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Tag Archives | book deals

Scandal TV drama graphic

Super successful Hollywood writer/producer to tell her story

By on Wednesday, November 20, 2013

  The ABC TV political drama, “Scandal” is a top rated political drama created by prolific Hollywood writer/producer, Shonda Rhimes. She’s the creative wiz behind the popular medical dramas “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice.” Now, Rhimes is getting a chance to write about herself in a book deal with Simon & Schuster, according to The Wrap. The book reportedly will be “…part memoir, part inspiration, part prescription.” Rhime is quite impressive. She’s the first African-American woman to create and executive produce a top 10 network series. Also,... Read More →

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Publicity photo Jason Priestley Call Me Frizt

Actor Jason Priestley lands a book deal

By on Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Actor Jason Priestley has come a long way from his days on “Beverly Hills 90210.” Priestley, now 44, stars as a morally corrupt used-car salesman with numerous addictions in the Canadian series, “Call Me Fitz,”appearing on DirecTV channel 101. Also, Priestley has a new book deal to write his memoir (he seems a little young to be doing that).  Harper One  is planning a spring 2014 release, according to Galleycat. Back in the 90s, Priestley got his first taste of fame as the heartthrob,... Read More →

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Beatle song to become a children’s book

By on Wednesday, June 12, 2013

  Ex-Beatle, Ringo Starr, will soon be a published children’s author. The rocker has snagged a deal with Simon & Schuster to turn his 1968 tune, “Octopus’s Garden” into an illustrated children’s book, according to a PR Newswire release. The song appeared on the Beatles album, “Abbey Road” (1969). The way the story goes, Starr composed the song while cruising on actor, Peter Seller’s yacht. Apparently the boat captain gave the Beatle drummer a lesson on how the octopus trawls the sea bed searching for shiny stones and... Read More →

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Entertainment Bits: “Fast & Furious 6,” Rick Springfield sells a novel, and NBC’s relief concert for tornado victims

By on Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Box office bonanza “Fast & Furious 6 ” burned rubber all over the competition Memorial Day weekend. Not a whole lot of new moves in this sequel, but moviegoers did not care. They love this franchise. “Fast &  Furious 6”  took in $120 million for its debut in the U.S. The top six films helped generate more than $300 million at the domestic box office, beating the previous record for a Memorial Day weekend. No surprise, “Fast & Furious 7” is in the works. More here... Read More →

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Cleveland Browns clipart

Entertainment Bits: Disney star gets book deal, hip hop artist hooks movie role, and NBCUniversal plan is a go

By on Thursday, April 25, 2013

Teen TV star scores book offer Disney Channel star, Bella Thorne, is now an actress, singer, dancer, and author. The 15-year-old has a new deal to write a YA, young adult, book series called, “Autumn Falls,” according to Galleycat. Not familiar with Thorne? Well, she’s co-stars in the sitcom, “Shake It Up,” and reportedly has 2.9 million followers on Twitter! Sean Combs joins football movie cast Hip hop artist, music mogul, entrepreneur, and actor, Sean “P.Diddy” Combs has been added to the ensemble cast... Read More →

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colorful books clipart

Kevin Costner snags new adventure series book deal

By on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Actor/director/producer, Kevin Costner, reportedly has a new book series deal with Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books. The first book in the adventure series, “The Explorers Guild, Volume One: Passage to Shambhala,” is set for release in 2014. Costner told Deadline.com’s Mike Fleming he feels “… the book has the sweep of adventure classics he grew up reading, including “Arabian Nights” and “The Red Badge Of Courage.” Costner hopes the book will connect with young and adult lovers of adventure and lead to a movie based on it.... Read More →

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Fifty Shades of Grey book cover

Major Hollywood book to film rights deal for “Fifty Shades of Grey”

By on Monday, March 26, 2012

Who says romance doesn’t sell in Hollywood? “Fifty Shades of Grey,” a bestselling erotic romance novel trilogy, with BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism) elements, reportedly has sold to Universal Pictures and Focus Features. The X-rated book series was inspired by the hugely popular “Twilight” book saga and is written by British author E. L. James. The romance is about a female college student and a young intriguing billionaire who has some dark sexual desires. The  other two novels in the series are... Read More →

