>> realm, you're watching booktv on c-span#, and we are on location in new york city for book expo america, which is the publish industry's annual convention held at the convention center, and here we're pleased to be joined by two publishers, susan weinberg is the publisher of public affairs, and margie ross is president of regular publishing, and we want to talk about the books coming up this season. susan, if we could start with don bartlett and james stehles. >> it's a book written by a premier team of investigator reporters still working in

america today. they are well-known, and have two pulitzer prizes as well as two national magazine awards, and they even have an award namedded after them given out in journalism today. they worked at "time" and now "vanity fair," and they have been tracing this story really since the 1980s, and they take the drum beat of the economic that we hear and they give you the context to put the news in. you don't see the stories as isolated events. you really see the stories in the context of what has happened in the economy, and even middle class, over a long period of time, and you get a string of effects of policy decisions of things congress has done, things companies have done and have been allowed to do so to really reason to and think about the

election, both only local and national level, on a different way, when you see the full story and picture that they paint, and there's one on the media with the environment, and there's a particularly very important phrase and said, you know, if the operation side of the business were going according to the clause as the pension funds, people would go to jail, and when talking about what has happened to pensions in america and how poor one pays women to supplement one's retirement, and 401(k)'s in america right now are $17,000. there's a phrase in the book, hope i get is correct, but it really struck me, and it basically said that, you know, we really have to support our greatest assets because without a middle class, there really is no america.

>> when is that book being published? >> it's coming out in the middle of the summer. it will be right out in the middle of august before the political convention. >> is the trail of the american dream a book to publish? >> well, it's interesting. it might well be in terms of the question that people have about where the country's going, whether or not the middle class can continue to exist. i think those are issues that crosses party lines, and the solution to the problem may be different whether you ask somebody from the right or from the left, but i think the problem is pretty generally, except in terms of whether or not people have the opportunity to move up, whether they have the opportunity to improve their lives, their future, and the future for their chirp and grandchildren, and those are issues that, you know, frankly, the tea party talked about. from that vang point, i think there's the question of the

american dream and the middle class is one that really is very important to everyone and probably pretty important to the upcoming election. >> the number one book right now. "the answer" >> that's right. we're very excited. ed pine wrote a terrific book, very insightful, shocking new information conducting more than 200-in person interviews and up covered a lot of interesting surprising information. people who had supported him in 2008 had given him money, supported the campaign, worked hard to get him elected believed very much in the promise of hope and change and the things that he had said on the campaign trail, and what it found was a

surprisingly common a prestigious scene among the people he talked to which is like him, don't like him, agree with him, don't agree with him, and the common thread was this was is a job he was over his head, not prepared for, and his personality combined with the experience or lack thereof, added up to a pretty disastrous first term and the workings of the amateur. one thread in the office was talking about comparing obama to other presidents, and people said, well, reagan was the great communicator, and bill clinton was the natural, and obama may well go down in history as the amateur. >> when i look at the upcoming titles, is it fair to say they are all anti-obama books? >> it is fair to say that they

are all arguing that he does not deserve to be re-legislated for one reason or another. talking about a variety of issues. i think that would be definitely fair to say. >> well, when you look at the betrayal of the american dream, by public affairs, and the amateur by reaganry, do you hope your books display public opinion and public policy? >> we do. we talk about the books being part of the national conversation, but i think when marji said the american dream, and they are not just republican and democratic themes, but i think that's very true, and that book doesn't argue for a particular candidate, but for people to see the context, see the issues, and really get involved and think about what's going on in a more informed way, and that's why i hope it talks

about the election and people are making policy on all levels affecting people's lives. >> our bookends up complimenting rather than predicting in that a lot of the books on publish affairs raises issue, and it doesn't necessarily take a partisan point of view or advocate as much as try to educate and inform. it's certainly true that for us, our books are much more likely to take a position to be written by an author who may be very well-known by our audience, but passionate about his or her point of view, and in the end, i think the combination can be very beneficial. no matter what you believe, hearing someone who is very passionate about their point of view and then supplementing that as well with someone who is an expert in a particular policy area, and may be able to provide a lot of information, a lot of

data and allow you to make up your own minds. >> moving off of policy for a minute, and this is a new title coming up by public affairs. susan weinberg, what were you thinking? >> this is a book that i felt serious on, and assent of the a-word, is by jeffrey, and we've done quite a few books with jeff, and he was a linguist at uc berkeley, former chair at the american heritage kicks nation, and he's don a lot of commentary op the french air, radio, times, other paper, and he's been a cultural observer for quite a few years. he has written some books like talking right that were more politically informed, and this book is really a social history of vulgarity. the rise of the word, what's that mean about us and say about

us? you talk about coffee all day, and, well, when you think about this word, which was introduced to american culture by norman mailer in 1948, and he picked it up the determine gis, troops in europe, were using, and people were surprised that he says, and there's no question that it has -- that it has certain kinds of meanings and cognitives in our personal lives, social lives, nanny our political lives, and i don't want to try to get into each of his arguments in that. i'm going to say read the book for that, but it's a really, really a lot of fun, and quite delicious, and starts with norman mailer and ends with emanuel.

>> did you pick the title or jeff? >> he picked the title, and he very, very deliberately chose not to use the word in the title and there's a great piece at the end of the introduction on why he did that. >> marji ross, there's a new book out. >> we are excited about this because phyllis has not done a book in five years, has not done a book since president obama has been in office, and, yet, of course, she's an icon of the conservative movement. she's a hero to men and women on the right, and was very passionate about doing a book talking about the shut down or the war, if you will, on religious freedom, everything from obamacare requires paying for abortions to what we can do in military, cemetery, what chaplains can do, the whole question of the intersection of the federal government and religion, and her argument along

with her co-author, is that the federal government is exercising overreach trying to intrude into areas that religious institutions, but also individuals should be allowed to choose, and it's not so much a question about a war on the church as a war on religious freedom. your freedom that the founders intended, people argue, to practice what you want and to have religion not be excluded from the public square, but be a part of the public dialogue, part of the national discourse, and that there's nothing wrong with religious beliefs being part of the public square as long as everyone's allowed to pact practice what they want. it's the question of religious freedom and tolerance she's concerned about, and this is a book that we think is another hot topic for this election. it's something that a lot of people on the right are very concerned about, and so that's

why we are rushing it out, and this book is coming out also this summer at the end of july. it's called "no higher power" with the theme being that the federal government sometimes feels there's no higher power than the federal government rather than looking to the higher power. >> she broke her hip a year or two back. how's her health? >> as spicey as ever, diff -- definitely going on tour. she has a weekly radio spot, herd on 200 stations, does a weekly column. she's very, very active, but she's very excited about going on tv to promote this book because it's so important, and some of the details that are important to teach the country. >> we introduced lynn here in new york city, did a short preview with her and her new book. susan? >> the good girls revolt, how

the women of news week changed the workplace. it's a great story, uncovered history from the 1970s, and what i love to tell people is that is, indeed, liz on the cover. it's not an actress from madmen. >> she mentioned they found her in public affairs, and what's the artichoke doing on your head? >> we love the photo. they showed us photos for the book, and i love that. that's the cover. they said, i don't know if lynn wants to be on the cover. she has to. it's the cover. it's the photo at her first job as a secretary at "news week," and in some ways, this is the story of peggy olson of the world who found themselves in the workplace in the 60s, were trying to find footing, and faced a lot of discrimination, and the women at newsweek were assigned to certain positions, could not be writers or editors,

