It’s a pretty commonly utilized tactic that’s especially employed by grifters who want to lend credence to the grift and political operatives who want to… lend credence to their grift. Occasionally though by people who want to gain notoriety in a field they’re new in, keep up a streak of success if they’re not sure about the book’s quality, or do a book tour and have something to sell the talks talkshows. In all cases it’s employed by people with more money than talent.
Iconoclast@feddit.uk 3 hours ago
I wasn’t questioning whether anyone has ever done this. I was questioning whether they have even a single piece of evidence suggesting that this particular person has done so or if this accusation is purely motivated by simply not liking them which does not justify spreading disinformation.
Lasherz12@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
The source for the claim of booksales in the original article are the same sources who can’t be trusted in mine, so it’s a fair bet that influence peddling at the very least played a part. NYT wheels and deals off popular people who are authors, always has.