Lucrative Book Deals For Some Supreme Court Justices

It supplements their income

They are promised lots of money

You may hear many people say these words: “I’m going to write a book.” It is a fairly easy matter these days to get a book published so people can write books if that is their choice.

Most writers who do publish books are lucky if they can recoup their expenses and sell a few books. Except for those who are already rich and famous or who have an especially compelling story to tell, writers often find that their books do not sell.

It is easy these days to get books published, but selling them is a different matter.

Millions of books are written and published without a lot of success. That is not the case for those who are fortunate enough to obtain lucrative advances for books which they intend to write. Such is the case for Supreme Court Justices who choose to write a book or books. They are well known enough to command substantial earnings from books that they write.

Mark Sherman, Associated Press — wrote a story entitled: “Justice Barrett’s $425K tops among Supreme Court’s authors.”

Supreme Court justices took in $800,000 in book royalties last year, a lucrative supplement to their judicial salaries, according to financial reports released Thursday.

By far the largest payment went to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, $425,000 for a yet-to-be-released book and likely the first installment on a reported $2 million deal she signed soon after joining the court in 2020.

Justices are being paid $274,200 this year for their work on the bench; Chief Justice John Roberts gets a little more, $286,700.

The largest advances before now have gone to Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor, who each received more than $1 million for their accounts of their rise from poverty to the nation’s highest court.

Rising from poverty to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States is a highly unusual feat. People must be interested in hearing about it.

The Supreme Court Justices have stories to tell, and apparently, the public is interested in what they have to say. They have discovered that writing a book is a good way for them to add income.

According to Politico, Barrett is writing about how judges should avoid letting personal feelings shape their decisions. It seems quite obvious that the Justices have certain biases due to their political affiliation and leanings. They have been nominated by a President with whose philosophy they agree.

Sotomayor has written a memoir with the title, “My Beloved World,” along with other books. She has earned more than $3 million from her books. She joined the court in 2009 and has been a prolific author.

Justice Neil Gorsuch was paid $250,000 in royalties last year from HarperCollins for a book which has not yet been published. He reportedly received $650,000 from Penguin Random House for a book which was published in 2019.

Retiring Justice Stephen Breyer reported receiving $7,800 in royalty income from Penguin Random House.

Just as many people who had worked with Donald Trump have come out with supposedly “tell all” books, the Supreme Court Justices has stories to tell. Those who are so inclined to write likely have audiences waiting to read what they have written. All book authors do not have kind of success.

Publishers are willing to pay large advances and generous royalties to such people. Others may have stories to tell but will just have to HOPE that the books will sell.

Thank you for reading.

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