wrong predict. >> in-depth like the first sunday of every month, you can watch this program and all previous episodes in their entirety a booktv.org, just click on the in-depth tab in the top of the page. ... what about books we dove into the latest news on the

publishing industry with interesting insider interviews with publishing industry experts. will also give you updates on current nonfiction's authors and books. the latest book reviews that we will talk about the current nonfiction books featured on c-span's book tv. ♪ ♪ and welcome to about books. in this will talk with longtime book a publisher look at the latest books by current and former's members of congress. but first let's start this week the publishing industry news. it's the angels a new president of the publishing house for a large house and drew a g growing group of women have taken over the leadership roles at larger publishing houses including dana candidate at simon & schuster, lisa lucas at pam tiant and adrienne bond at bloomsbury usa. in other news reuters report

french legislation is taking aim at amazon shipping cost to customers in the country. currently french law prohibits discounting books. i was on charges 1 cent to get around that. the new legislation but pitt set delivery feet french ministry of culture commented this law is necessary to record the distort competition with an online book styles and prevent the inevitable monopoly that will emerge that the status quo persists. amazon argues the law will her customers in rural areas of france. at other news performing artist has started a lending library of rare books by black writers and artists. named after these to studio contains 50 books available on a first-come first-served

basis and according to npd bookscan, print book sales were up close to 3% last week 11% year to date margie ross, margie when did you leave and what are you doing these days? lexa thanks for asking peter. i left in january of 2020. and moved to the country in central virginia and started my own book publishing consulting business. >> what kind of offers are you working with are you working

with publishers? i'm working with both. i'm working with publishers and authors. which is helping authors make sure their books are impactful and interesting and relevant and compelling and well positioned for their brand. work with publishers and authors on working with great books. >> your 20 years, who are some of the authors you published? >> we publish pretty p much every thought leader and celebrity author you can think of on theco conservative side of the aisle. that includes davidd limbaugh, newt gingrich, dennis prager,

michelle malcolm, laura ingraham, margaret hemingway, david horwich, mark live-in, the list is long. and it was an amazing opportunity for some interesting provocative authors per. >> one of the authors publisher did not mention was donald trump. [laughter] >> we did publish donald trump. published a book on times to get tough which really set the stage for presidential run. we publish that back in 2011, i think, he kinda flirted with the idea of running and then decided not too. that was the beginning of him speaking out for national and international political issues. >> now margie ross in a previous conversation you and

i had, you mentioned once he declared in 2016 that he was running for president you went back and read his old stuff and you saw no discrepancies. >> that is such an interestingt thing. the reason i went back, honestly, it read his old stuff and he declared he was going to rent we thought we publish this great book maybe we should publish the paperback edition that seems like a good marketing decision at this point. until we thought maybe we'll have tove update a lot of it maybe we will have to change a lot of things. and it was remarkable to me going back to that book, which had been written three or four years earlier and there was nothing. he was not still second 2016.

that really impressed me. we know with politicians and wathe seller through but he is not your conventional politician. that is so more when he broke the mold. >> with it tough to be unapologetically conservative and stick to that principle? >> i think i would say no. i think it is tougher to try to play to a lot of different audiences. it's tougher to not know who you are and not lean into your brand. it is much tougher to not be clear who your audience is. and who your target market is. but i beer unapologetically conservative. i think we are able to promise authors, readers and deliver to authors and readers an

understanding of the market, empathy for the market that very few other publishers have. >> ever since leaving has been sending out a weekly newsletter. you can read it it margie ross.com. do you feel a little bit unleashes that the same thing as publisher? >> i probably feel a little unleashed. but it is certainly true with more latitude and more flexibility i'm sure that's true for anyone. my blog has been a passion

play for me. as you said it's on margie ross consulting.com. every week, almost every week sometimes i miss a week, i try to speak out on something i find it interesting that i hope other people will find it interesting that just kind of at a the nexus of a publishing media and current events and culture. >> in one of your blog postsos you talk about cancel culture. you talk about that w relatively frequently.wa i want to read a quote to you and have you walk us through it. no matter how much you try to duck for cover, sooner or later the woke police will find you. no matter how far you run, you cannot hide. >> sad but true. i felt compelled to say that because i still think there are a lot of people who think

if i simply keep my head down or if i simply say the right thing and just be what i would consider to be a nice kind of person, i can get along. i won't be canceled but i also won't be vilified, marginalized, attacked. i do not think that is true. i think unfortunately there are culture has gotten to a place where it is not enough to keep your opinions to yourself. increasingly there is a demand , at leastea for people who are public figures whether they are influencers or authors there is a demand, there is

pressure to endorse a particular narrative. not just be quiet if you do not agree. that is a very, dangerous place for us to be. it is a challenge to publishers for other people in that media to have the courage of their convictions and realize, honestly they might asau will say what they think because they are going to be punished for not agreeing with things they find it reprehensible. >> so margie, why do you think vice president mike pence are senator josh hawley would go to simon and schuster and go through several extra hoops rather than being published? >> of course i do not know in either case specifically.

