
Bush and her agent, Robert Barnett, have been shopping the proposal to a number of publishers. According to a well-placed industry source, Simon & Schuster showed interest but backed off when the asking price surpassed $300,000. HarperCollins is said to still be in the running.
Meanwhile, the embryonic project is already drawing interest from the major TV networks' news divisions, which have been frantically calling around to the publishing houses trying to find out where the book will land in hopes of locking up the exclusive on it. "It's something everybody's going to compete for," says one network insider.
And if that seems like a lot of hoopla over an "author" who probably won't write a paragraph, just be glad it's not another memoir "as dictated" by the White House dog.