Posted on 09/01/2004 8:30:18 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
It's a conspiracy!
Barnes & Noble and Borders are intentionally keeping a book critical of John Kerry off the shelves - so say conspiracy theorists who fly with the right wing.
The nation's No. 1 and 2 booksellers have been barraged with complaints about the unavailablity of "Unfit for Command," by John E. O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi.
The book, released Aug. 15 and authored by former Vietnam War swift boat veterans, flew off shelves during its first week on the market. The publisher, Regnery Publishing, said they didn't anticipate it being so popular and didn't print enough copies.
Its unavailability has been viewed by some as an intentional act to prevent the anti-Kerry book from being distributed during the run-up to the presidential election. The backlash against Barnes & Noble was so strong that the company issued a statement to defend itself.
"The fact is Regnery has not been able to keep up with customer demand for this title," said Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble Inc. in the statement. "We've been put in the difficult position of having to defend ourselves over a title we can't seem to get enough copies of from the publisher."
Emily Swan, spokeswoman for Borders Group Inc., the Ann Arbor-based bookseller, said the company has similarly had problems stocking the book and has been flooded with complaints.
"Everybody was having trouble getting stocked," she said. "As soon as it was on the shelves, it was flying right off. We did have customers upset, and there were rumors flying around that we refused to stock it - which is absolutely false."
She said before the stores ran out of stock, it was the week's bestseller.
But the explanation has failed to convince some. Posters on conservative Internet newsgroups like www.freerepublic.com have urged boycotts against Barnes & Noble, claiming anti-Bush bias.
"I have a Barnes & Noble around the corner from me, and I can guarantee you that all of the Bush-bashing books lining the shelves got put on the shelves most-ricky-tick," someone known as "Doc" H wrote in a post titled "Boycott Barnes & Noble."
Jeff Carneal, CEO of the conservative book publisher Regnery, said the book is in its 10th printing with more than 650,000 copies in print or on order.
"Despite what some customers may believe, it isn't the stores' fault that supplies are scarce. I wish I could blame it on a vast left-wing conspiracy," said Carneal in a statement, "but I just can't. The book's record-setting demand just couldn't have been anticipated by the stores or by us."
Swan said the complaints come from both ends of the political spectrum when it comes to political titles. And they are especially intense during the presidential election season.
"We are just trying to put out what's hot," she said, explaining the company's philosophy on carrying titles. "We have very conservative books as well as very liberal books."
In fact, "My Life," former President Bill Clinton's presidential memoir, has been one of this year's biggest sellers for both Borders and Barnes & Noble. Both companies attributed better-than-expected second-quarter sales to the book's popularity.
Swan said the company brings in both conservative and liberal authors to do book signings at its stores and puts out titles and lets the readers decide what's worth reading.
"Our basic statement is that all of our customers have the right to read, listen and watch what they want," she said.
For both Borders and Barnes & Noble, the top five selling book titles in 2004 alternate between conservative-leaning and liberal-leaning authors.
Swan said the best-sellers tend to follow the political mood of the nation. In 2004, there are more left-leaning titles, led by former White House terrorism adviser Richard Clarke's book "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror."
But 2003 had more titles supporting conservative philosophies, such as Bill O'Reilly's "Who's Looking Out For You?"
I was in Costco the other day and they had a stack of about 20-30 Unfit For Command books. I made a nice little display of them, placed a few with the cover out on top of Clinton's book. I saw a few being picked up while I was there, they were going fast.
What about tales of folks going in, asking for the book, being told it was out of stock, then finding it hidden away in the, "Teen," section?
I had similar experiences when "Slander" came out.
I know there is no corporate wide conspiracy. At the corporate level they care about making money. Even at the store level. But at the employee level, is there a desire to give fair treatment? Is there an enforced desire to present fairly or is there a toleration of bias?
At one B&N I saw the whole front of the 'Current Affairs" table was left wing Bush Bashing books with the exception of Buchanan's right wing Bush Bashing book. On the sides and back (with less view) there were a few other non-liberal books, but none of the big sellers. They had Bob Barr's book. They didn't have any of the top sellers displayed...no Hannity, no Coulter etc.
A friend (elsewhere) told me that he had to ask for the book because they kept it behind the counter. They had it in stock, but did not put it on display.
I got another copy from B&N and could have bought one from Borders when they came out.
