Originally Posted by
mre5765
If Hornby was importing books to sign and sell, then he would be engaging in business requiring a visa. Instead he was signing books that were legally printed or imported by some other entity, and legally sold by entities in the USA. Signing books surely encouraged more sales, but the benefits went to the book seller and the US publisher.
As a published author myself, I can assure you that there is no way the royalties he would have earned on sales of the signed hard bound books would have come any near to covering his travel expenses. I earn five percent of each retail transaction on my book. The hardcover edition of High Fideity retails for about $40. Assuming $3000 for air fare, $1000 for hotel and other expenses, that is 1000 books to sign just to break even. To close a real estate with fewer than 25 documents to sign takes me two hours at a title company. Do the math.
Note to self: next time I am in foreign country and am approached to sign a book, decline because I am breaking some silly immigration law.
Or give my reader two dollars to offset my royalty.
Good lord the stupidty of DHS never ceases to amaze one.
I agree, not because I consider that immigration laws are necessarily silly, but because unpaid promotional acitivities are simply not commercial activity, even if the end result may through complex channels generate income for the individual. Where do you draw the line?
While Mr. Hornby's activities would undoubtedly result in increased sales of his book, those transactions are not conducted with Mr. Hornby but with the bookstore that is actually selling his books. He is not being directly remunerated for his activities.
When Bono gives a speech promoting poverty alleviation, it raises his public stature and undoubtedly boosts his record sales. Would that be considered work?
When a politician speaks abroad, is that considered work? What about if they have also published a book?