How much have author-labeled filers given federally?

The AUTHOR industry cluster totals $4,385,764 in itemized FEC contributions, from 17,346 contributions and 342 donors. Filers wrote AUTHOR in employer or occupation. The figure is FEC free text, not a NAICS publishing total. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

Why so many contributions from 342 donors?

Each itemized gift is a separate FEC row. Repeat donors produce 17,346 contributions from 342 people, about 51 transactions per donor. Unique-donor count remains 342 inside this string. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

Are journalists or novelists included?

Only if the industry key is AUTHOR. Journalist, novelist, and writer, if stored as other keys, are other slugs. This page’s $4,385,764 is AUTHOR only. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

Why is author on the industry list?

LobbyVault industries rank FEC employer/occupation self-reports. Job titles share the index with company names because FEC.gov does not attach NAICS. Top employer in the facts is AUTHOR. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

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Author money in federal elections

People who wrote AUTHOR in the employer or occupation field on federal campaign filings account for $4,385,764 in itemized receipts on FEC.gov. LobbyVault counts 17,346 contributions and 342 donors. Row density is high—about 51 gifts per person—while unique-person count stays modest, lifting the per-donor mean to about $12,824. The word is a job title on an FEC form, not a NAICS publishing-sector code.

Key figures

AUTHOR FEC strings sum to $4,385,764.
17,346 contributions came from 342 donors — high row density.
About $253 per gift and $12,824 per donor on a simple mean.
Publisher-name employers are separate slugs.
The “industry” is a job-title self-report, not NAICS.

342 donors, 17,346 itemized gifts

Three hundred forty-two unique people produced 17,346 contributions totaling $4,385,764. Mean gift size is about $253. The combination of many rows and few unique donors often reflects repeat itemized activity by a smaller set of filers. The packet does not name bestsellers or publishers; it supplies the four aggregates.

Top employer is AUTHOR, so many filers used the title as the employer field (self-employed writers commonly do). Publishing-house names are other industry keys if typed instead.

Title versus publisher employer

A writer who listed a house as employer and author as occupation may be keyed to the publisher’s industry page. $4,385,764 is the AUTHOR industry key. Writer, novelist, and journalist are different strings if stored separately.

LobbyVault industries rank FEC employer/occupation self-reports. Job titles share the index with companies because FEC.gov does not attach NAICS. Occupation breakdowns are the companion title index.

What the rows omit

No genre, no ISBN, no party, no cycle year. Recipients are on FEC.gov and on the AUTHOR donor table.

Unique-donor count (342) is matching text, not a census of published authors.

Boundaries

The table is not a publishers’ association PAC and not a measure of literary politics. $4,385,764 is itemized federal receipts tagged to AUTHOR from FEC.gov via LobbyVault.

All industries lists publisher employer names. Occupation breakdowns list related titles.

Source

Industry AUTHOR; $4,385,764; 17,346 contributions; 342 donors; top employer AUTHOR. Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault.

Open the AUTHOR donor table for 342 unique donors, 17,346 itemized contributions, and $4,385,764. Unitemized gifts are omitted. Writer, novelist, and journalist are other strings if stored separately. Publishing-house names typed as employer are other industry keys. Occupation breakdowns list related titles. All industries lists publisher employer names. Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault. About 51 itemized gifts per person is high row density against a modest unique-person count, which lifts the per-donor mean to about $12,824. Mean gift size about $253 uses total divided by contribution count. This page does not treat $4,385,764 as a publishers’ association PAC. The packet has no cycle year and no party split. The 342 unique donors are matching text, not a census of published authors. People who listed a house as employer may be keyed to the publisher’s industry page instead. Cite the AUTHOR title-string as filed on FEC.gov via LobbyVault.

Title-key receipts versus publisher employer keys

AUTHOR keyed $4,385,764 from 17,346 contributions and 342 donors. About 51 itemized gifts per person is high row density against a modest unique-person count, which lifts the per-donor mean to about $12,824. Mean gift size about $253 uses total divided by contribution count. Unitemized gifts are omitted. Writer, novelist, and journalist are other strings if stored separately. Publishing-house names typed as employer are other industry keys. The 342 unique donors are matching text, not a census of published authors. Top employer matches AUTHOR because many self-employed writers put the title in the employer box. State filings and lobbying reports are omitted from $4,385,764. The packet does not name titles or ISBNs.

Open the AUTHOR donor table for names and committees. All industries lists publisher employer names. Occupation breakdowns list related titles. Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault. This page does not treat $4,385,764 as a publishers’ association PAC. The packet has no cycle year and no party split. Amendments can revise historical amounts. The four facts remain $4,385,764, 17,346 contributions, 342 donors, and top employer AUTHOR. People who listed a house as employer and author as occupation may be keyed to the publisher’s industry page instead. Do not add unnamed publisher totals into this title-string sum. Repeat the four facts when citing this page: $4,385,764, 17,346 contributions, 342 donors, top employer AUTHOR. Unitemized gifts remain omitted. The donor table, all industries, and occupation breakdowns are the only internal links this packet authorizes. Publisher-name employers stay on other slugs.

Questions

How much have author-labeled filers given federally?: The AUTHOR industry cluster totals $4,385,764 in itemized FEC contributions, from 17,346 contributions and 342 donors. Filers wrote AUTHOR in employer or occupation. The figure is FEC free text, not a NAICS publishing total. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.
Why so many contributions from 342 donors?: Each itemized gift is a separate FEC row. Repeat donors produce 17,346 contributions from 342 people, about 51 transactions per donor. Unique-donor count remains 342 inside this string. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.
Are journalists or novelists included?: Only if the industry key is AUTHOR. Journalist, novelist, and writer, if stored as other keys, are other slugs. This page’s $4,385,764 is AUTHOR only. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.
Why is author on the industry list?: LobbyVault industries rank FEC employer/occupation self-reports. Job titles share the index with company names because FEC.gov does not attach NAICS. Top employer in the facts is AUTHOR. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer/occupation string as indexed on LobbyVault from FEC.gov. Unitemized gifts, state filings, and lobbying reports are omitted and are not added to the itemized total cited here.

Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault.