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“What is the book deal gambit? Would you explain for us? I think it would help us understand the political world of book sales a lot better!”

Let’s say I want a government contract or favor; a waiver to sell my products to Iran, for example. Since Abscam, where the FBI videoed politicians stuffing wads of $100’s in their pockets, the bribery game has been more sophisticated. It is conducted at one remove from the bribery target with little or no contact between supplicant and politician. A deal is worked with a trusted political aide. The aide says the politician will do x for you if you provide Y money. The aide will suggest a friendly publisher. You go to the publisher and say, “I want you to write a book deal to politician X for Y dollars.” The publisher gets a rake off the top and doesn’t care one way or the other if the book deal is consummated because they got their money up front. (Lots of advances are paid to authors who never write the book, so nothing to see here.)

Another way is to go to the party headquarters and discuss your issue with a party official. They’ll let you know right up front if they can help with your issue. When my uncle did this for a zoning variance worth a couple of hundred thousand, it was five percent of the package. He wrote a check and got his variance the next day by messenger. The newspaper was furious, but there was no paper trail and no evidence. Not even the minutes from a public meeting. Using this method there is no trail to pick up and follow. The actors are likely sophisticated enough to use vague terms that could be interpreted multiple ways in court if they were recorded. You just have to trust that the system is designed for patronage and that it works. (Other businessmen will explain it over cocktails at the golf club. That’s how you learn about this sort of thing. It’s a trust issue between parties who know each other and come with referral’s.)