Richard Vigilante, who, as v-p and editorial director of Regnery Publishing, led the team that published bestsellers by such authors as Ann Coulter and Gary Aldrich, has formed Richard Vigilante Books, and will begin publishing in February.

Vigilante, who left Regnery in 1999, is funding his new venture with his own capital, although he said he does have a line of credit “in place in case disaster strikes and we have a bestseller.” He has assembled a virtual company without a central office. Instead, Vigilante has recruited independent contractors, many of them former Regnery employees. Distribution will be handled by Pathway Book Service.

Instead of offering advances, Vigilante will pay higher royalties—22.5% of the cover price for hardcover books and 20% on trade paperbacks. Vigilante said he will start with conservative-themed books, and his first two titles will be The Deniers by environmentalist Lawrence Solomon (Feb.) and Moment of TruthinIraq by reporter Michael Yon (Mar.). “I did not come into this saying, 'Now is the best time ever to be doing conservative books.' [However,] if a Democrat wins the White House, that'll be bad for the country but good for my business,” he said.