According to the New York Times, Penguin will publish a first-person account of the bin Laden raid written by a Navy SEAL. Kathleen Clark, JD, national security law expert and professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, discusses the process for publishing this type of book.
“The publisher apparently would not say whether the manuscript had been submitted to the government for review to ensure that it does not contain classified information, but government officials who have access to intelligence information have to agree to pre-publication review for such manuscripts,” she says.
“If an employee does not submit the manuscript for pre-publication review, he may forfeit any royalties.
“In the past, the government has sued former employees to recover royalties.”
A pre-publication review agreement for the Defense Department is available at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/dd_1847_1.pdf