Who says you can't teach kids about life lessons and the dangers of a nefarious liberal agenda at the same time? Certainly not Katharine DeBrecht, the homemaker-cum-author who penned Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed. The book, published by the one-and-a-half-year-old California-based World Ahead Publishing, has become a hit (of sorts) after it received an on-air plug from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. Now, DeBrecht's hybrid children's/humor book (which was previously self-published in a more rudimentary form) has sparked debate on both sides of the political divide—which has been very good for sales.
According to World Ahead's president and publisher, Eric Jackson, more than 20,000 copies of the book have been shipped after two print runs, and he is looking into a third printing. The title follows two boys who set up a lemonade stand, only to encounter trouble from caricatured representations of well-known Democrats demanding things like taxes and the removal of their picture of Jesus.
For World Ahead, the book is an overwhelming success. In addition to the Limbaugh plug, Liberals has benefited from a small mention in U.S. News & World Report and lots of blogosphere debate. Available in all the major chains and at some independents via Midpoint, Liberals will be getting front-of-store displays in various B&N stores next month, Jackson said. And World Ahead, which has acquired the rights to a series of Help! Mom! books from DeBrecht, is planning to release a follow-up to Liberals in 2006: Help! Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper! World Ahead, which is keeping its focus on adult and nonfiction books with a conservative and/or libertarian bent, will publish seven or eight titles next year.
