Read The GOAT!

Roger Simon has self-published his new book, called The GOAT. It is the story of a middle-aged screenwriter named Dan Gelber, who bears a striking resemblance to Roger himself, and who, following an injury suffered while playing tennis and a resulting botched operation, has the opportunity to say goodbye to his old self (mysteriously disappeared at Mount Everest) and return as the youthful Jay Reynolds, a man with no history who may be the greatest tennis player of all time. It is Faust by way of Damn Yankees. Like everything Roger writes, it is lively, funny, and in the end, touching. I recommend it!

Given that Roger is a successful novelist and an Academy Award nominee for screenwriting, why go the self-publication route? Roger answered that question at PJ Media, which he co-founded:

After a dozen traditionally published books (ten fiction, two non-fiction), for the first time, I am self-publishing my new novel. It’s called The GOAT and is just now available for pre-sale on Kindle with paperback and hardcover to follow. The official publication of all versions is September 1, 2019, in conjunction with the US Tennis Open.
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Why am I self-publishing? Aside from the obvious publishing world bias against anyone to the right of Trotsky (this is particularly true for fiction; there are several good conservative venues for non-fiction), I have real reasons for having decided, after all these years and books, to self-publish. And not just because it’s clearly the wave of the future.

I believe in free markets and self-publishing is entrepreneurial. You get a greater hand in your own creative destiny, even if it’s more of a gamble.

The author forgoes a publisher’s advance for a significantly larger piece of the revenue pie and control of production, pricing, and marketing.
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Surprisingly, and more importantly, self-publishing tends to make the book itself better — at least it did for me.

Roger also talked about The GOAT in a Breitbart interview:

“One of the most influential people around that I’ve rubbed elbows with was Andrew Breitbart who used to do the Drudge Report from my house in LA when I lived there,” remembered Simon.
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Simon said he was essentially blacklisted by Hollywood after his public exposure as a conservative.

“I didn’t keep it under the rug,” Simon explained. “I started PJ Media, and then I sort of got excommunicated from Hollywood, and I had to come back as a different person, in a certain way.”

A bit like Dan Gelber, perhaps.

“I’m sort of banned in Hollywood, even though I have an Academy Award nomination,” Simon stated. “What I’m asking your listeners to do is support conservative artists. In my case, get a copy of The Goat. You won’t regret it. It’s a really good book.”

It is indeed. You can buy it at Amazon, with a publication date of September 1.

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