First Two Vigilante Books Land in Amazon Top 100

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 4/23/2008 3:03:00 PM

Richard Vigilante Books is off to a strong start, with its two first books landing on Amazon’s top 100, although other booksellers have been slow to respond. The books—The Deniers by Lawrence Solomon, which posits that the science behind global warming is a myth; and Moment of Truth in Iraq by Michael Yon, which praises American soldiers in Iraq for “turning defeat and disaster into victory and hope”—went on sale earlier this month. Publisher Richard Vigilante said bookstores have been slow to order the book, but now that both have gained ground on Amazon, stores—mainly B&N—are paying attention.

Vigilante, known for editing bestselling conservatives Ann Coulter and Gary Aldrich when he was at Regnery, wrote in an e-mail to PW, “As a new publisher, we could not convince [booksellers] to take us seriously.”

The Deniers held the number 10 position on Amazon.ca’s nonfiction list the first week it was out; Vigilante said it was slower to take off in the U.S. because Amazon did not discount it (it since has; dropping the price from $27.95 to $18.45). There are 15,000 copies in print of Deniers.

After Yon wrote an op-ed in the April 8 Wall Street Journal, Moment of Truth hit number six on Amazon. It has since dropped to 93; Vigilante said Amazon ran out of stock and then stopped discounting for awhile. Vigilante said Barnes and Noble has placed a “big order” for Moment of Truth and that 30,000 copies are in print now, with another 15,000 ordered.

Vigilante said the house does not yet have orders from Borders or any of the smaller chains. Pathway Book Service handles Vigilante’s distribution.

Vigilante announced his new publishing venture in December 2007. Instead of offering advances, he pays higher royalties—22.5% of the cover price for hardcover books and 20% on trade paperbacks.