RNC spent nearly $100,000 on Donald Trump Jr.'s book just before it topped the NYT bestseller list

[Formerly Once-Ler]

https://theweek.com/speedreads/880202/rnc-spent-nearly-100000-donald-trump-jrs-book-just-before-topped-nyt-bestseller-list

If something seems too good to be true, it's probably because it is.

President Trump congratulated his eldest child last week for hitting the top of The New York Times' bestseller list with his book Triggered. But as was pointed out at the time, Donald Trump Jr.'s rise to the top of the list was in part due to an unknown number of bulk sale purchases — leading some people to believe he bought his way into the ranks.

As Times reporter Nick Confessore noted Thursday, Trump Jr.'s book did in fact get a pretty hefty sales boost — from the Republican National Committee. A Federal Election Commission disclosure reportedly shows the RNC made an expenditure to Books-a-Million totaling $94,800 one week before Triggered was released. The disbursement, which was identified as being for "donor mementos," was reportedly connected to the promotion of Trump Jr.'s book.

more at link



Next time you wanna donate to the RNC just send it straight to Traitor Tot.

[Chosen Daughter]

Politics
Donald Trump Jr. Reportedly Got a Big Book Sale Boost from the Republican National Committee
November 21, 2019, 2:58 PM PST


On November 5, Donald Trump Jr. released his first-ever book, Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us, generously categorized as a work of nonfiction. In it, Trump Jr. runs through his numerous qualms with the snowflakes of America, while also complaining about the sacrifices his family has made in order for his father to become president of the United States. (Trump Sr. has faced virtually zero consequences for his dozens of impeachable offenses in office, to say nothing of the numerous, credible accusations of sexual misconduct against him.) A week or so after its release, the book debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list in the nonfiction section. It appears that ranking doesn't exactly match up with whatever organic interest there might be in the book's actual contents.

As Nick Confessore, a New York Times reporter, points out, the RNC previously denied having purchased Don Jr.'s book in bulk. Incredibly, when Confessore followed up and asked about the FEC filing that showed a $94,800 Books-a-Million expenditure in October, the RNC said it stood by its original statement. Don Jr. and his brother have turned to other avenues to shill copies as well, allegedly asking Trump Tower partygoers to buy a boatload to further own the libs. (The Trump brothers claim this was just a joke.)

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/donald-trump-jr-reportedly-got-225829742.html

[PeteS in CA]

Same topic as this thread, http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,383256.0.html .

[Chosen Daughter]

Same topic as this thread, http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,383256.0.html .

Thank you.  I would never have found that.  I guess I have never visited scandal watch.  Our entire government is scandal watch it would be hard to determine between daily government dealings and scandal.  But this should make people think twice about donating to the Republican National Committee. 

[PeteS in CA]

In an article that I consider an admission-against-interrest, CNN puts this kerfuffle in perspective:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/media/donald-trump-jr-book/index.html

The RNC spent nearly $100,000 on Donald Trump Jr.'s book, but that's not why it's a best-seller

New York (CNN Business)When Donald Trump Jr.'s book "Triggered" debuted at the top of The New York Times' hardcover non-fiction best-seller list earlier this month, a conspicuous dagger appeared alongside it.

The symbol meant editors who work on The Times' best-seller list had determined some of the sales had been made in bulk.
...
The reporters, Alexandra Alter and Nicholas Confessore, published a story revealing that the Republican National Committee had spent nearly $100,000 on orders for the book.
...
But it's very unlikely that the purchase by the RNC -- which was for books that were given to donors -- played a significant role in the book's No. 1 debut, much less that it was the deciding factor.
...
According to NPD Bookscan, which analysts in the industry use to track book sales, "Triggered" sold 70,730 hardcover copies in its first week. The second book on The Times' list that week, "Finding Chika," sold 30,678 copies.

In its second week, "Triggered" sold 44,337 copies. The second book on The Times' best-seller list that week was "Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers," which sold 23,654 copies.

It's unclear precisely how many copies of "Triggered" the RNC purchased. But if the organization spent approximately $100,000 on an order, and it purchased the copies at the listed price of $30, that would equate to a little under 3,500 copies.

If the RNC purchased $100,000 of books at a 50% discount, it would have bought a little under 7,000 copies.

Taking the higher figure of 7000 copies going to the RNC, 7000 is a small fraction of the ~115000 sold in just the first two weeks. And over time the percentage represented by those 7000 copies continues to shrink. IOW, the NYT's "dagger" was a political action - accurate, but irrelevant.

[truth_seeker]

Lookie at the demonstration of TDS, here.

[skeeter]

Lookie at the demonstration of TDS, here.

Boring. I know TBR welcomes all voices but personally I wish they'd go howl at the moon somewhere else.

[corbe]

Boring. I know TBR welcomes all voices but personally I wish they'd go howl at the moon somewhere else.

   As a matter of Fact @skeeter some of us DO howl at the moon when were not bashing Trump here (or other places).   

[skeeter]

   As a matter of Fact @skeeter some of us DO howl at the moon when were not bashing Trump here (or other places).   

Somehow I enjoy your Trump bashing. Who knows why.

[PeteS in CA]

One need not have worked in a bookstore to know that $100K would not buy a very large quantity of hardback books. 3500-7000 might be a large number of books as the size of a personal library, but as "thank yous" for contributors to a national campaign it's actually not a lot. The likelihood that Hillary's, Romney's, Obama's (twice), McCain's, etc. campaigns did similarly (or bought more) is pretty certain.

[PeteS in CA]

Somehow I enjoy your Trump bashing. Who knows why.

@skeeter, @corbe has a sense of humor.

[skeeter]

@skeeter, @corbe has a sense of humor.

Yes, and that makes a big difference.