People write books for a reason, and one of the primary reasons is to make money. A best-selling book can launch someone into the stratosphere. ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling wrote the first book while on the dole and she’s now among the world’s richest people.
Advertisement
Most people know this, except for the people at The Hill, it seems. They have stumbled upon a story they’re trying to frame as a scandal: namely, that Vice President J.D. Vance earned royalties from his book ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ and that those royalties ‘boosted his earnings.’
Vance’s financial disclosure shows ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ royalties boost his earningshttps://t.co/u9aN7lNQcj
— The Hill (@thehill) July 4, 2026
Truly groundbreaking journalism right here.
Vance made between $1 million and $5 million in domestic royalties from publisher HarperCollins, up from the $50,001 to $100,000 range he reported earning a year earlier.
The rest of his portfolio, however, was more stagnant. Vance continued to hold between $250,001 and $500,000 in bitcoin — unchanged from last year’s reported range. He earned less than $201 in his Coinbase account holding his cryptocurrency investments.
Vance reported deals with foreign publishers, including in Germany, Japan and Brazil. His largest upfront payout from an international agreement came from Chinese publisher Beijing Mediatime, which paid Vance $59,500.
A best-selling book that was adapted into a critically acclaimed movie made its author a nice chunk of change. The scandal.
Your Pulitzer is in the mail.
— Grateful Calvin (@shoveitjack) July 4, 2026
Advertisement
We do not despise the media enough.
So his work generated income? pic.twitter.com/NL9HPBW6qE
— BPJ (@bpjauburn) July 4, 2026
Earning your own income? That’s anathema to the Left.
Thank you Captain Obvious.
In other news, royalties from movies boost the earnings of every person involved with said movie.🤣— Steve (Formerly Steve E4BEA) (@SteveRetAFEA) July 4, 2026
They are the epitome of Captain Obvious.
People pay for books / movies and some of it goes back to the originator?
Wow, who knew? https://t.co/ZUg6BwBb7j
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) July 5, 2026
They know. There’s a reason why the trans activist crowd tries to go after the ‘Harry Potter’ books and related media, like the ‘Hogwarts: Legacy’ video game. They don’t want Rowling to earn income from her work, and it’s no surprise they feel the same way about Vance.
Every democrat in the country gets a multimillion dollar advance for a book that sells a thousand copies and its crickets
JD Vance sells 5 million copies of Hillbilly Elegies and all of a sudden you have concerns https://t.co/BJm0XUdryS
— MrMikeD (@Mrmiked42) July 4, 2026
Exactly this.
Former First Lady Jill Biden‘s book, ‘View from the East Wing’ went to the top of the New York Times bestseller list with a dagger marking that ‘bulk and institutional buys’ helped elevate it.
The book View from the East Wing hit #1 on the NYT list with that big fat dagger symbol — the official “yeah, bulk and institutional buys carried this” flag.
It sold around 29,500 print copies in the first couple weeks, then cratered straight off the list in record time. Nate…
— Helen Sexton (@Helen_Sexton3) June 30, 2026
Advertisement
The same thing happened when a PAC affiliated with Gavin Newsom bought two-thirds of his total book sales.
Gavin Newsom became a New York Times bestseller.
By having his PAC buy two-thirds of his book sales. 🤣
Everything about this guy is so fake… pic.twitter.com/DmcitfDyGq
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) April 18, 2026
The system is rigged to favor Leftists, and when a conservative legitimately does well, it’s suddenly problematic.
That’s the game here. There is no scandal, there is no story. Vance wrote a book that did really well and was turned into a movie for which Glenn Close received an Academy Award nomination. He earned that money, and the Left is trying to paint it as something shady and corrupt.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
National Headline