It's hard out there for would-be first-time authors—unless your dad is the president, y'all! First daughter Jenna Bush has landed the book deal she was fishing for, with HarperCollins announcing this morning plans to publish Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope this fall. (We reported in January that the News Corp.-owned publishing house was pursuing the deal in spite of a $300,000 price tag that had given other suitors pause.)
Ana's Story, according to the press release, will be a work of "young-adult, narrative non-fiction" based on Bush's experience working as an intern for UNICEF in Central America. (The Ana of the title is an orphaned, teenage single mother with HIV. We're not sure where the "hope" part comes in.) It will feature photographs by Mia Baxter, who has traveled with Bush through Argentina, Paraguay, and Panama.
HarperCollins didn't disclose the final value of the deal but did note that both author and publisher plan to donate "a portion" of the proceeds to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Meanwhile, USA Today, which has an interview with Bush, says the initial print run will be 500,000 copies.
Photo: Getty Images