Buying books as legal aid: the Ramón Valero case
A Spanish blogger facing lawsuits since 2016 asks for help by selling his books. He earns less than 8 euros per copy and won't explain the Expediente Royuela. Solidarity or...
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Your book, his lawyer: when self-publishing funds a legal defence
Can a book fund a court case? That's the question hovering behind the appeal of a Spanish blogger who has been in and out of the courts since 2016. His proposal is straightforward: buy my books and you help pay for my defence. On the surface, the formula combines literature and solidarity. But the case of Ramón Valero, the author's real name, has more twists than a crime novel.
The economics of a legal cause funded by books
Valero claims he earns barely 8 euros per paperback copy, and that an 800-page volume yields less than a 300-page one. At that rate, funding a lawsuit he describes as harassment by "the powerful" requires selling hundreds of copies. What doesn't add up, according to the most sceptical analyses, is that the fundraising depends on works that mix serious allegations with theories about ley lines and self-initiation. The audience that pays for a conspiracy book is not always the same one that funds a legal defence.
The unanswered questions
The author has not explained why he refuses to make the Expediente Royuela public, a document his critics consider essential to assess his accusations. Nor does he detail what happens to the 1% of profits that, it is said, would go to SOS Children's Villages. That opacity fuels suspicion: some have replied that he is simply after money without providing evidence.
Meanwhile, the blogger keeps publishing: a book about ley lines, another about self-initiation with Pedro Bustamante, and he promises more. Literature, like legal causes, needs readers. Or, at least, buyers.
Can a book fund a court case? That's the question hovering behind the appeal of a Spanish blogger who has been in and out of the courts since 2016. His proposal is straightforward: buy my books and you help pay for my defence. On the surface, the formula combines literature and solidarity. But the case of Ramón Valero, the author's real name, has more twists than a crime novel.
The economics of a legal cause funded by books
Valero claims he earns barely 8 euros per paperback copy, and that an 800-page volume yields less than a 300-page one. At that rate, funding a lawsuit he describes as harassment by "the powerful" requires selling hundreds of copies. What doesn't add up, according to the most sceptical analyses, is that the fundraising depends on works that mix serious allegations with theories about ley lines and self-initiation. The audience that pays for a conspiracy book is not always the same one that funds a legal defence.
The unanswered questions
The author has not explained why he refuses to make the Expediente Royuela public, a document his critics consider essential to assess his accusations. Nor does he detail what happens to the 1% of profits that, it is said, would go to SOS Children's Villages. That opacity fuels suspicion: some have replied that he is simply after money without providing evidence.
Meanwhile, the blogger keeps publishing: a book about ley lines, another about self-initiation with Pedro Bustamante, and he promises more. Literature, like legal causes, needs readers. Or, at least, buyers.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (18 replies).
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