Strangely enough, people became less likely to buy Cuomo’s book about beating the coronavirus through smart leadership once they found out that his leadership actually killed a whole bunch of people.

Sales of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s book on the COVID-19 pandemic have ground to a near halt in recent weeks as the Democratic lawmaker faces increasing pressure to resign over two scandals, according to NPD BookScan.

“America’s Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” sold just 300 copies in February, the data provider for the publishing industry said.

Cuomo’s book sales saw a “precipitous drop” at the end of January, NPD analyst Kristen McLean told Bloomberg. “Of course we cannot confirm why it’s dropped,” she said. “We will leave that question to others.”

And now his publisher will belatedly stop promoting it while claiming that it’s doing so for righteous reasons.

The publisher of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s book on his leadership during the pandemic said it had stopped promoting the title because of an inquiry into the withholding of data on the deaths of nursing home residents.

I wonder if that same decision would have been made if American Crisis were currently on the bestseller list.

The book was there. It sold all the copies it was going to sell by now even without the scandal. There’s no further point in promoting a book that. with Cuomo in the headlines, was only selling 300 copies. 

Ordinarily, paperback might have been an option, but with the scandal, it’s not worth the bet.

Gillian Blake of Crown Publishing Group said in response to an email from The New York Times that there were “no plans” to reprint Mr. Cuomo’s book or to reissue it in paperback, citing “the ongoing investigation into N.Y.S. reporting of Covid-related fatalities in nursing homes.”

It’s awkward when that book you had turns out to be by a guy who killed a bunch of people.

But, wait a minute. New York has a Son of Sam law which makes sure that the money that criminals make will go to their victims. But it’s up to the Office of Victim Services to pursue Cuomo. And that’s only if he’s convicted of a crime.

But if Michigan can try former Governor Rick Snyder for involuntary manslaughter over the deaths of 9 people in Flint, there’s a whole lot more bodies on Cuomo’s plate. And the Son of Sam law should be used to claw back Cuomo’s cash for his victims.