U.S. Office of Government Ethics
1201 New York Avenue, NW.,
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-3917


					March 6, 2008
					DO-08-006


MEMORANDUM

TO:		Designated Agency Ethics Officials

FROM:		Robert I. Cusick
		Director

SUBJECT:	Book Deals Involving Government Employees


	The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) frequently 
receives questions about whether an employee may enter into 
an agreement with a publishing company to write a book for 
compensation.  Various provisions of the Standards of 
Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch, the 
criminal conflict of interest laws, and the rules on 
outside earned income apply in such a case.  However, the 
application of the ethics rules to book deals can be 
complex.  For example, what the book is about and the 
timing and type of compensation may dictate different 
results depending on the type of employee seeking to 
receive compensation.  Because of this complexity, OGE has 
decided that it would be useful to issue two separate 
summaries on book deals, with each one addressing different 
classes of employees.

	The first summary (Part I) addresses regular 
Government employees and special Government employees.  The 
second summary (Part II) addresses covered non-career 
employees and Presidential appointees to full-time non-
career positions.  Each part is a self-contained summary of 
how to apply the appropriate ethics rules to the particular 
types of employees that are the subject of the summary.  
This approach will necessarily generate some degree of 
overlap, but the repetition is justified by the added 
convenience of having each document contain a comprehensive 
analysis for the types of employees covered.


	As you will see, each summary describes six questions 
to answer when analyzing a book deal question.  Any 
comments or questions may be directed to Seth Jaffe, 
Attorney-Advisor, at 202-482-9303.

Attachments

   Part I: Regular Employees and SGEs
   http://www.usoge.gov/daeograms/dgr_files/2008/do08006a.html

   Part II: Covered Noncareer Employees and Presidential Appointees
   http://www.usoge.gov/daeograms/dgr_files/2008/do08006b.html