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

Total Donated

$4,385,764

Contributions

17,346

Unique Donors

342

Top Employer

AUTHOR

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.

Full analysis: Author money in federal elections →

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.

Cycle-over-Cycle Trend

2008 · $60,285 2012 · $54,509 2010 · $39,600 2000 · $36,950 2014 · $25,705 1992 · $24,600 1996 · $20,750 1980 · $20,150 1990 · $18,160 2006 · $15,000

AUTHOR political contributions by election cycle.
Cycle	Total	Contributions	Donors
1980	$20,150	30	19
1982	$11,500	10	4
1984	$8,600	13	5
1986	$7,500	9	6
1988	$12,500	12	8
1990	$18,160	18	7
1992	$24,600	32	10
1994	$14,250	16	8
1996	$20,750	27	10
1998	$9,850	18	8
2000	$36,950	34	10
2002	$7,550	12	5
2004	$14,950	15	6
2006	$15,000	8	4
2008	$60,285	59	8
2010	$39,600	33	4
2012	$54,509	66	4
2014	$25,705	37	4

Top Donors

Top AUTHOR donors ranked by total donated.
#	Name	Total	Contributions	City / State	Occupation	History
1	KAZARIAN, BEN K JR	$4,250	4	WILMINGTON, CA	—	1980
2	FOWLE, ELEANOR C	$2,250	3	LOS ALTOS HILLS, CA	—	1980
3	BROCCOLI, DANA	$2,000	2	BEVERLY HILLS, CA	—	1980
4	MONTANDON, PAT	$1,700	4	SAN FRANCISCO, CA	—	1980
5	CROWELL, JOAN	$1,500	3	CUOGUE, NY	—	1980
6	MORGAN, THOMAS BRUCE	$1,000	1	NEW YORK, NY	—	1980
7	FLUOR, MARJORIE L MRS	$1,000	1	SANTA ANA, CA	—	1980
8	BENCHELY, PETER B	$1,000	1	PRINCTEON, NJ	—	1980
9	BEACH, EDWARD L	$1,000	1	WASHINGTON, DC	—	1980
10	BEACH, INGRID MRS	$775	2	WASHINGTON, DC	—	1980
11	CLEMENTS, JOHN	$750	1	DALLAS, TX	—	1980
12	CHEVALIER, ELIZABETH P	$550	2	LOS ANGELES, CA	—	1980
13	MCGEE, DOROTHY	$500	1	LOCUST VALLEY, NY	—	1980
14	HOWARD, MARGO	$500	1	PACIFIC PALISADES, CA	—	1980
15	HARRIS, LEO O	$500	1	CLEVELAND HGTS, OH	—	1980
16	HADLEY, ARTHUR T MR	$500	1	NEW YORK CITY, NY	—	1980
17	MOORE, ROBERT L JR	$500	1	WESTPORT, CT	—	1980
18	FLOUR, MARJORIE L	$500	1	SANTA ANA, CA	—	1980
19	DEATS, R W MRS	$500	1	PACIFIC PALISADE, CA	—	1980
20	BIRD, CHRISTOPHER	$500	1	WASHINGTON, DC	—	1980
21	BAR-ILLAN, BEVERLY	$500	1	NEW YORK, NY	—	1980
22	ALEXANDER, MARGARET WALKER DR (	$500	1	JACKSON, MS	—	1980
23	BREWER, WILMON MR	$400	2	HINGHAM, MA	—	1980
24	ADLER, JOYCE	$260	1	NORTH BENNINGTON, VT	—	1980
25	FORTUNE, WILLIAM L	$250	1	INDIANAPOLIS, IN	—	1980
26	DOSS, MARGOT PATTERSON	$250	1	SAN FRANCISCO, CA	—	1980
27	GORDON, THOMAS	$250	1	LEUCARDIA, CA	—	1980
28	COOLIDGE J RANDOLPH , -MR	$250	1	NEW YORK, NY	—	1980
29	BRIGGS, ROSEMARY R MS	$250	1	NAPLES, FL	—	1980
30	LEBOUTELLIER, JOHN	$250	1	OLD WESTBURY, NY	—	1980
31	MITCHEL, JAMES F MR	$250	1	WINNETKA, IL	—	1980
32	MOORE, ROBERT L JR MR	$250	1	WESTPORT, CT	—	1980
33	ALBRIGHT, JOSEPHINE P	$250	1	WOODSTOCK, VT	—	1980
34	LINCOLN, EVELYN	$200	1	CHEVY CHASE, MD	—	1980

Top Recipients

Top political committees that received AUTHOR donations.
#	Committee	Total	Contributions
1	ACTBLUEC00401224	$73,922	11
2	DNC SERVICES CORP / DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEEC00010603	$39,650	13
3	HIMES FOR CONGRESSC00434191	$29,500	1
4	PERLMUTTER FOR CONGRESSC00410639	$24,700	1
5	DSCCC00042366	$21,500	7
6	FRIENDS OF CHRIS MURPHYC00492645	$18,300	1
7	OBAMA FOR AMERICAC00431445	$18,175	9
8	DCCCC00000935	$17,012	10
9	INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS LOCAL 98 COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL EDUCATIONC00162818	$16,261	1
10	CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY FEDERAL ACCT.C00140590	$11,000	2
11	CA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION PAC-FED SPONS BY CA ASSN OF HOSPITALS & HEALTH SYSTEMS (CAHHS)C00237495	$10,750	1
12	FIGHT FOR THE PEOPLE PACC00703975	$7,821	3
13	JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INCC00383653	$7,450	3
14	NEW YORK MERCANTILE EXCHANGE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEEC00230185	$7,200	1
15	OBAMA VICTORY FUNDC00451393	$6,000	1
16	SALOMON FOR CONGRESS '92C00254235	$5,500	2
17	HILLARY VICTORY FUNDC00586537	$5,400	5
18	GEORGE ALLEN FOR US SENATEC00492462	$5,250	1
19	EDPACC00467837	$5,000	1
20	CAMPAIGN AMERICA INCC00088369	$5,000	2
21	CONNECTICUT DEMOCRATIC STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEEC00167320	$5,000	1
22	BENNET FOR COLORADOC00458398	$4,800	1
23	HIRAL FOR CONGRESSC00649897	$4,800	1
24	UDALL FOR COLORADOC00331439	$4,600	1
25	PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE IC00107235	$4,000	1