by DCG
I’m sure Juanita Broaddrick would like to have a conversation with ol’ Bill.
From NY Post: Bill Clinton will spend his summer rolling in dough.
Next month the former president is scheduled to crisscross the US and Canada in a promotional tour for his new novel, in some cases charging $1,500 a ticket for on-stage events, dubbed “A Conversation with President Bill Clinton.”
Clinton, already a best-selling author for his 2004 autobiography “My Life,” began raking in the cash for the fictional thriller that he wrote with mega-bestselling novelist James Patterson, before the book was finished. He and his co-author reportedly signed a seven-figure deal with Showtime last year for the rights to turn the “The President is Missing” into a TV series.
Frenzied bidding for the television rights for the book, which is scheduled to go on sale June 4, began at $5 million last fall among some of the biggest players in Hollywood, including Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, according to published reports.
A spokeswoman for Showtime would not comment last week on the size of the final deal.
Clinton’s first novel tells the story of a sitting president who disappears from the White House in the midst of a looming cyber terrorist attack.
It’s not clear how much Clinton and Patterson made from the advance for the book. The book is being published in a unique deal involving two publishing houses — Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown & Co.
The novel is being called the publishing event of the year, and Clinton is scheduled to headline next month’s BookCon convention at the Javits Center.
Tickets for the former president’s summer-long North American tour to promote the book start at $10 per person and go as high as $1,500 for the special VIP passes.
A spokesman for Clinton refused to say whether he would be donating any proceeds from the novel to his family’s charitable foundation. “The Clintons support a broad range of groups every year through their family foundation,” said Clinton spokesman Angel Urena.
In addition to the book tour, Clinton will also headline events for the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
At the non-profit’s exclusive, private gala at an undisclosed venue in New York on Thursday, tickets range from $2,500 per person to $100,000 for a special access pass to the Clintons for a table for 10. Sting is also scheduled to perform at the event.
DCG