Publishing's Responsibility During an Election Year

I regret deleting last night's post, so let's try this again.

Last night, I wrote a newsletter explaining why book publishing must choose principles over profit during this election cycle. The TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) was that J.D. Vance’s book had taken the top spot on Amazon, which isn’t necessarily good. The book was a bestseller when it was published in 2016 and was subsequently made into a not-so-great feature film on Netflix. Vance has extreme views and has suggested in the past that abused women should stay in their marriages, among other things. I also mentioned that GLAAD, The Advocate, and The Human Rights Campaign have called out Vance for his transphobic and homophobic rhetoric. He is tight with Peter Thiel and David Sacks—not great company. The gist of what I wrote was that publishers need to make sound business decisions and take their authors and employees into account before publishing individuals who spread dangerous ideologies.

I am always nervous when I publish an opinion piece. I’m not accustomed to being front-facing and am too sensitive for my own good. Early this morning, I checked the Substack app and saw hateful comments that totally missed my point. Maybe I should have expected it, but that doesn’t mean I must accept it. Ironically, the same people who cry for freedom of speech also try to stifle the voices of those who call for publishing to be better about who gets a book deal. Freedom of speech has nothing to do with whether or not someone is given a book deal—it is purely a business decision by publishers.

No one wins when the industry platforms people like Alex Jones and Steve Bannon (among others). These people are incapable of telling the truth and whose vitriol has put others in danger. If you don’t believe me, watch the 60 Minutes episode where the father of a student killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting describes death threats he received because Alex Jones insisted it was staged.

Sure, anyone can release a book about anything because self-publishing exists. I say, have at it. I’m not talking about self-published books. I am talking about large and small publishers who assume their authors—especially diverse authors—and staff are okay with sharing space with divisive and sometimes dangerous figures.

I still believe that consumers should decide what books to buy, but the industry should publish them responsibly. Of course, there are publishers who specialize in books by and about political figures with whom I disagree. That is what their business model is based on, and I understand it. I would also task them with finding less extreme projects than we have seen, but I wonder if that will happen, which is another issue.

In the face of Project 2025, I implore publishers to take more care in the ideas they platform. Your community depends on it.

Now, about the comment section. I reserve the right to block anyone who decides to hijack the comment section with rude remarks. I will not tolerate disrespect, as it is my community here, and that is not how this will go.

-Kathleen