Did you know I’m in heady company? Kamala Harris and I are published authors! OK, so we’re not literary pen pals, nor have I ghost-written anything for her, but I am one up on her, because I can reliably pronounce my first name and I had to actually convince a real publisher to publish my book because it was good and they thought they could sell a few. I also, unlike Kamala, actually wrote my book, which is available here or through Amazon. 

Graphic: Cover scan. Author.

The publication process these day is, to put it mildly, difficult. With online publishing, not many publishers of actual, hard copy, books, are accepting manuscripts, and forget about the six and seven-figure advances you hear about for pseudo-celebrities and politicians like Kamala. Apart from such people, few authors make a living, let alone get rich on their work. For every Tom Clancy or CJ Box, there are thousands like me whose royalties might allow the occasional trip to McDonald’s, and these days, even that’s sketchy. Let’s go Brandon!

Oh, to be like Kamala. She gets a huge advance, someone else does the work, and oh yes, writing a book is real work, particularly if it’s non-fiction and requires research and voluminous notes. Even if no real people buy the book, it’s going to make the New York Times best seller lists, and generate royalties from books no actual Americans buy.

Alleged Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris is no different. According to her 2023 financial disclosures, Harris's 2019 memoir, “The Truths We Hold,” earned just $234.13 in royalties last year. It isn't a new book, of course, but judging by the rapid decline of Harris' royalties, the book had a shelf life shorter than the appeal of its purported author's laugh.

Obviously, the Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) establishment saw no political advantage in pushing that tome.  She did better with this one:

Harris also earned a niftier $8,254 in royalties for her 2019 children’s book, "Superheroes Are Everywhere." I'm quite curious to know who bought enough copies of "Superheroes Are Everywhere" to net Harris a high four-figure royalty check. If the buyers were almost anything but lefty-dominated school districts, I'd require a fainting couch and a stiff drink. Or at least just the drink.

So who buys a sufficient number of copies to provide four-figure royalties?  That’s pretty darned good, by the way, and out of my league. For popular politicians the D/s/c establishment wants to reward, various D/s/c organizations and NGOs buy mass quantities of the books. Sometimes they give them away at political events, often they simply keep them awhile until they realize they have no intrinsic or political value and throw them away, yet these count as “sales” and ego boosters for authors who can’t write coherently, or in the case of Kamala, speak coherently.

It's also common for D/s/c oriented school districts to buy classroom sets of such literary masterpieces, and perhaps they can arrange a visit from the non-author at the same time! What excitement! Allow me to attest how little money most schools actually have for the acquisition of actual literature, works that might benefit students. Racist, trans, queer, DEI twaddle, to be sure, but actual literature, nah. During my education career, finding money for even a single classroom set—30 copies--of any given work required much begging, scraping, wheedling and sacrifice. Usually, we just went without, and what works we had were held together with yards of Scotch and packaging tape. We certainly didn’t spend money we didn’t have on political promotion of dimwitted, non-author, politicians.

How much do ghost writers make?

The famous person with their name and photo on the cover "acquire tons of money, a reputational boost, and sometimes, the prestige of being on the New York Times best-selling author list," Jordan Schachtel wrote last week. "All for maybe doing a handful of phone calls with the real author, who usually receives a low-end five-figure amount (think 10 to 20 grand) for six months of hard work."

Imagine making that little and trying to live in DC, NYC, or any other blue city. The worst part is virtually no one will read what you’ve written—even D/s/cs know Kamala is an empty-headed, virtual illiterate--and non-disclosure agreements keep you from telling anyone what you’ve done.

Oh well. At least anyone buying my book will make a conscious choice based on content, and perhaps whatever writing skill I might have. Why anyone would buy anything Kamala “wrote” remains a mystery of the universe.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.