Pathetic Romney twists arms to get bulk orders of his book

• 10/15, "How Romney made a best-seller," Politico by Ben Smith

"Mitt Romney boosted sales of his book this spring by asking institutions

• to buy thousands of copies in exchange for his speeches, according to a document obtained by Politico.

Romney's book tour ran from early March to late May of this year, and took him to bookstores, universities, conferences and private groups around the country.

• Their giant purchases helped his book,
  

No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, debut on top of the New York Times best-seller list, though

• with an asterisk indicating bulk purchases.

The hosts ranged from Claremont McKenna College to the Restaurant Leadership Conference, many of whom are accustomed to paying for high-profile speakers like Romney. Asking that hosts buy books

• is also a standard feature of book tours. But Romney's total price — $50,000 — was on the high end, and his publisher, according to the document from the book tour — provided on the condition it not be described in detail —
  

asked institutions to pay at least $25,000, and up to the full $50,000 price, in bulk purchases of the book. With a discount of roughly 40 percent, that meant institutions could wind up with more than 3,000 copies of the book — and a person associated with one of his hosts said

• they still have quite a pile left over....

Earlier this week, I compared the leading Republican candidates' speaking fees and wrote that Romney speaks for free. Instead, it appears, he's priced between Haley Barbour and Mike Huckabee on the open market.

Romney's spokesman didn't immediately respond to a question about the practice."

• via Weasel Zippers