Alt-writing: how the far right is changing US publishing

Rightwing writers, ranging from conservative to lunatic fringe across all genres, have long been a lucrative books market. Will the new era see it grow?

He compares feminism to cancer, called transgender people "retarded" and once labelled a BuzzFeed reporter a "thick-as-pig-shit media Jew". So when "alt-right" figurehead Milo Yiannopoulos, who relentlessly delights in wild provocation, landed a $250,000 (203,000) book deal with Simon & Schuster, the publisher understandably - and almost immediately - issued a statement distancing itself from the views of the writers they publish: "The opinions expressed therein belong to our authors, and do not reflect either a corporate viewpoint or the views of our employees."

Related: UK publishers shy away from 'alt-right' star Milo Yiannopoulos