It was announced yesterday that
Celebrities, whether established or on the rise, have often made significantly more on their advance than the “average” book deal; however, the numbers being touted by Big 5 Publishers over the past few years have been huge. In the past two years, writer and star of HBO’s Girls Lena Dunham made $3.7 million for her memoir Not That Kind of Girl, comic and Parks and Recreation star Aziz Ansari sold his romance study/memoir Modern Romance for $3.5 million. Prior to that Tina Fey received $6 million for her first nonfiction book Bossypants and Amy Poehler received about the same amount for Yes Please. Last summer, Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak secured a $7.5 million deal for a joint venture. Outside of established and guaranteed best-selling authors like JK Rowling, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Connelly, and a handful of others, advance numbers like this are unheard of for literary figures alone. One of the highest advances for literary fiction in the U.S. recently was in 2014 at the reported price tag of over $1 million for Matthew Thomas’ debut We Are Not Ourselves: A Novel (Simon & Schuster). In 2011, it was The Art of Fielding (Little, Brown and Co.) by Chad Harbach at $650,000. In the case of Harbach sales of his book reached over 100,000 copies in hardcover earning back his advance for the publisher in addition to the book being long-listed for several awards. For Thomas his book was an immediate New York Times best-seller. When it comes to memoir, unless the author is recognized, these numbers are even rarer. Million dollar advances for debuts occurs on-and-off especially since a few recessions hit the U.S. economy, and publishing, pretty hard in the 2000s. The height of these numbers reflects potential bidding wars between publishers, leading the author to take the highest deal available that will guarantee a significant amount of publicity. There’s no hardened rule or formula in publishing for what will sell or what may sink, but early word of the financial investment by the publisher maintains intrigue for the potential buyer to see what all the fuss is about.
Kelly’s rumored advance is interesting because she may not necessarily have the same star power as Hillary Rodham Clinton or Mindy Kaling, nor does she have the literary notoriety of Toni Morrison or Cheryl Strayed. While Fey, Dunham, Ansari, and Kaling’s books all made the NYT best-seller list immediately after publication political figures don’t always receive the same interest from consumers. Last year, Republican candidates Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, and Ben Carson released nonfiction titles. Trump and Carson’s rated popularity at the time was at their highest, and Carson’s book would debut along with Trump’s on the NYT best-seller list in November. Donald Trump’s book, Crippled America, remains on the best-seller list as of this week. Cruz’s title did not debut on the best-seller list but would remain there for weeks after it published in July. Comparatively, Rubio’s memoir did not make the best-seller list at all.
Time will tell if Megyn Kelly’s popularity will maintain when her book releases. It makes sense that the planned date is near the end of the election season. SVP director of creative development Lisa Sharkey stated to The Hollywood Reporter, Kelly’s book “is coming out at the perfect time and is bound to be one of the most read and talked about books of the fall.” If sales are maintained at the expected level by her publisher, Kelly’s memoir could provide a steady stream of revenue, and buzz, for HarperCollins.