and there was a moment when news within week is known for coverage of the civil rights movement, a more liberal point of view, really big people were in that world, in that media world, and they found that in that organization that took pride in covering those events, why were they feeling the discriticism nation? at the same time, newsweek was having conversations amongst each other, and museweek had a cover story called women in revolt, and these media savvy women were getting together and decided that the only way to change the discrimination was to confront news within-- news week and filed that within the same day that that cover story came out. you have two sides of the story there. one of the things that prompted them is that the cover story, news week realized had to be written by a woman, but they didn't use one of their inside people to do it. they thought, well, they are not

ready for a coffer story, and they hired a freelance woman journalist. they didn't feel their people were ready because they had not readied them. the story was of a lot of women involved, they are all in the book, and everything was reported. putting the book together started a few years ago, and her involvement, took the material home, recognized as arian civile material, and collegemented it material, and lynn thought, well, i'm getting around to doing this, it needs context. she wrote a narrative. in order to write the narrative, she had to get in touch with people, and that led to talking to more people and putting the story together for a new generation, and at the same time, she found there were women colleagues at newsweek who in their own way had not known about the suit and rediscovered it because of their concerns about the culture and the way they were treated.

there's the issue of how much changed, has enough changed, and what's going on now with younger women in the work force. >> it's faze enating -- fascinating to see the books back-to-back because there's two women, very smart, very outspoken, and, frankly, role models for a lot of women who are out there starting out in their careers today, and while i'm sure they would not agree on a lot of things and 5 lot of politics, i think they would agree that it's very, very healthy for young women to see that women of a former generation have the strength and courage to stand up for what they believe, although they might have been in two very different things, and that's something young women need to do too. there's not one answer or one point of view for women anymore than there is for men, and seeing these two women both speaking out is, i think, a very healthy thing. >> well, it's -- we have to point out the fact that we're also talking to two women

publishers here. what is -- what is publishing world like today for women? have you faced what lynn povich talked about in her book? you're both at the top of your companies right now. marji ross? >> i'm happy to say i have not faced that, even at the very beginning of my career. i felt if i was the hardest working person in the room, did my job well, i could advance in every place i worked and every job i had. a lot of people ask me, wow, you're the head of a conservative publishing house, surely, conservatives don't believe that women should be there, but i think the proof is in the pudding clearly. if you're confident, passionate, and believe in it, you can do it. >> susan? >> i have not felt in the publishing part of the industry. i think women had a lot of opportunities, women were chief executives of publishing houses,

i think very early on in the development and breaking the glass ceiling and getting top jobs. the difference is are you in an industry with a frat house culture which just naturally puts women in a degraded, and maybe, you know, it's exaggerated, but stems from the culture and the click culture, and i think some parts of journalism have that frat house culture. there's sometimes i read about some of the stories in journalism, and that made me think about women in financial firms who sued for discrimination, and, again, it's about a culture that tbát kind of bravado and macho is glorified creating a difficult environment for women. >> well, another woman author to ask about. who is kate? >> we do. kate is a vice president of young america's foundation, and she also used to be -- well, she's very young, but she

was also formally the party chairman of the republican party in the state of virginia. she's very accomplished, is very articulate in her defense of conservative values, beliefs, and she's a mom with four kids, and this is her first booing. we convinced her it's time to write a book, and this book is called the devicive president. it's coming out in september right after the convention, and it really contrasts the promise of hope and the promises that president obama and his campaign made in 2008 about how to unite the country, bring people together, and getting beyond partisan fractures, and contrasting the promises with what's happened, and how we have more class warfare and more fractures and more deviciveness

and partisanship and polarization than ever before, and how that comes to be in the role that is played in his administration in sort of dividing the country and putting the 1% against the tea party movement and how that has worked against moving forward and solving the big problems that we face. >> getting an author on fox news, does that sell books? >> it sells a lot of books. it sells a lot of books to have our authors on c-span, i'll tell you that. we love that because book lovers are watching your show, and they are really dedicateed people, lifelong learners, and those are the two most important tv appearances that an author can make. the other thing is talk radio sells books. conservative talk radio is a very powerful driver of books

because the authors get longer time on air to explain what their book is about, engauge with the audience, and so that's our trifecta if you will. we have a perfect media plan, fox news, c-span, and talk radio. >> susan, where do you try to place the authors? >> i have to give the plug to c-span. >> i wasn't meaning -- >> no, i know, but we tell our authors all the time, get people booktv, they are looking for books, non-fiction books, and they are looking to be informed, and the segments rotate, and it's a strength for us. we say what just happened? oh, it reran. npr shows are fantastic for us, and many different ones, all kinds, and they work very well, and the other thing that i would say is when somebody on the internet in the internet world, the blogosphere talkings about

your book, that's great too because it gets picked up and reused and retweeted and relinked in a lot of positive ways, and if you see that start to happen in addition to the more traditional media outlets, that's working. >> i agree. publishers used to talk about word of mouth. how does the book sell? word of mouth. how do you do that? >> right. >> how do you create word of mouth? the internet provided really the best way, best new way certainly, and best predictable way to generate the kind of word of mouth that gets people talking. >> interesting you call it predictable, because the one word i can never use on social media and the internet is " predictable," but that's true, if it happens, the sales rise. >> right. >> any authors appear on npr? >> they do.

they do. it's a powerful platform. again, people listening to npr from across the political spectrum. one thing, though, it's definitely conservatives as well as liberals listening to npr. i listen to npr. i love the shows. i really like a lot of the shows on npr. i think our market is -- i don't believe our books only sell to conservatives but up dependents or the left interested on what our authors have to say and very interested and concerned about the issues we talk about. >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> is this a book you would promote to fox news? >> yes, and i would promote this book everywhere, and what's great about the book is because not of the reputation, but there's a lot of media outlets that know them and admire them.

it's been a few years since they did a book. one thing i feel about this book is we are also getting interest throughout the country. we are getting interest from local markets we don't always hear from, clearly not just a beltway or coastal book. it's a book hitting al kinds of% markets. >> susan weinberg, another book by public affairs, john jenkins, "the partisan". >> it's a biography of chief renquist, but a biography of the man, and not just his time on the supreme court, the larger part of his life as that was. john jenkins interviews rehnquist in the new york times magazine, and did a piece that ran and got attention, and they said he was frugal with the

media interviews and referred to the piece that john did as the reason he may have decided to beat down on the media interviews, but he captured something about him not letting go of the stories and the desire to tell the full story, and he did not make it easy for nip to write a biography. he didn't argue his papers in a way that would have been, oh, just go here and spend time with the papers. you know, he went to a lot of different places to find the material, to talk to people, and he talks to a lot of people very much who are interested in who was bill rehnquist? a goldwater republican with his time in arizona, and what brought him to washington? how did he get to the courts? what did he do in the courts before becoming chief justice? then his career as the most overtly conservative chief justice, and this idea that he

brought a sort of partisanship to the court, which may as some say, reflect a certain passion in his point of view, but it's also seen by some people as really politicalling the court in the way the current court started with rehnquist as a lone outsider point of view and his defense and then his assent in the court also, i think, is a picture of how the court developed, and then people, you know, people get very, oh, what does it matter, you know, this happens anyway, the big money's in control. why vote? i think the last argument you can use for people getting cynical or getting, you know, it doesn't matter, about why to vote is to remind them that the presidents select the justices of the supreme court in their lifetime appointments. >> you were going to say something? >> i was going to say that would not be our title. >> would you read this book?