I asked Barnes and Noble in our neighborhood about the book and first they said they wouldn't have it til September. A week later (this was back in August), they said I had to get my name on a waiting list and there was no telling when they'd call me. I ended up ordering it from Amazon.
The Silver Star doesn't have a "v" because it is assumed to be a valor award.
Makes one wonder how Kerry got a notation for a non-existent award????
In the Army it is the equivalent of the peacetime "Legion of Merit." I'm not sure about the navy with this or the next...the bronze star.
Bronze stars in the army do have a "v."
The conspiracy angle was great publicity for the book! It kept the book in the press, that much longer.
However, they were separate from other bestsellers (and in a less prominent place---took me a while to find them) and no usual bestseller discount was offered.
I got mine from Costco a few days ago. There were only a few copies but they were displayed on the end cap of the aisle. There were stacks of Bill Clinton's book.
You're right, but they have a lot of weasely little twits working as store clerks, who do their best to hide books they don't like. A lot of us have finally found some conservative book hidden behind liberal books, or put in the wrong section.
So9
"What about tales of folks going in, asking for the book, being told it was out of stock, then finding it hidden away in the, "Teen," section?"
Judging from how many FReepers have talked about selectively rearranging books or covering up a liberal book in their local stores, I would imagine that plenty of libs were doing that right back. If it's ok to hide a Clinton or Moore book, then why are we surprised if someone does it back? I've worked in a large bookstore--you can't constantly keep up with where books have been moved to by a customer. It's especially hard with a book you only have a few copies of (which is the case here because the small publisher can't keep up with demand and because the stores don't initially order as many books when it's coming from a small, lesser known publisher.)
..here in Lexington, Ky...Joseph-Beth Booksellers has has HUGH pile of Bubba's, My Life...(similar to Hitler's Mien Kampf ) out front in the lobby...Anti-Bush and Pro-$hrillary are in great abundance.
I checked in the Columbia MO B&N on numerous occasions since the book came out. NEVER on the shelves -- not front and center nor hidden on the political shelf. AND I had to endure the affront of all the Lib books with numerous copies, often placed with the cover facing out instead of the spine. When I asked the clerk at B&N they said they'd order me a copy; told them I could handle that myself! Also heard from a local talk radio host that Columbia Bookstore was declining to sell UfC because it was lies. Likewise Peacenook (who woulda guessed!).
The "only a few copies" argument doesn't hold water any more. A book cannot become a bestseller if there are only a handful of copies out there.
It has gone through at least 7 printings now (likely in ever increasing print runs).
Also, as others have commented, the political book displays are still overwhelmingly full of Bush bashing books. Why not put out some books by conservative authors as well since there are obviously a lot of conservative customers coming in looking for Unfit For Command. Whether John O'Neil's book is in stock or not, the prospective customer could still walk out with another purchase (and that is the whole point behind these free standing displays of political books, isn't it?).
Also "few copies" does not explain why the Houston Public Library has opted not to buy any copies of this book.
The bookstores WANT to sell books...they make money selling books...Regency had NO IDEA that this book would be a "Number 1" top bestseller sensation...the longer people have to wait to read the facts...the longer the controversy stays around...
I read somewhere that for the first time Amazon just threw up it's hands and decided they couldn't keep anyone happy with the usual policy of screening reviews.
They decided to allow all reviews to be posted unless it was blatanly obscene.
I wish I could remember which blog...but the line I remember was the comments are basically a cage match between FR and DU.
It seems the left must write more bilious complaints to AMazon to get the policy changed than the right did with Bill's and/or Hill's book.
hehehe... :))
Is it?
How do you explain Hollywood? It has been shown that family movies make more money, but for some reason, Hollywood would rather make R rated movies (even when the the R is the result of language that could have been cut out, making it a regualar movie, and openning it up to a larger audiance.
How do you explain ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN? Even if 50% of the country is on the left, and 50% on the right, by catering to the 50% on the left they turn off many on the right, and they lose audiance (which translates into money). In my view Fox is not on the right, it is more in the middle, it is just compared to the others it appears to be far right. Watch it grow while the other networks fade.
How do you explain newspapers? Same as above, they have a bias, that bias comes across to their readers and they are losing subscribers because of it.
No, to us (conservatives) it may make good business sense to stock books we disagree with to make money, to a group that have a bias against conservatives, their agenda is first, profit is second.
The same people who boast of Michael Moore's relevance because of the success of his movie this year want to dismiss the content of this book.
Heck the Houston Public Library should consider stocking this book just because of the Houston association.
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