The answer to the question you pose at the end of your article is no. An inefficient, ineffective method of disposing of tax payer funds that may or may not be heavily influenced by ideology. What you’ve shown here is another example of government waste which could be eliminated by a government intent upon reducing expenditures and showing some respect for the tax dollars it extracts from hard working citizens.
Do the results justify a half billion in spending?
Well, bookstore remainder bins won’t fill themselves. I’m curious about the relationship between government aid to book publishers, and the large advance royalties paid for ghost written autobiographies of newly minted PMs that go straight to the remainder bin without coming even close to covering the advance.
If we truly want to sell books rather than just publish what the Council deems an important topic, only a small portion should go to publication and bulk should go to getting the author on the road promoting the book. The latter would be a condition of a grant. That is how the real book world works.
The answer to the question you pose at the end of your article is no. An inefficient, ineffective method of disposing of tax payer funds that may or may not be heavily influenced by ideology. What you’ve shown here is another example of government waste which could be eliminated by a government intent upon reducing expenditures and showing some respect for the tax dollars it extracts from hard working citizens.
Grants should reward success, not failure.
More books sold then the bigger the grant.
Do the results justify a half billion in spending?
Well, bookstore remainder bins won’t fill themselves. I’m curious about the relationship between government aid to book publishers, and the large advance royalties paid for ghost written autobiographies of newly minted PMs that go straight to the remainder bin without coming even close to covering the advance.
If we truly want to sell books rather than just publish what the Council deems an important topic, only a small portion should go to publication and bulk should go to getting the author on the road promoting the book. The latter would be a condition of a grant. That is how the real book world works.