Democrat activist brokered Murphy book deal

COINCIDENCE? - The brother of U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel, right, was once an associate of the mega-agent who brokered freshman Congressman Patrick Murphy's book deal, just days before House rules would have prohibited him from receiving the $100,000 advance he was awarded. Emanuel is well-connected to the nation's entertainment industry.

In the publishing world, few literary agents pack the star power of International Creative Management’s (ICM) Esther Newberg. Her stable of best-selling authors include Caroline Kennedy, crime-writer Patricia Cromwell, and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Friedman.

One literary blogger observed “if you have Esther Newberg, you probably have a 100 percent chance of getting a deal, although I'm sure there's a selection factor here - she gets to pick winners.”

A prospective winner she recently picked is freshman U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, whose first-ever book, “Taking the Hill,” was sold by Newberg to Holt Publishing. Other recently announced Newberg projects include “Peter Jennings: An Oral Biography,” and comedienne Steve Martin’s first non-fiction work, “Born Standing Up.”

In addition to being one of the most powerful women in the entertainment industry, Newberg is also a longtime Democrat party activist and financial contributor. In fact, Newberg began her career working in Democrat politics, as an aide to Senators Robert F. Kennedy, Edmund Muskie and Congresswoman Bella Abzug, among others.

THE EMMANUEL CONNECTION
Newberg was at one time an associate of Ari Emanuel, the younger brother of U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel, former Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The younger Emanuel was an agent at ICM before starting his own firm, the Endeavor Agency, in Beverly Hills, CA.

A client of Newberg’s, Tom Friedman, cited Congressman Emanuel along with Newberg in the acknowledgement’s section of his best-selling book, “The World is Flat.” Emanuel was one of a small group of individuals Friedman singled out to “thank in particular.”

Emanuel has strong connections to the entertainment industry, and contributors to his “Our Common Values PAC” read like a who’s-who of the entertainment elite.

According to the website of International Creative Management, where Newberg is co-head of publications, “ICM has a policy that neither it nor any of its agents or other employees shall accept or consider any unsolicited material, ideas or suggestions of any nature whatsoever.”

NEWBERG ON ADVANCES
Murphy’s $100,000 book advance represents 10- to 100-times the industry average for a first-time author. Newberg once criticized large advances in an interview with New York’s Newsday.

“If the author has a name, the advances will still be there,” she said in 1990. “And there will always be fair and sizeable advances for new, impressive first novels or books by certain celebrities.”

“If a book comes in and the publisher doesn't like it, nothing forces him to get behind it - not the size of the advance, not the size of the guaranteed budget,” she told the paper’s Karen Freifeld. She made a similar comment in a 2001 New York Times article, citing the advantages of representing proven authors. “I like the old-fashioned way, when you have a very successful author and you call a publisher and say, 'I'd like $1.1 million,' and the publisher says yes. That's called the author-has-clout sale.”

QUESTIONS ON COMMISSION
Murphy’s financial disclosure reports he received his $100,000 payment directly from ICM. As a general rule, when an agent sells a book, “the check is written out to the agent. The agent then takes his percentage of this amount and sends you the remainder. Most literary agents nowadays take 15% of any money paid.”

That would indicate Murphy’s actual advance was either higher than the $100,000 reported, or that Newberg did not receive a commission, which would be a break with industry policy.

That Murphy could secure the services of Newberg, garner an advance 10 to 100 times the industry average, complete a deal just days before being sworn into office – all without having his book written – is impressive.

PAST CONTROVERSIES
As noted in an earlier majorityap.com report, this is not the first time ethics questions have been raised over book deals won by Members of Congress.

House Democrats filed two ethics complaints, and sought a special counsel, to look into a book deal with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich, a former college professor and best-selling author, gave up the book advance, and House rules were changed a short-time later to ban any advance payments to members of Congress.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton came under similar criticism when she received a multi-million dollar book advance for her memoirs. Unlike the House, Senate rules do not ban book advances.

Murphy’s $100,000 advance is nearly twice his district’s average household income, where 4.5 percent of area residents live below the poverty line.

Senator John McCain was 63 years old and had already served 16 years in Congress before penning a book on the McCain family history - his father and grandfather were Navy admirals - and his time spent in a Vietnamese prison camp.

In its June 28, 2007, report, Roll Call noted that “former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) released an autobiography in 2004, but he opted not to accept an advance and made an inconsequential sum in royalties.”