Redemption Being Sabotaged?

Michael Jackson book proves to be a hard sell By Paul Dellinger RADFORD – It was originally going to be called “The Set-Up,” but a book released by a Radford publisher about the 1993 child molestation charges against Michael Jackson might better have been titled “Conspiracy Theory.” “Redemption: The Truth Behind the Michael Jackson Child Molestation Allegations” is the title Geraldine Hughes finally chose for her book, and it was published in January by Branch & Vine Publishers, a Radford company launched by James Armentrout and Steve Macon about a year ago. Since then, “It’s been quite a roller coaster,” Armentrout said earlier this month. He and Macon, both of whom have written books of their own, have kept their day jobs while publishing small runs of science-fiction and other types of books. When they were contacted by Hughes, who had been the legal secretary for one of the lawyers involved in the 1993 case and saw some of its unwinding firsthand, they were not sure about its market. Then the new child molestation charges surfaced against the pop star, and they figured they could have a blockbuster on their hands. It started out that way. “And then the orders got canceled. And we couldn’t figure out what was going on,” Armentrout said. “At first, I thought we screwed up,” he said. But bookstore chains began telling customers the book was not available, he said, and online retailers had problems finding it. Armentrout and Macon began wondering if someone was trying to quash the book’s distribution, because it takes the point of view that Jackson was innocent in 1993 and was the victim of a set-up. “This book makes a lot of people angry,” Armentrout said. Many people prefer to believe Jackson is guilty in the 1993 case and the one now before a California grand jury, he said. People began telling Armentrout and Macon about orders being returned with the book marked as “not available” and “will not be published again,” or that the order was canceled “per your request.” … Visits by a reporter to New River Valley bookstores found no copies in stock. An employee at Barnes & Noble in Christiansburg and Printer’s Ink in Blacksburg said they could order the book. Others at Books-a-Million and Waldenbooks checked their computers and found the book listed as “not available,” which usually means it is out of print. And that is not the case, Armentrout said. There are plenty of copies still available. … :nav Source: [url=http://forum.mjeol.com/index.php?showtopic=15590]Read FULL Article[/url] :3pinned [url=http://forum.mjeol.com/index.php?showtopic=15590]Your Comments? [/url]