The ultimate writing prompt

The Economist reports that, in Romania, a book written in prison- once published- cuts a month from one's sentence, and the wealthy are suddenly finding their intellectual voices:

Among those who have taken advantage of the loophole, or hope to do so, are Adrian Nastase, a former prime minister; Gheorghe Copos, a businessman and former government minister; Gigi Becali, another tycoon-cum-politician; and Ioan Niculae, reputedly the richest person in Romania. Gica Popescu, a former star footballer convicted of money laundering, is on the verge of early release after penning no fewer than four titles. Other hopeful authors include bigwigs in sports management and yet more politicians. 

Before 2013 a clause in the law permitted reduced sentences for those who produced works of academic research, but the criteria were narrow enough to prevent abuse. The new law, too, was supposed to be accompanied by strict guidelines determined by the ministry of justice and approved by government. This never happened. Until the loophole is closed, those with the means to do so will continue to pour out valueless work. 

Prisoners are not allowed computers and prison libraries are basic. Manuscripts must be written with pen and paper. According to Romanian journalists, wealthy prisoners generally hire outside academics as “research supervisors”. They, or other ghostwriters, do the actual writing; the work is then smuggled into jail, where the prisoner copies it out by hand. A publisher is paid to print a few copies, which are presented to the parole board, which (with no guidelines or expertise) judges whether it is worthy of a reduced sentence. 

Most of the work has met with derision. Mr Copos, who wrote about the matrimonial alliances of medieval Romanian rulers, was accused of plagiarism. Mr Becali produced a picture-heavy book about his relationship with Steaua Bucharest, the football team which he controls. Realini Lupsa, a pop singer, wrote about stem cells in dental medicine. No one knows how many people have taken advantage of the system. One recent report put the figure at 73, with some prisoners producing up to five books in only a few months.