but the 9-11 report sold 1 million copies at $10. $10 million gross – let’s say the publisher sees half of that-$5 million- granted the book’s printing was expedited, but could it cost more than $2 to produce and distribute? That is $3 million left over and I can so far account for $600,000 in donations (we won’t touch whether endowing a fellowship as part of this is appropriate). Brendan I. Koerner dealt with this in a Slate article in 2004 soon after the 9-11 report was released.
I also contacted Random House , the parent company of Vintage who published the ISG report, to get an idea of exactly what “portion” of the proceeds they will be donating. Their response was troubling. “This is as detailed information, as we are releasing. A portion of the proceeds from the purchase of the book will be donated to the National Military Family Association. NMFA…”.
These reports are products of great American tragedies and a tremendous amount of suffering. Any profiteering is shameful. I look at this much like the laws that prevent convicted criminals from profiting from selling their story. The same rules should apply. Period.
This publishing trend should be clearly defined now before it corrupts the hard work and dedication of so many Americans involved in the search for truth.