As a fan of John Grogan, author of Marley and Me, I was pleased to find the audio version of Bad Dogs Have More Fun, a collection of his columns from the Philadelphia Inquirer. After listening to it, I was eager to give it a good review.
But while doing research for the book review, I discovered some disturbing news. John Grogan, the author of the book, didn’t have any say in the publication. Here’s what he says on his blog at www.johngroganbooks.com:
…it was published by the newspaper and Vanguard Press without my consent or involvement — not even my prior knowledge. I only found about this collection through a third party after the Inquirer and Vanguard (with whom I have no association) had already signed the contract.
Grogan goes on to say he receives no compensation or royalties from the book, even though they are his work. To make sure he wasn’t in the midst of an angry vendetta with his former employer, I checked out the newspaper’s website for the book, www.baddogsbook.com. Here’s what it says:
The articles in this book were originally written by John Grogan and published as a weekly column in The Philadelphia Inquirer, which owns the rights to them. This book is being published through an arrangement with The Philadelphia Inquirer. Mr. Grogan has not participated in its publication and is not profiting from it.
Now the newspaper tries to spruce up their actions by saying “a percentage of the profits from the sale of this book will go to The Good Dogs Foundation.” But their whitewash doesn’t cover the injustice done to Grogan. He explained it further on his blog:
The Philadelphia Inquirer owns the copyright to the work I produced during my four years as a staff columnist there. I was what is known as “a writer for hire.” This is the customary work arrangement at newspapers, but the decision to collect a columnist’s works in book form (Anna Quindlen, Dave Barry, Lewis Grizzard, etc.) is typically initiated by the writer and becomes a cooperative endeavor between the writer and the newspaper.
As an author, I’m on John Grogan’s side and will honor his request not to purchase the book. Instead, I’ll get my Grogan fix by reading his blog and purchasing his new book, The Longest Trip Home, along with his series of Marley children’s books. There’s plenty of John Grogan to go around. No need to steal from the guy who freely shared the story of his crazy dog by reading a book he had no say in.
Bad dogs may have more fun, but in my opinion, bad newspapers deals should not.
