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| Senator Josh Hawley | |
Regnery Publishing, the conservative publisher, will publish the book by Senator Josh Hawley (R.-Mo.) that Simon & Schuster cancelled earlier this month. S&S had planned to release the book, The Tyranny of Big Tech, in June, but changed its mind after the author led efforts in the Senate to overturn the results of the presidential election despite no evidence of fraud--continuing even after the insurrection on January 6--and when he seemed to help incite the mob that stormed the Capitol building. Among other things, just before the attack, he waved, gave thumbs up signals and raised his fist in solidarity with the crowd that was gathering.
In announcing it was dropping the book, S&S said in part, "We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom."
Regnery portrayed Senator Hawley as "one of the highest-profile victims of the 'cancel culture,' " and president and publisher Thomas Spence accused the major New York publishing houses of not having an "editorial spine," saying, "It's discouraging to see them cower before the 'woke mob,' as Senator Hawley correctly calls it. Regnery is proud to stand in the breach with him. And the warning in his book about censorship obviously couldn't be more urgent." In an unusual twist, Regnery is one of S&S's many distribution clients.
In a related move, more than 500 authors, editors, agents, and other publishing people so far have signed an open letter arguing that no book deals should be given to any people connected with the Trump administration or the Capitol insurrection. Headlined "No Book Deals for Traitors," the letter says "no participant in an administration that caged children, performed involuntary surgeries on captive women, and scoffed at science as millions were infected with a deadly virus should be enriched by the almost rote largesse of a big book deal. And no one who incited, suborned, instigated, or otherwise supported the January 6, 2021 coup attempt should have their philosophies remunerated and disseminated through our beloved publishing houses."
The letter observed that "Son of Sam" laws "exist to prevent criminals from benefiting financially from writing about their crimes. In that spirit, those who enabled, promulgated, and covered up crimes against the American people should not be enriched through the coffers of publishing."