The book world scrambles to capitalize on Palin's buzz
Sarah Palin has certainly managed to jazz the news cycle. So it's not surprising that publishers are now hoping that she'll do as much for book sales.
In addition to the bestselling biography already out there ("Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down" by Kaylene Johnson) and the one scheduled for release in two weeks (“Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader” by Joe Hilley), booksellers are scrambling to get more books related to the Republican vice-presidential candidate out on store shelves.
The New York Post today reported that as a result of Palin's buzz, anything by Palin's "doppelganger," Tina Fey, is red-hot right now.
So hot, in fact, that the Post says a bidding war has broken out. Agent Richard Abate is said to be talking to publishers about a book by Fey. (This is not Palin, now, mind you – this is simply her double, Tina Fey.)
Although there's long been interest in a Tina Fey book project, the Post says, Fey's recent appearances as the faux Palin on Saturday Night Live have turned Fey into such a star that anything connected to her is ultra-valuable property.
That's why one publisher is said to have offered $5-million for a book by Fey while another is rumored to have responded with a $6-million bid.
It's not clear whether such a book would be a memoir or a Nora Ephron-style piece of humorous writing. Perhaps it doesn't matter.
Meanwhile, yesterday, Adams Media rushed out "101 Things You Didn't Know About Sarah Palin" by comedian Greg Bergman, a book being pitched as "a hilarious and irreverent look at America's favorite 'Caribou Barbie,' " and "the only humor book on Palin currently available."
They call it the silly season – now soon to hit a bookstore near you.