>> well, i might read the book, but i object to the title. the reason i object to the title is because i think if you're going to do a full biography of someone, it should be called chief justice or, you know, the chief or something -- >> that's a great point of view title that you loved so much. >> exactly, exactly. >> it is a point of view title. >> i think that's the important thing which is a biography with, of course, with a particular point of view, and probably not the one that we would embrace or agree with, but that's the great thing about book publishing is there are hundreds and thousands, hundreds of thousands of new titles out every year, and people have a wide variety to read a wide variety of things and ask, you know, take two

books that have the opposite point of view. >> i think i agree that not, you know, some people vote with their feet when they buy the books with a strong point of view, but people are also looking to understand things more deeply. every author in these categories truly wants to affect people and affect how they think and have influence and do their work with that passion in mind. >> i agree with that. i think you're absolutely right, and sometimes i have to remind my authors not to be so involved in converts people from the other side that they forget to talk to their base. >> well, point of view titles, is this a point of view title? >> that's a point of view title, i absolutely would. it's not a biography of esident obama, i don't want to imply that at all. this is a book by david limbaugh, multiple best selling author, and last book, "climb against liberty," was a number

one best seller, and we have high hopes for this sequel to do as well. it's just coming out this week, and it talks about david limbaugh's, you know, analysis of president obama as president of the united states, and his opinion from his point of view that the president has worked to deploy the fabric of the country and 5 lot of institutions and a lot of values that conservatives and, frankly, all americans hold dear. ..

>> if that is the great qualifier as a ceo. maybe people are interested but each one tries to make a difference with questions

questions, who is barack obama? what is his leadership style? what is his track record? what does that mean for your decision if he should be reelected? >> the authors' names are all in big print and have his picture on the front. also susan, is identified -- important people saw that they were the authors of the book? >> absolutely. america of what went wrong put them on the national map. they were reporters with "the philadelphia inquirer." they we're doing a story one happen to to the middle-class.

they were reporting and investigating questions that had not been looked into. it collected quickly into a book and number one best seller and people still" remember the book. at the beginning of reaganomics it may not ring true but the idea of the middle-class as of mid become more serious but that they needed to be updated. but the bigger picture, the context. >> the pitchers are meant to be emotional. thinking somebody is browsing through the bookstore.

i need to look at this. hoping that it captures the theme of the book to say that is what i think. i always wondered if that was true i'd better see if that really is true. >> as do you have any books about why mitt romney should be president? >> we don't. just like rehnquist keeps the underwriters close-knit and at this point* we talk about a track record as opposed to a candidate. that is the difference. a lot is the difference from

the past four years. >> host: also a question question -- . >> we say it is easier to publish books outside looking in and with regnery it is easier with the party of the white house. people are more passionate and feel more bode -- motivated to vote to win they feel they have something to argue with or complain about. that is more than i am in favor people look at a book to say it is positive about nit romney.

i don't need to buy the book. i am done. >> host: from the business perspective and obama being reelected is good for you? [laughter] what is bad for the country is good for business is what we often say. [laughter] and. >> host: susan weinberg have you looked into a book of mitt romney? >> guest: behalf. but in the early part of the year with his biography, we look the other things. but information has been disseminated. it will be done to quickly

people are doing short e-book. >> host: what do you think of that? >> guest: it is interesting. tactically if it is better in the small book then maybe not the full-length quote that could take longer. that could be interesting looking back on the election cycle, a to see how media plays a different role. the one constant everything is changing. >> contracting their value and role as part of the business. but that remains to be answered.

but you still have to invest a considerable amount of time how do justify with the much lower price with that instant many book? publishers have to figure out how that mini-book first is the full-length book instead of the mini-book because they fill the gap of the instant information especially during this segment of the presidential election year. although we tried to put out of full-blown book and are faster than most but with

the e-book they can provide information to help people analyze i'm not sure betty has been geared power works out with the business. >> media outlets always had a strong political blog but everybody has added one for the presidential year where am i adding value? >> host: will you be doing instant e-books? >> "politico" does it. >> the topic has come up but it is certainly part of the media landscape. >> what we have done we release books as the three bucks rather than going through the walls like all

and all of the technical things you have tab of pretty long lead time to get a book on the bookshelf we had a book that is very timely we will put it back out in the marketplace as the e-book we can write and edit those very quickly. with the physical book it takes several months. there are a single issue books those cetera very dedicated part of the marketplace. one was obamacare and one was that energy policy by did gingrich. to have the need for the comprehensive energy policy.

in the middle of the campaign that we did not have time to do old block but thought it was up for discussion it was a single issue book. >> host: did it make money? >> we just released it. >> host: a couple years ago you put together a book? >> how you published a book in 48 hours. there is so much happening with technology and everybody knows we have to react quickly. public affairs in regnery knows sometimes you have to know you are doing something because it is timely maybe it is part of the inquiry

report that was letters they bitterly publishing overnight. another technique we talk about releasing the book in the format to to gain interest. the new media environment there is a lot of ways to reach people and that is what we are all about to we care about the authors and books and we really want to reach people. >> host: we are out of time marji ross publisher of rector republishing and susan weinberg publisher of public affairs. >> book expo america the annual convention from new york city. week or joined by mr. mcphee and the. what are the books norton

has coming out? >> we have a very scary book about an important subject. humans move deeper into the hinterland with moller animal diseases transported to the public population other diseases you have not heard of not just aids. studying monkeys, carell was, he is a wonderful writer. this will be an exciting book. >> host: is this also happening in the united states? >> it is a worldwide phenomenon. diseases move very quickly. >> fell last refuge coming

out by johnson. if you want to understand terrorism you need to understand the and then and if so don said is a terrific guy. with theron on the ground, speaks the language, has trained ambassadors going over. it is a poor country that yemen is the big source of al qaeda and terrorism. >> host: david coleman? >> guest: a book called of 14th day october 2012 the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis. everybody knows the 13th day but david's question is what about the 14th day?

from the transcripts from the kennedy white house about how he managed the outcome from making sure the of missiles were removed to managing congress with the results of the contras at -- contrast. he is at the university of virginia at the history department. >> host: how long have you been with w.w. norton chairman and president? >> 36 years. started right out of college and have been running the last 18 years and chairman since 2000. >> host: what is the breakdown with the e-books? >> 21% e-books which is about industry average.

some see a much higher and nonfiction sales on individual titles when occasion was over 50%. >> host: do you predict they will take 50% or more? >> we will get a plateau but i am not looking ahead to the death of the printed book by the world where people who enjoy reading the books on the readers and also gained on paper. >> host: what is another trend of publishing we should be looking for? >> i watched their growth of a huge conglomerate. i like there is more access

to the marketplace not all made for norton but also other independents. >> host: who was 85? >> founding in 1923. he and his wife who was deeply founded had a passion for books and still in the import/export business by day and published at night then three years later did it full-time. >> host: you revived in imprint? >> we have gone to that imprint since the '70s park ave are publishers of the e cummings, the list goes on

and on the firm went bankrupt that wound up through the wonderful energy that we have now we've five to the imprint two of the first books. >> host: booktv c-span2 we have been talking with drake mcfeely chairman and president of w.w. norton company. >> host: well-known author joining us here at book expo

america about his book the obama white house vs. the supreme court. is there contest between the obama white house and the supreme court? >> guest: you bet. atom of day chaebol meant that american history was the liberal democratic president and a conservative supreme court issued after issue you see a conflict at work. >> host: what are some examples? >> the most erratic is the case the court struck down the limits to giving to campaigns but it said it in motion to do regulate the american campaign. it a vivid demonstration

many people who remember the "state of the union" address the president slapped the supreme court and justice of the dough shuck his head and said not true. and what i love about this scene it was concrete health care case has a of greater conflict with the conservatives of the court. >> host: the interview june 12 -- 25, a 2012, the health care decision could come down any monday? >> my mind it -- many is on june 25. >> host: is that when the book finishes? >> yes. i will rush to complete for it is basically written but

i could include the health care case. >> host: if it is overturned? what does that mean? >> is the epic proportions even if only on the individual mandate which is the most like the results not since the 1930's sense another conservative that is the closest parallel because the stakes are as high. >> host: mr. obama has been president four years and he has already appointed two justices. who is the next likely to retire? >> it is hard.