there are two obvious reasons that come toso mind. one is hope they can navigate their way through a very liberal very awoke culture at the big publishing houses they can navigate their way through t and still be able to get their message out. and the other answer is money. unfortunately there are for the biggest celebrity authors the new york publishers often will still pay a very big advance. that's not to say they haven't paid advances because they have. in some cases they will overpay new york will overpay for authors because they like the idea of the celebrity on the list. i think thatnd is changing as well.

there are, as we have seen recently a lot of celebrities, donald trump big number one, biggest celebrity authors new york has said they won't publish. my belief it is incumbent upon all authors to ask if this is a partner i feel has enough integrity to work with? and i think in a lot of cases the answer might be no. >> in one of your blog post or talked about mike pence and simon & schuster connection and the fact he was going to be rigorously added in his writing. >> i think two things about that. he may well be rigorously but i think that very public declaration by the folks at

simon and schuster he's going to be rigorously edited was consciously directed at their most progressive, most left-leaning span and employee. i think they set it to try to placate or reassure the people who did not like the fact that simon to i think the proclamation here be rigorously claimed and edited with the don't worry, basically were going to force

him to stay within these very tight guidelines. which ass an author i would find both insulting and worrisome. >> we are talking with margie ross former regnery president and publisher on about books, our look at the world of the publishing industry. you wrote another piece called the big lie. it was about the "new york times" book review what was that about this is a story that's not a new story for the insiders on the conservative book publishing world. but unfortunately it's news to most people who are just consumers of books. that is that that "new york times" bestseller list is an editorial process. they claim that as an editorial product.

the problem i have at that is that is supposed to be simply a data-driven lift and it is not. and so that sold the most copies of sea number when the book, the number one best-selling book did not appear as the number one best-selling book on the "new york times" list. and sometimes did not appear at all onid the list. and that is one of unfortunately many, many examples, increasing numbers of examples of the media irresponsibly in my opinion, distorting the news. >> so margie when it comes to

conservative book and award, how are they treated? pulitzer prize is, book of the year, et cetera. >> they are ignored. they are largely ignored. they are marginalized. it is very, very rare you will see a a conservative book when any sort of awardaw where there is an editorial discretion and judgment as opposed to simply looking at the a sales numbers or the quality of the work. when i sit editorial discretion when someone can put together their list and that is when the award is their own politics and own worldview enters in. otand unfortunately i am not sure there's anyone with a conservative worldview who is

participating in any of these book awards who is a judge for any of these book awards. i have not been able to find one. what you against once again is the impression that is made for readers and consumers they are not any good conservative books or they are of lower qualityty. that is just another insidious bias that lives within the book world. it forces conservatives to work a little bit harder to find the books that rez dictate with them. >> your most recent column is about publishers weekly at its list of best reads. >> is interesting when you talk about comments interesting to talk about what it means to have conservative or liberal fiction. a lot of people say what is that? they are just stories.

in a lot of cases the bias is the promotion the ceaseless relentless promotion of fiction with a very liberal progressive worldview, that cast of character, that set of values and that is what we are seeing latest top ten books where there is not a single book in the top ten that features a white male protagonist. they are gone, they are canceled out, they are erased from the landscape. i am a big fan of having strong female characters that is great. the idea that there are zero mail characters, especially white mail is unfair to every

reader. it sends a message to young readers there are no role models, there are no heroes when it comes to white men. >> to quote margie ross one more time, virtual signaling is fracturing our society. >> that is exactly right. it is ironic to me that the folks who claim to want inclusiveness, who claim to want to heal the racial divide and who points at conservatives and tromp as the culprits in creating the partisan divide are the first in line to identify people by race. are the first in line to want

to separate our country and our culture rather than finding the things that bring us together. that is one of the things a great book and do. it can bring people together with human values and human heroism and courage and a motion that everyone shares. rather than trying to marginalize conservatives. >> joining us on about books is marjorie ross longtime president publisher of books, now in business for herself as margie ross consulting.com. thanks for your time. this t is the about books program and podcast on book tv and c-span. we look at some of the latest publishing news and nonfiction books.

each year there is a slew of new books by former and current members of congress. this year is no exception here are some of the latest into roads converge former republican congressman and governor of south carolina mark sanford weighs in on the future of his party. former democratic senator ben nelson of nebraska focuses on the lack of bipartisanship in the senates and offers his thoughts on how to restore it. his book is called death of the senate. and theor clock and the calendar former republican congressman doug collins of georgia offers a first-hand account of president trump's 2019 impeachment hearing. republished congressman jim jordan of ohio reflects on president trump's tenure and do what you said you would do. democratic congresswoman charisse davis also has a new book out the kangas congresswoman reflectss on her life on the path to

