What BS. I’m sure that every senior executive in S&S - up to the CEO and Chairman of the Board - knew full well about this “advance” and enthusiastically supported it.
Absolute nonsense.
I think so too. They probably had a meeting on it and passed it without any dissent or question.
Sometimes staying in the good graces of the agent is more important than the prospects for one particular book.
In this case, I think the deal was struck before Obama’s obvious dismissal of Hillary as the candidate for 2016. Maybe planned that way by Obama so she could get the money for other lefty causes.