in 2008 it was certain justice souter would leave and john paul stevens they were on their way out. it is less certain 2012 because ruth beyer ginsberg is the oldest 78 but in good health and full of energy and often said her idol brandeis served until 82 which would take her through the next term. justice scalia, justice kennedy 75. once you are into the upper seventies it is not always your choice. also, politics plays of big part. ruth ginsberg would be considered the being if barack obama is president

and theron made the same thing with justice scalia adjust this kennedy would be more likely to leave under the mitt romney presidency. >> host: is there roberts court? >> absolutely. it is the story of american politics. the biggest development is the evolution of the republican party. republicans dominated for decades weather john marshall hahn out of -- holland, lewis powell, sandra day o'connor. justice alito and john roberts reflect the modern party. the polarization of congress winnow seat in the united states supreme court.

that is the roberts court that is more conservative and wrote william rehnquist ever left. >> host: you describe john roberts as a radical? >> i do. the book begins with the story of the botched both that everybody remembers but nobody remembers why. it is interesting on its own but sets up the protagonist the paradox the man who claimed to be the candidate of change in the supreme court justice who claimed to be the baseball umpire who did not want to change rules who has reversed positions

per obama tries to preserve what the court did and roberts is trying to change it. >> host: why was it botched? >> guest: was the misdirected e mail. john roberts and his staff meticulously wrote out how he would divide up the words of the oath and carefully had his staff e-mail it to the congressional inaugural committee. that group never for did it to the president elects office. obama did not know how roberts would divide the oath. this source of the confusion because obama's jump in

before roberts expected him and uncharacteristically got flustered. >> host: is there a personal relationship? >> no. not antagonistic not for a day comment nonexistent. there are interesting parallels. they are six years apart and age and both products of chicago and obama came of age as a community organizer george -- john roberts raised on the outskirts both products of law school and harvard law review and both have a marriage with two young children but the differences are far greater. >> host: did john roberts

talk to him before the oath? >> i have not said which shows -- justices i have spoke to but i did speak to a majority. >> host: besides the health care case where you looking forward to the next term will be enormous. the future of affirmative-action the poteen rights act will that the continued? there is one of their big case coming up 1/2 to leave your viewers in suspense. it is the next book.

>> host: let us know when you think about it. >> host: "the oath" comes out 2012. published by doubleday it can also watch jeffrey toobin on the cnn. the book publishing industry meets every year for the annual convention and simon & schuster have a large display here on the convention four. we are joined by a tracie and juliet to talk about the new books coming out. the former governor of california? >> most highly anticipated book governor schwarzenegger total recall coming out october 1st. his entire life story.

corrupt and austria then moved to california founded the national body building industry and became a millionaire within 10 years. within 20 years the biggest movie star on a plan it. he is very candid about his personal and professional life. nobody has the story like arnold schwarzenegger. >> host: a bush you this embargo this book? >> there is a lot of interest in it. >> he has been working on it since he has been out of the governor's office. a couple of years. >> host: another author who is familiar to our viewers, judea, tell us about the book. >> it is called the new new deal talk about the stimulus

bill the author asserts this is the new new deal is just as transformative to set the record straight. . . one or two books a month, but we are looking forward to the center coming out a few months

ahead. we are actually working on one coming out in a years time and of course we keep track of our authors who have come out previously to make sure that we continue giving them the attention they need and helping get them. >> interviews and continuing on when there is news that is breaking that any of our authors can comment on. >> host: one of your long-term others as bob woodward. >> guest: bob woodward will have a new book coming out september 10 on obama's handling of the economy. woodward has had 12 number one national bestsellers from all the presidents meant to obama's wars and like those he takes us inside the room where the decision-making and the nation's business is handled and negotiated at the highest level. >> host: working with another like bob woodward is it different than working with other authors because of what he writes? >> guest: every author is special, unique. we don't have any cookie-cutter

plan for how we approach them or how we publicize them. bob is wonderful. he has been with simon & shuster for a long time and we have a great working report but we have that rapport with all of our authors. >> host: will there be galleys to that? guest code there will not be galleys to that book. >> host: one book that did not have galleys julia prosser it you have been working on, david maraniss, barack obama, the story. what kind of fort. do with mr. marinus on that? >> guest: well, we work together to make sure the book is discussed in the light that really shows how enormous amount of work that went into it. marinus traveled the globe and sat down with over 300 people to get the real story and to find all the characters that really hedged obama's life and it's a generational story. it's a global story and so we want to share all of that. not just wet is excerpted.

>> host: booktv did a special with that book as well, but so we worked with you quite a bit on this. what is it like setting up a publicity tour for an author of a book that sites? >> guest: it's funny this one is really change. sometime you think the plants are going to go in one direction and then it catches fire and that is what really happened with this book and it's been very exciting to be working with it. we have to be nimble and flexible and work with everybody who is interested to get the word out there. >> host: another new book that is coming out is larry mcmurtry's custer. >> guest: it's true. larry is one of our greatest storytellers of the american west, long been fascinated by custer. he really examines custer's legacy and helps us understand the kind of redefined american west narrative. this is a different vote for him that in the sense of this lavishly is traded and it's going to be a great gift when it comes out in november. >> host: tracey guest one more

book for me that you want to talk about that is coming out. >> guest: we have a major new biography of chairman mao called ml the real story by stephen levine. babette access to russian documents that were previously not available to any biographer, and they shared revelations about chairman mao with respect to his right to power, his loyalty to stalin, some personal revelations that are quite startling and it's a new and complete nuanced torture it of chairman mao. >> host: is that a book that will be for sale or are you printing it in chinese first of all and will it be for sale in china? >> guest: i don't know the answer to that. it had previously been published in russia. this book is a new addition and there has been material added. it has cause quite a sensation when it was published there so we are happy to bring it here and bring it out in october. >> host: finally julia prosser one more book from you. >> guest: i'm going to tell you a little bit i stewart lied

walter jarvis coming in september. a great american of the 19th century who was a new york senator and governor and the leading rifle on lincoln's team of rival. he was the secretary of state and closest adviser during the civil war and he was the architect of america's international empire. we got incredible early reviews from doris kearns goodwin, maurice chernow and the list goes on and we are excited about that one. host that we have been talking with tracey guest and julia prosser of simon & shuster with some of their upcoming titles and in the background another one of their awful's -- authors is rachel ray who is signing her books here at bookexpo america. speier watching an interview from booktv's recent trip to new york city the bookexpo america. the publishing industry's annual trade show. for more information visit bookexpo america.com.