washington. it is a children's book is called charisse his big voice. and finally midnight in washington, california democratic congressman adam schiff recounts his experiences as leader of the firstt jet first impeachment trial of president trump. congressman schiff recently spoke about his book on her author interview program, after words, here's a portion. >> if kevin mccarthy were ever to become speaker, essentially donald trump would be speaker. he would not disagree with him ever. you have an outside party effectively running the house of representatives. the story, as you know i tell the booke i told because i think it is so characteristic. mccarthy and i are sitting on a plane flying back to washington this is in 2010. midterms are about six months away we aree having an idle conversation about who was goinghe to win i said the democrats did when he said the

republicans would win and that movie started i was relieved to escape to the movie. we landed, i thought nothing of the conversation and we went our separate ways. that night, unbeknownst to me did briefing to the press which he told the press that everybody knew republicans are going to win the midterms pretty sat next to adam schiff on the plane he admitted they're going to win the midterms. i did not learn about this until the morning and the newspaper came out. i was a gas, i was astounded. i saw him on the floor first so i said having a private conversation i thought it was a private conversation if it wasn't you know i said the exact opposite of what he told the press. he looks at me and says yes, i know adam, but you know how it goes. i said kevin, no i don't know how it goes. you just make stuff up and that's how you operate? that is not how i operate. that is how he operates. you cannot have someone with such little regard for the truth serving as speaker of the house.

and indeed this is i think where the most destructive things over the last several years will mccarthy was ahead of his time in his lack of devotion to the truth. but over the last four years is been the relentless assault by trump and his acolytes on the truth itself. probably best expressed by giuliani's of the truth was out the truth in conway he said they were entitled to alternategr facts. if we cannot agree on very basic facts. if we do not have the same shared experience it doesn't work. >> speaking of congress, book tv recently had the opportunity to sit down with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell to get a look at his reading list. >> not surprisingly, i tend to tilt toward american history. much of it political. actually, one book i just finished was not about

politics. it is about the history of the polio epidemic from beginning to end. it came out in 2006 actually won a pulitzer prize. as a polio victim myself, i have always had a special interest. i thought with thehe pandemic going on the right lessons are particular with regards to vaccines. one of the things been precinct preaching lately is get vaccinated. one ofer the big differences between the situation we found ourselves f in now and polio is it took 70 years, 70 years to come up with two effective vaccines for polio. how marvelous country came up with three effective vaccines in less than oneth year. to get an opportunity to get past the pandemic.

>> you can watch senator mcconnell's entire interview about his current reading list at our website booktv.org. now here is a look at some of the books being published this week. hillary clinton advisor recalls her life and career, an economist trumps former trade advisor looks at the start of the corona pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. his book is called in trump time. an entertaining race, georgetownniit university professor examines the role of race in america. also being published this week a new book by former republican speaker of the house newt gingrich. he argues anti- american beliefs are gaining traction within the united states. his latest book is called beyond biden. and in the broken constitution harvard law professor describes how abraham lincoln viewed the constitution and

fox news brian kilmeade looks at the relationship between lincoln and frederick douglass and the president and the freedom fighter. those are some of the new books being published thiss week. you will see them on book tv. each week a book tv produces a program called after words this week's episode of the p author interview program entrepreneur argues that corporate america is signing on to woke culture only to increase profits. we discussed his book with harvard university economics professor george w. bush economics advisor. here is a little bit of their conversation. >> i think there is something to be said for really exploiting the way to woke us can stand on its own tee feet when it's intermingled with capitalism. a big part of whatf i take in the book is not just the woke ideology in its own right but

it's a merger with capitalism which actually taints both the progressive values of corporations are asked to be steward of as well as changing corporate purpose in end of its own right as well. that is what the heart of the book is about brother think criticizing one end of the spectrum or another part. >> now after words airs every sunday on book tv. you can watch all previous episodes are website booktv.org. it is also available as a podcast at c-span new app, c-span now. finally, here are some the best selling nonfiction books this week according to the "new york times". toppinge the list is a book we will not be covering on book tv andd is musician memoir the storyteller, after that to rescue the republic fox news host brett bears looks at ... s grant. ron and clint howard reflect on their acting life in

hollywood and that is followed by peril the washington post, bob woodward and robert constant report on the transition between the trump and bidenlo administration. wrapping up our look at that "new york times" best selling nonfiction books is midnight in washington that's california democratic congressman adam schiff's argument the trump presidency has weakened america's institution t. that is look at this week's publishing news and the legs and nonfiction books. thanks for joining us on about books. and a reminder that about books is available as a podcast is c-span's new app, c-span now or wherever you get your podcast. ♪ ♪ weekends on cspan2 are an intellectual feast. every saturday american history tv documents america's story. on sunday book tv brings you

the latest nonfiction books and authors. funding for cspan2 comes from these television companies and more including media calm. >> the world change an instant but media calm was ready for internet tracking sort and we never slowed down. schools and businesses went virtual and we powered a new reality. because at media, we are built to keep you ahead. >> media, along with these television companies support cspan2 as a public service. at c-span on the go watch the days biggest political events live on >> anytime, anywhere on our new mobile video app c-span now access top highlights listen to c-span radio and discover new podcasts all for free. download c-span now a today. >> hi everyone, welcome and thank you for tuning