Wiley to publish "Bailout Nation"

Hey! Good news for Big Picture blogger Barry Ritholtz and those who were looking forward to reading his upcoming book, Bailout Nation. It should be out this spring.

For those who don't know, Barry had been set to publish Bailout Nation with McGraw-Hill until a fracas erupted over passages in the book that were critical of the rating agencies, including Standard & Poor's, a unit of McGraw-Hill.

Bloomberg reports that John Wiley and Sons is now set to publish the book, and that it will be released this May.

"John Wiley & Sons Inc. will publish the book on the financial crisis that the author said was spurned by McGraw-Hill Cos. because of a dispute over passages critical of its Standard & Poor’s credit-rating service.

John Wiley said on its Web site the 320-page book, “Bailout Nation: How Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy,” will be available in May. The author, Barry Ritholtz, said today he couldn’t discuss some specifics until he’s received a final contract.

“We have a deal in place,” said Ritholtz, chief executive officer of equity-research firm FusionIQ. “I probably should have sought out a publisher in the first place that didn’t own divisions where there might have been a conflict of interest.”

Ritholtz said last month he withdrew the manuscript from McGraw-Hill after the New York-based publisher edited a section in which he wrote that its S&P unit, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service inflated their opinions in exchange for fees. McGraw-Hill said at the time the book had facts that needed verification before it could be printed..."

So now you know the details. Good news for Barry's readers and for good-old American freedom of expression. You gotta watch out for this corporate media, don't you know...