Flying With Out a Libel Net Not Just for Barricade Anymore

By Calvin Reid and Steven Zeitchik, PW Newsline -- Publishers Weekly, 7/15/2002

Smaller publishers confirm what some skeptics worried about last week--that they might have a hard time getting libel insurance in this new climate. Many may even have to go without.

"I could see where it would be hard for the house with three or four employees," says Al Regnery, whose own house didn’t have a policy until it grew into a company with several dozen titles.

Our reporting on the issue uncovered what may be one of small-publishing's dirty little secrets - that publishers, looking to keep costs down, have never signed up, and authors are no more protected than they would be if they published the book themselves. The higher premiums are unlikely to change anyone's minds, as publishers, like Dallas' conservative Spence Publishing, say they just vet their books carefully.

But some may want to listen to the cautionary tale of the New Press, which admits that it once thought it could address the problem (and save money) by simply vetting. Diane Wachtell says the house didn't carry liability insurance for the first four years of its existence. But she says the company faced some libelous situations from out of left field that "cost us a lot of money." It quickly changed their minds.

Lyle Stuart, of course, never carried a policy, and kind of threw up his hands when it came home to roost. Many other publishers may now have to do the same.