>> from time to time on booktv we like to invite sarah weinman who is the news director of publishers marketplace to give us an update on the business of books. sarah weinman thank you again for coming on. we appreciate it. >> guest: it's always a pleasure peter. >> host: if we could start it? to look at the current status of the google books case is that we agreed that the authors guild who was one of the plaintiffs, did have everything was going along for decided that the original settlement was

not good so he threw it out and it in a different way from the authors guild. there were rumors that there were going to be separate settlements so now that the authors guild has standing it will essentially keep chugging along and it's possible they may be moving towards a trial late in september but we just don't know. so, developments are slow, just as they were many years ago. this, who is it going to affect and how? and how will the consumers -- will they get better access to books, cheaper access to books? player and the book business than it was in 2005. at the time publishers and authors feared th book

scanning was going to lead to was two years before amazon ever a candle device, and now of course there are multiple candle devices and barnes & noble came in with the note. their competitors from apple far more multilayered than it the meantime what google has done is they have got into the e-book space and they were partnering with to the bookseller sites. now google is getting out of that. they rebranded looks as google play which became more of movie, entertainment standpoint so because the entire landscape has changed, legally even if the judge chen decides that there will be a trial or there will be a ruling, it cannot matter in

the same way that it did years ago. >> host: sarah weinman is there a fear among publishers that consumers will start to consider books free, much as they do today, music or movies? a lot of people get their movies in their music free. >> guest: it's interesting you bring that up peter because one of the big things that has been happening in the past few weeks and accelerated here at tba is a number of publishers even large houses are experimenting with bit, the are produced and sold to retailers, they want to make sure that you can't pirate a book very easily so they put certain types of code and rules under what they're writes or so it makes digital files and e-books very difficult if not

the downside is that let's say you just want to transfer an e-book that you legally own from one device to another that are not compatible, suddenly can't do it and that makes it much more difficult for the consumer. i bought this book come i want to be able to read it on any device i own or any software because of these digital rights management restrictions. so what a number of publishers has done, including mcmillan owned -- the science fiction, they recently announced that as of i believe july, they will sell their books drm free so customers will be able to buy books and do whatever they like with them. >> host: once you buy one -- >> guest: by one, read everywhere to quote from amazon's marketing slogan but in a chew since that is essentially what publishers are experimenting with.

just yesterday, a smaller announced publishers they work with will also make their bottom line is while publishers do fear piracy, they feel that of piracy that it's more create awareness as people should find books legally. i will give one last example and rolling. potter" book. never sold digital rights to remain publishers she did last year, she launched a multimedia platform and web site called potter horn which is essentially creating a the book.

exclusive retailer for "harry potter" e-books and the way it is set up is customers can go to potter board or your favorite retailer amazon.com or cm.com customers can get the e-book and essentially by there and read on whatever device they choose so essentially they are dear afri. >> host: so this is becoming a trend? >> guest: it appears to be. >> host: industrywide? >> guest: that is hard to say. i think everybody is waiting on everybody else to see the works at a piracy is unaffected i free moves but it may not be a blanket thing like i can't say yet that mcmillan will suddenly make all of their books drm free but because science fiction is oriented and those fans are passionate and they have been reading digital books

early that is a very good imprint. but will they see it or say non-fiction or literary fiction? that is difficult to say. >> host: the background of the department of justice, apple and the current -- >> guest: oh my. this has been in the works for a few months. the department of justice has been making noises that they might be looking into it and they were going into publishers offices and obtaining records. i think as far back as last fall. it started with a civil suit from seattle, where a number of customers claimed that, because publishers had unilaterally come together, the five biggest ones excluding random house to form what is known as the agency model where before digital books were sold and many of them still continue to be sold under a wholesale model to kind of conflate a whole bunch of

complicated things into one. what the agency model means for the publishers and the retailer cannot change that so the retailer will get a 30% cut of that price whereas under the wholesale model the publisher makes the retail discount -- so publishers have feared that there was a downward pressure and amazon at the time in 2009 and early 2010 was the dominant e-book retailer. once the agency model was implemented and apple with the ipad helps foster those barnes & noble jumped on board, other retailers move towards the industry model and as i mentioned earlier in our talk, we now have a much more and varied digital books space been many retailers. that actually is -- but then in april the department of justice decided they felt they did have a case so they sued those five big publishers excluding random house. random house was not included

because they did not implement the agency model for another year. so in theory the irony is that by waiting they are not an bald legally at all and they can keep the model for the time being. and number of states also see it but at the same time the announcement was made they also announced that harpercollins and simon & shuster had settled and is part of the settlement, which in theory would go into effect later in the summer if approved by the court, they could not use the agency model for at least two years. if they do it would have to be under a very modified name. however penguin and mcmillan did not settle so they are still being sued. as a result since then the judges presiding over both the department of justice and also this class-action suit, she had said in a filing that she was going -- she essentially

indicated that she was going to -- and unless they made a very good case for it, it doesn't really look all that good for them right now. but as to where it stands, nothing is going to happen until the department of justice gets a number of letters published. those are happening under a number of prominent people like industry insiders and book publishers and also readers on both sides of the issue who have been weighing in. they have until june 25 to submit letters to the doj and i believe that by july 27, judge -- is going to hear whether the settlements have standing in two how to proceed with all of the suits. so it's very complicated i know. >> host: how they get a deal is that? >> guest: it's a huge deal because essentially as a

think -- publishing is a very social business so it's making things a little tougher. there was a panel at an abject conference at the digital book conference which featured an number of bug executives and a model said we can't talk about in thing to to do with e-books or the department of justice in case -- and the simpler side of it is there are many -- that have been making it around the internet, but that is gallows humor and affect. i think publishers are really fearful that if the agency model goes away that amazon will be able to dictate even further and the reason why disappears is not just amazon is a retailer. they are also a publisher. if you go on the show floor here, amazon is a big boost for amazon publishing. they are giving away a lot of galleys. they have in the sense of excitement around them. is this extra bit of tension that is added here at the

publishing's biggest trade show in america. >> host: sierra why many talked about the attention that the publishers who saddled with doj, are they the outliers? are they look down upon by the they settled? >> guest: say. litigating. publishers may be beholden to their shareholders and larger corporate days but they don't have the time or the money to spend millions and millions of dollars litigating a case that in fact this may make the google book settlement in terms of time and money look like child's play. >> host: sarah wine meant we have talked to several publishers here at bookexpo america, the industry convention and we have talked about e-books. and where they fit when it comes to the revenues.

overall, what percentage of revenues from publishers -- kos be if you are looking trade publisher houses and i will cloak will he use the term the big fix and other larger and midsize publishing houses, e-books are a huge and growing revenue stream so for example when the aap released numbers for february statistics, i believe that e-book sales in february were about $92.5 billion that they tracked in that made up about 26% of overall trade sales. a number of the largest publishers are reporting well in excess of 20% of overall trade sales order after order. the numbers fluctuate depending on how things are doing and they're also looks that i think add an artificial bump for example. suzanne collins "the hunger games," because those books are selling phenomenally well, the movie certainly doesn't hurt but it sold so well that scholastic had to issue a separate is

released after they issued their quarterly numbers to sail company now our guidance is going to be even better because we have greater than usual sales of these hunger games books. another publisher i expect to do very very well is random house. when they picked up the self-published trilogy in march and they first published it in e-book format and now the book edition, at the time those books television executive. they sold about 250,000 copies just in e-book demand form through a very tiny publishing house called the writer's coffee shop. have been growing and growing but here is where the power of a large publisher fits in. the imprint of knopf, part of random house, gets all the rights to print, e-book, audio

