Conservative Book News & Bestselling Conservative Books

From the Hartford Advocate:

"Conservative book publishing first took off in the 1990s.

"One early mega-hit was Rush Limbaugh's The Way Things Ought to Be (1992). But Beck has adapted to changes in the publishing industry - for example, the rise of non-book stores like WalMart and Costco - better than anyone else on the right. Like Limbaugh, Beck comes with an ideal 'platform' for selling books; his media outlets, according to Forbes, earned him $32 million from June 2009 to June 2010. But Beck pushes things even further. In that same period, he made more from publishing - $13 million - than from any other part of his media empire.

"That number reflects Beck's growing popularity. His first book, The Real America (2003), sold 50,000 hardcovers; his second, An Inconvenient Book (2007), sold well over 500,000 hardcovers.

"But it also reflects Beck's publishing savvy.

"Beck has published all of his books with Simon & Schuster and, since it launched in 2005, with its conservative imprint, Threshold. In 2009, though, Beck and his publisher agreed to a new 'global multi-book, multi-imprint co-publishing agreement.'

"This means, in short, that Beck gave up large advances in exchange for more control and a bigger cut of each book's profits. The agreement -- along with his affiliation with a sprawling publisher like Simon & Schuster, which is itself owned by the CBS Corporation -- has allowed Beck to experiment. Beck and his publisher tried out Glenn Beck's Common Sense as an ebook original; they toyed with two audiobook originals, America's March to Socialism and Idiots Unplugged.

"Simon & Schuster's size also let Beck diversify. Twice a year, he meets with Simon & Schuster to pitch a dozen or so ideas, and the company has the resources to publish and market any of them.

"Beck's books have topped an unprecedented four different New York Times bestseller lists..."

Not every author relishes the prospect of recording the audio narration to their own talking book. They often hire an actor to do it.

But to my surprise, Sarah Palin herself recorded the audiobook version of Going Rogue: An American Life

That will be a real treat for Palin fans. I expect this will be a hugely popular talking book because of that.

The audiobook version of Going Rogue is available from Audible.com. I've been an Audible.com member for years and am always recommending them.

Downloading talking books is affordable (way less than the cost of a new hardcover, even at Costco) and lets you catch up on your reading while you commute or you're doing housework.

You can veg out after work and instead of trying to read print or stare at a computer screen (again) you can close your eyes and listen to that book by Glenn Beck or Ann Coulter.

(And yes, if you join Audible.com through my links, I get a finder's fee. But like I said, I'm a longtime member and can't say enough about it.)

Audible.com also has automatic Gift Certificates, if you're looking for a great, easy Christmas present. Audible has tens of thousands of talking books for every taste.

You just download the audio file to your computer and it will play on any mp3 player -- or even on a Blackberry.

Audible.com has a great deal on Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, the talking book version. Click here to check it out!

Here's the most unoriginal comment you'll read all day:

Mark Levin the Author is nothing like Mark Levin the Talk Radio Host.

In-the-know conservative reviewers of Liberty and Tyranny all say the same thing:

the Mark Levin you're used to hearing (or tuning out) on radio - who harshly yells "Shut up, you dummy!" at callers, and comes off as a slightly saner version of Michael Savage - is nowhere to be found between the covers of his blockbuster book.

Instead, Levin is channeling the old fashioned language of conservative icons like Burke and Kirk, Buckley and Chambers, and the stirring, majestic cadences of the Founders and The Federalist....

(CLICK HERE to KEEP READING)