Kristi Noem and the open secret about the political publishing industry

Nobody writes their own books.

“Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights.” - Ronnie Coleman

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Writing an interesting and engaging article often requires a significant amount of time and energy.

Writing an entire book, especially one that is insightful and captivating, is truly an incredible accomplishment, because it requires SO MUCH WORK AND TIME to complete the mission.

In the political publishing industry, however, the top “authors” have gamed the system entirely. The entire genre is a fraudulent mess of epic proportions.

I’m only 34, but I’ve been in the media and publishing space for quite some time, having written for pretty much every major right of center publication you could think of. I have no idea how long this massive grift has been occurring, but I can assure you it’s been going on for decades.

One such high profile example of political ghostwriting dates back to 1956, with Profiles In Courage, the 1956 volume that helped to establish the intellectual and political bonafides of John F. Kennedy.

Now, there has been a noticeable distinction between how “insiders” and “outsiders” have interpreted the flaming dumpster fire that is the publicity tour related to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s upcoming book. The general public seems confused about the idea that Noem seemingly didn’t know about so many things that were in *her own book*.

From stories of psychopathically mass-shooting her animals to concocted tales of talking tough to Kim Jong Un, Noem’s answers for her claimed antics, and the repeated falsehoods claimed under her namesake, have gone from bad to worse.

It’s a given that many of us in the space already wrote off the idea Noem would write any of her own book. But she has taken the laziness of politician “publishing” to new heights. She apparently didn’t proofread any of her book either, despite narrating the audiobook. Given the historic botch job, I’m glad that the public is starting to ask more questions about this incredibly sketchy operation.

The Kristi Noem saga has exposed an open secret about the political publishing industry: a tiny percentage of "authors" in the space write their own books. And those real authors are often smothered by fake authors with a machine in place to promote their fake autobiographies, which take time and opportunity away from those who have put in the work.

For politicians, I would estimate that maybe 1 percent write their own books. Some spend occasional time with their ghostwriter in order to best express their personality and ideas. Others, like Noem, just mail it in entirely, and have the ghostwriter rely upon public material from speeches and appearances.

As for your favorite TV personality/social media influencer? It would be generous to say that 5 percent write their own books. It is very rare to hear about cable news talking heads with faces full of delicately applied makeup putting in that kind of hard work.

These tasks are usually delegated to an underpaid 20-something, who may or may not be in routine contact with the “author” during the writing process.

I write all of this to say that there is an incredible lack of authenticity amongst the political class, who attempt to give off the impression that they have the time, ability, intelligence, and fortitude to publish their own works. It goes without saying that their constituents deserve so much better than being suckered into financing this endless grift.

The fake authors acquire tons of money, a reputational boost, and sometimes, the prestige of being on the New York Times best selling author list. 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.

The famed professional bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman famously commented that “everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights.” The same applies to publishing. Everybody wants to be an author, but very few in the political space want to put in the work to become one.

Still, there are people in the space who actually do the work, dedicating their heart and soul to the herculean task of publishing hundreds of pages of their own compelling work. Their accomplishments should not be suffocated by the clutter of politicians attempting to find new ways to become complete and utter grifters and fraudsters.