in north america and i believe in the u.k. as well. they get the rights and what has happened? in the first six weeks of sailboat looks sold 10 million copies. it's unheard of. 10 million. >> host: on line? >> guest: know, half of it were e-books and half of it were print. the print sales are through the row. bestseller list, the top three, 50 shades of gray, 50 shades darker, those are the titles. there's a phenomenon like a da vinci code level and of course the da vinci code written by dan brown was the random house book or got through doubleday which started not so knopf has a juggernaut that seems to be on the lame. their big thing was the millennium trilogy. those books to phenomenally well. now that the three books are out of the movies are out and the american movies are out, those are the kind of -- i wouldn't say they have gone by the

wayside that they're not talked about and they are selling but not phenomenally. now they have the three shades of grey trilogy and i truly believe that will make it. >> host: we have been talking about books and big sellers. how would you describe the overall health of the publishing industry? >> guest: by and large alright. i think based on the numbers, because you have outliers like "the hunger games" and the 50 shades trilogy, does seem to add an extra level of sales and certainly excitement. for example just being at the dea, definitely since there's an added level of excitement. there were lines out the door, much more crowded than i remember it being in the last two or three years and i think it -- going back to what i said earlier e-book sales keep climbing. sales growing, maybe not as fast as in 2011 but still

thanks to our friends in washington. >> host: publishers learned a lot from what the music industry did when it came to publishing now that is into say they don't still have a lot to learn but i think it's also important to remember even with the health issues of the music industry and how they deal with piracy, a lot of people still why the physical cds. cds may be on the wane but digital is -- and i think for will they pop out at 30%, will they pop out at 50%? will they go higher?

does? does it depend on which category goes out? that i can definitely say is yes because what readers want to read on their devices may be different than what they want to read in print. so i think the key word is hybrid and i think we will be look to whether they should publish it walk in e-book first, should they bring it out in hardcover and then the paperback in a few months or a year from now? perhaps it'll be even more experimental in terms of format than it will be right now. >> host: sarah weinman when it comes to amazon, amazon changed the publishing world in any way? >> guest: absolutely. for one thing, here is this behemoth retailer that has an amazing ability to market directly. they always keep the customer in mind first. whenever there is a problem, if a kindle device breaks or there

dry, they answer their customers needs right away. but it's also because they have been moving more aggressively into publishing. for example one of the big publishing news out of amazon was when they acquired the digital rights and i also believe the print rights to ian fleming's -- and i believe those will be in the next few weeks. originally penguin had a 10 10 ten-year license and that came up. what the agents decided was they wanted to -- [inaudible] and they went to amazon where presumably they felt they got the best deal so it will be very interesting to see how these iconic books that have become the basis for these legendary movies, will they be revised or will amazon find a way to market them and new and different and

potentially more exciting ways? that is just one example. another thing that i think people are going to be paying close attention to is when amazon officially launches their new york-based publishing interest. the show this very weak, but the be published until this fall. amazon worked out a very the e-books will be under amazon publishing new york, but the print edition are going to be released through houghton mifflin harcourt who set up a dedicated -- called new harbor so essentially independent bookstores or brick-and-mortar stores if they so choose good order print editions from houghton mifflin harcourt at what has happened is for example barnes & noble, they have come out for the time being in and i don't believe there has been any yet, for the time being they have said they will not stock any of amazon's publishing titles because as

direct way of selling the in selling the print editions in their brick-and-mortar stores. so it just makes things interesting. mcmillan which is the second-largest -- they also are declining to stop many if not all of the amazon so because these titles may not have the same physical retailers as their counterparts, the big six, how would that affect sales? that'll be very interesting to see. >> host: what about the addition of sara nelson as the interesting move largely because it is. she will be terms of revitalizing their on line presence, their blog which is

changing the way that amazon editors pick works. as far as i can tell, she is not directly involved with the book publishing arm but from what i can gather, they have hired sara nelson to be -- [inaudible] and her previous job was the editor of opera magazine. >> host: and the publisher at -- >> guest: also a publishers weekly soshi has been first and foremost a champion of looks and a great industry insider and one who really knows -- has her pulse on what people are reading so that i believe his wife amazon brought her in, so she could be that great reading advocate. it's also interesting she has loved oh magazine behind and of course another big piece of news is how oprah winfrey has provided the book club which was announced a few days ago. it's different from the way it used to be. the book club was shut down in

2010 when she moved away from broadcast syndication to her own network, the oprah winfrey network, but she brought it back with gerald grays memoir, wild, which is a book that can off publishing launched when gray in her 20s walk the pacific coast trail, 1100 miles of it all by herself. it is a really good look at night right at not long before publication and i couldn't put it down so i totally see why oprah was enthusiastic to the point where this is the book that revived the most. what she is doing is there is there was in the past, but it will tie in closely with a magazine. there will be twitter and facebook. there will be a much heavier on line component, so a lot of people in publishing are also watching it. will the book club work just as well on this form? will people pay as much

attention? it's another thing everybody's waiting to see this summer. >> host: finally sarah weinman, what do nonfiction books add to the publisher's bottom line? do they sell nearly as well as some of these novels we are talking about? >> guest: it depends. from what i understand, jonah creativity, that sold really well and largely when -- recommended it and certainly coming up maybe not so much this summer but certainly this fall, it will be interesting to see how nonfiction does that his election related. i think if nonfiction books do very well they will have some political or some history related element that somehow ties into the election. for example i would not be surprised if david maraniss'

book does phenomenally well mostly because they are all these -- of what is to come with "vanity fair" and other magazines and people are very curious to see it. it's a very big book so that is the first book that comes to my mind but i know there are a number of other political books it should be dropping very same. >> host: we have been talking with sarah weinman who is the news director of publishers marketplace. if you're interested in following the publishing news, the web site, publishers marketplace.com, and if you want to follow sarah on twitter, she is a constant twitterer. sarah w. >> guest: i tried to keep it simple by getting on twitter very early so i was fortunate to have a few characters as have 134 characters left to say what i needed to say. >> host: thank you for being on booktv. as you can see they're

allowed -- large crowds at the annual of publishers convention in new york city at the javits center. booktv on c-span2 is on location. trying to learn some of the new upcoming titles and we are joined by sublive who is -- will weisser who is the circa publisher of sentinel which is part of the penguin group. guess who we are conservative political imprint and havoc citing stuff coming up starting with senator marco rubio of florida. his book is coming up on june 19. it's a memoir called an american son, and i think everybody will certainly watch c-span know he is certainly one of the most interesting and talked about politicians in america right now, a lot of speculation about his future but what is really amazing is his family story. he is the son of two immigrants from cuba who came from a working-class family and for them to produce a senator who is only 41 and is a pretty amazing story of how we got to that

point. >> host: by the time this airs that book will just be coming out or will have come out. is this the embargo book? gaska when you have prominent politicians you often want to keep books under rep because the media so hungry to get hold of the book to look for any details they can use to write about somebody so yes you have to keep the books under wraps. >> host: a well-known author who has been on booktv many times, will weisser. >> guest: a history book called pictures history of the modern world, from the end of world war ii. his take is a historian in ohio and his take is to give a conservative perspective on history. he feels most academics which you may not agree with and a lot of people think most professors and have a liberal bias in their account of american history and world history and things like the use of the atomic him and those kinds of controversy so he feels there is room and need for

