Ralph Louis Vitale, Jr. - Page 9




                                         -9-                                          
          his book, along with individualized letters, to bookstores,                 
          newspapers, magazines, and hotels.  He worked with a marketing              
          expert at Northwest to get his book stocked by distributors, and            
          to set up book signings at major bookstores.  When petitioner was           
          unhappy with the contents of his press release, he rewrote it and           
          sent his changes to Northwest.  Moreover, when petitioner became            
          dissatisfied with Northwest's marketing efforts, he wrote a                 
          letter demanding that the publishing company comply with the                
          terms of its agreement.                                                     
               By letter dated January 22, 1996, Northwest's account                  
          executive informed petitioner that 6,800 copies of his book had             
          been ordered and shipped,8 and that another 2,500 copies had been           
          ordered by the Books By Millions chain.  The letter also stated             
          that Northwest's royalty statements would be mailed in approxi-             
          mately 3 weeks.  On his 1996 Federal income tax return, peti-               
          tioner reported $2,600 in gross royalties from his writing                  
          activity.                                                                   
               In late 1993, after petitioner had signed an agreement with            
          Northwest to have "Searchlight, Nevada" published, he began                 
          research on another book, "Nevada Nights, San Joaquin Dawn".  He            
          wanted to document the difficulties that women face in their                
          attempt to break free from a life of prostitution, because, as              


               8The letter failed to identify who placed the order(s) for             
          these books or to whom they were shipped.                                   





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