Sarah Palin: 'Going Rogue,' making dough

OK, We get it. As a politician, Sarah Palin is a maverick. That's why she titled her new memoir "Going Rogue."

But when it comes to making money, Ms. Palin is thoroughly conventional. She's following a business plan long used by Washington insiders from both parties.

She hired President Obama's literary rep to sell a book that's been edited by the son of one of America's greatest literary novelists. She'd be happy to talk about that at your Fortune 500 corporate gathering. Just call her speech booker, who also handles Democratic stalwart Madeleine Albright, plus GOP apostate Colin Powell.

Decoder does not mean this observation as criticism. To the contrary, it seems the sensible course of action. Given the money involved - at least $1.25 million, and probably much more - Decoder would love to be in her shoes (metaphorically speaking, since they tend to be red and high-heeled).

To sell "Rogue," Palin connected with Robert Barnett, a partner at the establishment D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly. Mr. Barnett is the man to see about extracting cash from publishers, if you're a Washingtonian. He sold both Clintons' memoirs, as well as Mr. Obama's "Audacity of Hope."

Palin's editor at HarperCollins, according to news accounts, is Adam Bellow. He's the son of Saul Bellow, the Chicagoesque novelist who won both the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes.

True, Adam Bellow is known as a conservative intellectual. (Also, he served with Decoder as an intern at The Christian Science Monitor, many years ago.)

Finally, Palin is a prize offering of the Washington Speakers Bureau. (No, there is no Wasilla Speakers Bureau. We checked.) Her picture is featured on its webpage, only a couple of heads down from that of Christie Hefner, CEO of Playboy.

"Going Rogue"? Maybe the sequel will be "Going for the Dough."