a conservative perspective on the history of america and the history of the world. his previous book was a big seller so we are thrilled to that is excellent. >> host: and, what is your background in publishing? >> guest: i was a history major. like a lot of people and never plan to go into publishing. it was an accident of circumstance when i got out of college but it's been endlessly fascinating for more than 20 years because you are for permitting interesting authors and learning new things like an ongoing education. >> host: now being at sentinel to you -- are you personally conservative? >> guest: i think there is a diversity of political sentiment. some of us are conservative in some of us are martyred. we bring out authors who have interesting points of view and points of view that are not as quite as well represented as maybe in other parts of the publishing industry. so that is her unifying concern. >> host: one more book we want to ask about you, former governor huckabee. >> guest: we love governor huckabee. it will be our fourth book with

him, called dear chandler, dear scarlett. it's about wisdom, family and faith and life in general and all the things he wants his grandchildren to know for the future so its ingestion with politicians, sometimes the politicians do the best with looks that have nothing to do with politics about life in wisdom and family and thinks like that so we are excited to have governor huckabee, wonderful man. >> host: we have been talking with will weisser that bookexpo america associate publisher of sentinel books. >> guest: thank you very much. >> host: joining us on booktv, our co-author, meghan mccain and michael ian black. "america, you sexy bitch" is the name of the book. first of all -- >> guest: i was the guest on a pilot who shot via satellite and we saw each other on twitter and any tweeted way one night asking if i wanted to write a book and i said sure.

>> guest: i was on a lot of ambien at the time. >> guest: the look on your face. >> guest: it pleases me to no end. >> host: it will be after midnight that we are this. the way ms. mccain tells the story of how you two met, that is exactly -- you asked her to co-author over twitter. why did you agree? >> guest: i had just gone through a really bad breakup. [laughter] sorry, it's really funny when i say it and the career thing had worked out. >> guest: she was having a moment of desperation. >> guest: no, i was like do you know what? this is not some opportunity and with the popularity of "the daily show" in the colbert report what a better time to write a book and i thought it

was an interesting idea and i thought i would get no other time in my life to do something so fun and ridiculous and over-the-top and exciting and serious at the same time. >> host: so a blue state, atheist liberal and a republican christian red state or got together. what is the tone of the book? >> guest: i think it's surprisingly positive. before we embarked on this project, when michael and i were having the initial discussion and e-mailing back and forth about the concept of the book of this new enough about each other ginobli weren't really going to be nasty towards each other or taken a personal although it happens a little bit in the book. this was a serious, we say, social experiment for two people from different backgrounds. you can go together in a van and be friends and discover america and 2012. >> guest: it is a romp through

america. >> host: that to be got into an rv and just took off? >> guest: >> guest: with two other people, yes. >> guest: we had a driver, cousin john who is a common character in the book. and debbie who is also a common character in the book. we are driving through america talking to people. >> guest: we both were frustrated with the climate and the environment of american politics right now and when he was talking about writing a political book i said the way i fell in love with america was being on the road for two years so if are current to do this we have to going to read and we interviewed hundreds of people. we had hunched of people and i think what fascinated us most is americans are still positive. we are in a dark time in the dark recession but everybody still believes in america. i mean there were some people that were negative but we had the feeling that we are in this together. we are in america and going through recession and a very

hard time and we thought if we could write a more positive look with a more positive spin and yes we are in this together and the recession is hard on everyone, if the two of us who are crazy by her own admission can come together and write a book that we think, although campy and over-the-top and purposely irreverent, talking about american politics in a really positive way, they can hopefully influence young people because at the end of the day it's a book for people that aren't interested in politics. i've never been interested in converted. i like people who are turned off with politics and don't want anything to do with it. those of the people that i want to get interested subwhat better way? >> guest: isn't she great? she's amazing. you would never know that she was on the campaign trail for two years. i am just watching you in a little bit of all. >> host: when you would watch meghan mccain interview people, what was your reaction? >> guest: well, my initial reaction was, thought here is a

republican who is talking sense and in a way that i feel that republicans don't always do and i sometimes don't do. make and i thought if somebody who is sensible, speaks in a coherent way about issues that i think have relevance in a way that i can understand. i thought, if i was ever going to be a republican i would want to be buddies with her. the last name to me was more of an entrée. i met her dad. he does not care for me at all. her mom and i get along famously. >> guest: my mother and my brother and my sister love him too. my father, he doesn't like the title.

i think now that he has read half of it, i think he understands that we speak to a different audience. i have always spoken to a different audience and i tell my father, i have never been accused of being brutally honest but i write as much to understand is to be understood and for me talking about my life and how i feel about american politics is always very cathartic and not to quote another person but i love maya angelou when she says -- [inaudible] and i believe that is really the basis of why we did this and why we are doing it and it's also very serious. >> host: michael ian blackwell was your favorite or most memorable stop in a red state? >> guest: i fell in love with branson. branson to me was just the best. i thought i'm going to ruin to branson and i'm going to start on this place, i'm going to hate this place. it could not have been more fun,

warmer, more gregarious. we went to dolly parton's stampede which i thought oh this is going to be ridiculous. i've never had more fun with a political experience. i've seen dustin hoffman. dolly parton puts dustin hoffman to shame. she has guys riding on horses, there is buffalo, comes with a dinner. you can eat with your hands. >> guest: american flags. >> guest: it is the finest theatrical experience i've ever i have ever had in my life. >> guest: dolly parton -- [inaudible] is a dry town so it's family-friendly, bible belt. we had gone to las vegas and had a very racy, r-rated experience and then we went to branson which is family friendly and

very red and we had just as an awesome of the time. i had a little bit of an existential crisis in branson missouri when i saw jacob smirnov. >> host: meghan mccain experience in a blue state? >> guest: >> guest: a blue state that i enjoyed? i had a really nice time in connecticut meeting family. connecticut is blue, right? talking to his family and his friends about their perspective and some of his family and friends were not fans of my family and the republican party made it very clear over dinner. my family -- overall we had a great time and you know it's interesting to have your world when you are thrust into each other's worlds and you have to face it upfront, your stereotypes and the pressures. >> guest: it's a stereotype that republicans are more fun than democrats and having been

on the road with a lot of republicans i can absolutely confirm that is true. republicans are a lot more fun. >> guest: we like to have a good time and a lot differently than democrats do. >> host: did any of your cues change? >> guest: no, no. >> guest: come on. >> guest: i had never fired a gun and meghan taught me to shoot. i like that a lot. >> host: your brother that served in the marines? >> guest: he is here now. >> he is behind you. it was about changing minds as hearing the other person's point of view without judgment and without prejudice. and i think i changed her mind mind -- your mind and you changed my mind. >> guest: i had my mind changed on quite a few different things. i don't know if we are allowed to say this. marijuana legalization. when we went on the road, we met a lot of people.

