How does it feel to be bested by Tina Fey, Laura Bush?
Posted at 3:09 PM Jan 06, 2009
By Sharon Steel
The publishing industry had a collective, "HAHA SUX TO BE U" chuckle this morning over the news that outgoing First Lady Laura Bush only received a paltry $1.6 million advance from Simon and Schuster for her memoir, which she pitched to several publishing houses in mid-November. Seven figures doesn't sound all that bad? Well, it kinda is, especially when you compare it to some other recent deals. Tina Fey was rumored to have been offered $6 million for her forthcoming book of comedic essays, and Sarah Silverman, following in Fey's nerd-hot bespectacled footsteps, reeled in a rather lucrative contract of her own. Not to mention Hillary Clinton, who scored $8 million for her bestseller Living History. In the popularity contest of wacky advances, Mrs. Bush is the lonely girl at the lunch table, twirling her hair and pretending her friends are about to show up. Of course, the low offer could have something to do with her performance at her pitch meeting. The New Yorker reported this week that the reception, according to one publisher, was mixed:
"She was not forthcoming about anything that I would consider controversial," the publisher who met with her said. "We questioned her rigorously, but it was one-word answers. I considered it the worst, or the most frustrating, meeting of its sort that I've ever had." He added, "But she really couldn't have been nicer."
Clamming up on the dirt you plan to write about isn't usually the best way to get your editor breathless about representing you. But, from the likes of it, we wouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Bush simply realized she had no choice to play coy, considering bits and pieces of her life story may have been scooped by Curtis Sittenfeld last year.
