In this section, Hatfield alleges that George W. Bush used his father s political pull to get a cocaine possession arrest expunged from his record in exchange for community service. The author cited anonymous sources. Bush, as expected, denied the allegations. Because the New York Times couldn t substantiate the allegations, it declined to review the book. Although controversy about a title is sometimes troubling in the world of publishing, publishers more often enjoy a little hullabaloo.
Controversy leads to publicity, which leads to purchases, which leads to profits.
In this case, all the buzz about the book and its allegations could easily lead St. Martin s to believe it had a runaway bestseller in the making. Then the scandal backfired on the publisher. The Dallas Morning News published a report that J. H. Hatfield, the author of the biography, is a convicted felon on parole. Although Hatfield called these new allegations a case of mistaken identity, other inconsistencies in Hatfield s credentials caused St. Martin s to recall the new biography just a few days after the October 19 release date. Even if Hatfield were a felon, that fact in and of itself is no reason to doubt an author s believability.