a lot of people gave good cases for it economically. the decriminalization of marijuana in the country and the possible financial benefits is really why we are moving so many people for so many reasons which is sort of the a scary thing to admit that again it does so against the republican orthodoxy and i feel like it's one more thing conservatives will use against me but this book shows -- >> guest: even be f. buckley -- >> guest: . [inaudible] mayor bloomberg? but i don't know. all the issues that i have that i finally really, we had a lot of time to discuss. >> guest: he studied the effects of the lucid --

hallucinogenic's as being therapeutic and he makes a pretty compelling case. >> guest: that was something that really change. >> host: why the olive garden? >> guest: who doesn't love the olive garden? i love the olive garden. a barrel the time when i'm on the road. we both love fast food and chain hotels. that is the basis of our relationship. we both love looking la quinta inn, red roof inn, mcdonald's, burger king. we both love pringles, soda. neither of us care about our health that much. >> host: who came up with a title? >> guest: the title was meghan's. i can take no credit for it. we were touring the capital with one of my fathers and turns and he was taking us on a tour in showing us the statue of lady freedom in the congressional hall. he was saying, as you can notice, the sun never sets on freedom. we all started laughing and it's

a ridiculous thing to say. lightbulb, that's really funny. >> guest: that is her charm. >> guest: he doesn't know what to do. >> guest: i find the title term in. >> host: what is the goal, ian black, what is the goal of this book? >> guest: it's about getting people who aren't interested into politics to indeed starting up a conversation. what do i care about, what do i believe in, and get people to start asking the questions. it's not for wonks. it's not for people who read politico. it's for people who just may be feel uncommitted or people who care about their country but don't even have a way to start talking about it. it mirrors my own i think political education. meg and i think was really fortunate to come from a family

that got heavily involved in this. i didn't. i was sort of born into it but i've never really spent any time thinking about it until i was older. once i started doing that and started thinking about why i believe what i believe or even if i believe what i think i believe that is one questions lead to question so all this book is really about is having a good time and having people start to ask questions. >> guest: yeah and again i feel like my past in politics has been bringing a different audience especially throughout the fall and spring in many colleges, they are so disenchanted from politics right now and everything is so polarized. they don't want to be a part of it and they don't want to use their voice. i think if we can use humor to get a very serious message across i think that is very powerful. >> host: meghan mccain, michael ian black, your third

burke. what are your first two? >> guest: a first home is a children's book about my father and the second one is "america, you sexy bitch." >> host: michael ian black, also your third but. >> guest: my first was called my custom van and let me blow your mind all of your face and my second one is called we are not doing it right. >> host: co-authors, coming out in the summer of 2012, "america, you sexy bitch" a love letter to freedom. thank you for being on booktv. >> guest: thank you, thank you. you are watching an interview from booktv's recent trip to new york city for bookexpo america, the publishing industry's annual trade show. for more information visit bookexpo america.com. >> he i wanted to read what i felt was one of the more moving passages as you describe, actually what's happening before the camera is rolling.

so this is what you described. you said, but that was not their intent. that was made brutally clear to me when one of the officer suddenly kicked me with his boot inside -- to the side of my face smashing my job. it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my head. before a i could register the unbearable pain one of the officer slammed in the lower leg with his baton. i heard a crack and was so surprised when it happened that i immediately pleaded with melanie who was one of the arresting officers but at that point had become your guardian angel, someone who was different from the rest. i knew this was going to -- i know this is going to sound kind of strange but after that point i felt safe with her there is sort of a maternal presence that would not allow things to get too out of control. i shouted out to her, they don't

have to do this, tell them, they don't have to do this. >> drill briefly into that story, i shouldn't have been drinking and driving that i had a job to go to that monday. it with was making more money than i was thinking at dodger -- dodger stadium. they called me up and said be ready to go to work monday. when i heard that i went and got a few beers and went over to my buddy's house. i didn't know i was going to be work and i didn't know is going to feel about that. he can get a little angry sometimes when he said but it was all good and i went out with him and we were on our way to the dam where my dad used to take us fishing because i didn't want to be stuck in the same little community where we had, where we were at, where we grew up at, couple of us.

so we started over there and the highway patrol got on me and started chasing me in the car. so i -- the only thing i could think about was i've got to make it to this job monday. i have to start work monday and that the cops behind me. i know have been drinking and i'm on parole. i've got to get away. >> that is lots of work. >> i had worked, had worked myself -- when you come out of prison and you really try to do the right thing, and then all of a sudden you know your whole world is about to stop and you are on parole and you are going back to jail, that was the only thing i could think of. anyway, i lost the highway patrol car and what happened was, the helicopter was up there. there was no getting away from the helicopter. [laughter] my goodness, so -- >> you did think for a minute you might outrun them.

didn't you have a honda? >> yeah, a hyundai excel, and upgrade. [laughter] >> the joke here is that mr. king doesn't know this but i was driving a hyundai at the time and it wasn't excel geo. it was a little coupe hatchback and in fact i used to drive from philadelphia to chicago from college home in the l.a. mountains. it wouldn't get past 55. [laughter] and it wouldn't get past 55, you know. so you were thinking you were in a hotrod. >> exactly, and anyway to my surprise they caught up with me. [laughter] and when they caught up with me, could see them pull up on the side and say, they look like -- pullover. my heart just started going --

i had to think fast. i knew a beating was coming after this chase because that is just how it goes. i was looking for a lit area to stop and where i chose to stop there were apartment buildings over there, but there was nobody out. i said to myself, at least somebody, maybe someone will come out or something and sure enough she ordered me out of the car. melanie and tim singer, they were husband and wife team for the highway patrol. the initial ones on the chase. and so, so she came over to me and they had already ordered me out of the car. open the car up, so i lay down. she came over to me and she got my wallet out of my back pocket so she get get my i.d.. as she is doing that i'm looking

at them and they're popping the trunk real fast getting the taser out, the baton out of the car. he is running towards me and as she is walking away i said hey, i'm laying on the floor face down -- hey tell them they don't have to do this. tell them they don't have to do this because i'm already knowing what's going to happen. when she walked away from me, her husband walked up to me and it was just like boom, kicked me in the temple area and broke my job. then he asked, how do you feel? everything was broken at that point and the only thing i could do was not let this guy know he he got the best of me, which he did. i told him -- but i couldn't even talk. i feel fine. my jaw was broken and blood coming out. i feel fine. i lay down there and sergeant ken, he comes up and tased me

right away. i am being tased and he is lighting me up. i could feel the blood coming out of my mouth. then he asked, how do you feel now? i couldn't say nothing. he said, we are going to kill you, run. when he said we are going to kill you, ron, i'm going to run. i hesitated for a second. i looked for clearance at that time and i'm still on the ground and i'm looking for clearance. when i see the clearance, but i see the clearance it was between a hyundai and the police officer so what i do is i get up to go run, to run but when this lake when in front of me i didn't know it was broken. so the leg -- when i fell down, it looked like camera look like i was going after him because my hands were like this. i was trying to get my hands in front of me.

that is when the video have been running maybe about 15 minutes. so it caught that. what it didn't catch is you know the name-calling and the taser, you know, the running 50,000 volts through my body. he did that in like three shots and discharged all three shots. while he is teasing me, he started beating me with the baton and he is telling me to stay still, stay still. there's no way you can stay still with those kinds of volts running for your body. at this point i'm soaked in blood and the electricity hit me at the same time so i'm like lowe. i'm feeling like, i almost burned up the house when i was a kid playing with matches and a trashcan caught on fire.

my dad had an extension cord waiting on me. that same pool being somehow felt like it repaired me for that night with the taser because the same thick extension cord, shocking, the same horrible feeling. so when i fell back, it was like 20 times worse than the extension cord. anyway the guy would run the taser and he said stay still. when he stops the taser, of course i am regrouping myself trying to see if i'm still there or not. i'm trying to stay still, but i -- excuse me. i can't. [laughter] so the guy starts beating me more because i moved. beat i could hear them calling me names. you n, you n. once you start cursing and you

start beating someone you are really into it now. they were really into it. calling me names. >> host: . >> you had a moment he described in the book where, and i want the audience to hear, you described it where you said you insert yourself into the long history of the black people experiences in the united states and you make specific reference. >> i'm going to tell you what really gave me a lot of strength also that night was knowing that black people before me went through this in slavery, and up to this day you know, i said to myself, it was just moments, you know, moments to think. it's like, this is what people really went through back in the days. when they don't get caught. i said i've got to survivet