I feel like a David with only words to sling. The Goliath coming at my small publishing house, Red Rock Press (RRP), is the White House. The engraved letterhead of a communiqué from its lawyer succinctly reads: The White House, Washington.
Apparently, I write "White House" at my peril. In the letter, Robert F. Bauer, counsel to the president, complains that Red Rock Press has used "White House" in a title of a book that lacks White House "approval or endorsement." The President's name is on a list of words banned for use by the likes of us, along with his wife's name and possibly the phrase, "First Lady." (Counsel was not as clear as one might expect.)
RRP is a micropublisher. I am its founder and creative director. My retired husband serves as publisher, overseeing production and sales. The company is not flush enough for either of us to draw a salary. We have one part-time employee who handles publicity, and we use freelance writers, designers, artists and copyeditors.
Ten months ago, RRP published a book entitled A White House Garden Cookbook by Clara Silverstein, a respected food writer. Ms. Silverstein's account gracefully unfolds the story of the first year of our new taxpayer-supported kitchen garden. It approvingly puts forth the child-health agenda of she-who-must-not-be named (thank you J. K. Rowling, for this inspiration).
Ms. Silverstein visited the garden while she-who-must-not-be named and school kids were harvesting it, took notes and great photos. This, after she'd followed the garden since it was announced, collecting M.O.'s quotes and other info. The resulting book also contains properly-attributed WH photos released under a Creative Commons license, plus a couple purchased from outside photographers or agencies.
I go into dull detail because the WH came after us for unauthorized use of "likenesses" of the First Gentleman's spouse. Counsel for the White House describes its preferences as "policy." It can, I suppose, impose its policy on staff but can it force the media to follow it?
A White House Garden Cookbook also gives the history of earlier White House vegetable patches, back-stories of the fruits, veg and herbs in the current garden, plus four-score and seven recipes for same. Mr. Bauer did not object to Red Rock Press's borrowing Abe Lincoln's elegant "87" -- although Bauer asserts that "White Houses prior" have had the same policy as White House current. Perhaps, "four score" is public domain. So is "White House."
I digress. My point is that "White House" fairly describes the garden Ms. Silverstein has written about. That she admires the garden and its purpose is inarguable but irrelevant.
Recipes in the book come from presidential households, dating back to George and Martha's. As other cover language notes, the book also includes kid-tested recipes contributed by children's community gardens across this great land.
The letter from the White House is intimidating, especially so because one big blow of unscheduled expense or revenue loss can sink RRP. But it would be scary, even if we were bigger, for its assault on first-amendment freedom and the prior-approval rights the White House essentially asserts. The problem with Red Rock Press, it seems, is with our un-American direction: we hope to make a profit.
The letter nearly coincides with the announcement that she-who-must-not-be-named had signed a contract with Crown, an imprint of Random House for a book on the garden. Random House is America's largest publisher, and a division of Germany-based Bertelsmann. It was concurrently announced that M.O. intended to plow her book earnings into some yet-to-be-named charitable cause.
Random House said it would give a portion of profit to a good cause, echoing a promise RRP had made to community garden contributors. Specifically, we will donate to a child-nutrition charity after we see a profit, which we hope will be this spring. Meanwhile, Clarion, a children's division of Houghton Mifflin, has announced a children's book called First Garden with recipes for next month -- I don't know if this has a White House imprimatur. Why is it okay for Random House or Houghton Mifflin to earn money from a White House garden-related book but not us?
Near the start of her quest, Clara Silverstein asked Mrs. Obama's press office for assistance. Specifically, she asked to submit questions to Michelle Obama, White House chefs and gardeners. Permission denied.
She was told there would be no White House cooperation because there were about 50 similar requests. We inferred that the White House wanted a level playing field. Permission to pose questions was sought again, this time with an assurance that the White House might share its answers. Permission denied. Forty-nine other books did not appear last year. The field, it seems, is only big enough for Captain Michelle.
Red Rock Press is proud of Clara Silverman's accomplishment, and stands behind it. We do not want to rename it.
The White House letterhead appears a tool as blunt as a bludgeon. No way can Red Rock Press match WH resources. I can only hope to shine a little light on a selectively-applied policy, poised to crush us.
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Ilene Barth is the former Senior Editor of Newsday (op-ed pages) and the Founder and current Creative Director of Red Rock Press. She can be reached at Ilene@RedRockPress.com.