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"Terminator" movie poster

Celebrity book deals: Courtney Love & Arnold Schwarzenegger

By on Friday, September 30, 2011

Catching up on some celebrity book deals. Rocker Courtney Love has signed a deal with HarperCollins for a “tell-all” memior, according to the publishing  site Galleycat. Love’s untitled memior reportedly will be a no-holds-barred telling of her life from ” childhood to the present day.” Love was married to deceased rock legend, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Love has had success with her band, Hole, but also personal problems and trouble with drugs in her later years. Also Galleycat is reporting the autobiography of  Arnold Schwarzenegger... Read More →

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Photo: Gary Friedman/ Los Angeles Times -- Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and wife Lorrie at the Rose Parade in Pasadena on January 1, 2010

ShowBiz Bits

By on Thursday, September 30, 2010

 Lindsay Lohan’s brother speaks out Reports are out that troubled Actress, Lindsay Lohan, has voluntarily entered rehab. This will be the fifth time around for Lohan. Her brother, Michael Lohan Jr., says his sister is “fully committed” to making rehab work this time.  Also, he blamed Lohan’s past failures at getting clean on “leeches” in her social circle. More on the People website. Heroic pilot’s story optioned by Hollywood producers   Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s incredible story is going to be a movie. Captain Sully became a hero on January 15, 2009,... Read More →

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Photo Radio Talk Show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger

Entertainment Catch-Up: Madonna sued, Dr. Laura’s controversy, & Betty White’s gets a new book deal and a 5th Emmy.

By on Saturday, August 21, 2010

Madonna sued over “Material Girl”  clothing line Entertainer, Madonna, has launched a “Material Girl” clothing line with daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon. Oops!  L.A. Triumph, claims it’s been selling clothes under that label since around 1997 and at some of the same high-ended retailers involved in the new Madonna deal. This week, the California company sued Madonna. More details in a story on The Los Angeles Times website. Dr. Laura’s controversial farewell   In the wake of a controversy over her use of the N-word on the air, Conservative... Read More →

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Entertainment Bits: Bristol Palin engaged to her baby’s daddy, Writer posts novel online lands book deal & Dennis Hopper art exhibit opens in SoCal

By on Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Bristol Palin to marry Levi Johnston That Palin family — never out of the media spotlight for long. The latest news,  Bristol Palin is engaged to former boyfriend and father of her son, Levi Johnston. The couple broke the news to US magazine, which posted the exclusive story and some photos on its website today. The Palins really like US magazine. Remember, Sarah Palin on the above US cover with the couple’s son, Tripp, back in 2008?   Online vampire book sells to major publisher San Francisco Bay Area Author Marta... Read More →

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Book deals and buzz for two screenwriters-turned-novelists

By on Sunday, December 27, 2009

Hollywood is gung-ho right now for film projects based on material from other mediums — particularly comics and novels. Screenwriter Suzanne Corso has written a number of unproduced scripts, but she recently hit the big time with her first novel. Corso wrote a coming-of-age story, based on personal experience, about a teenager in Brooklyn during the 1970s who falls for a local Mafioso wannabe, according to Publishers Weekly. The novel, “Brooklyn Story” was picked up by Simon & Schuster for publication. Also, Director Penny Marshall grabbed the film rights. Some... Read More →

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Actor Tony Curtis gets a new tell-all book deal

By on Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Even decades later, the movie comedy “Some Like It Hot” (1959), directed by the legendary Billy Wilder, is still very funny. It’s a true classic that stands up against the changing times and culture. The film stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as two musicians on the run from gangsters who disguise themselves as women and join an all female band. Both fall for the band’s sexy lead singer, Sugar Kane, played by Marilyn Monroe.  Now 83-years-old, Curtis has hooked up a book deal for a behind-the-scenes memoir about what went... Read More →

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Frank Sinatra: A new film and book

By on Saturday, May 16, 2009

  Photo: William P. Gottlieb (1947) Legendary crooner Frank Sinatra died 11 years ago on May 14, 1998, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. Sinatra was 82. Now the entertainer, known as “Ol’ Blue Eyes” or “The Voice,” is about to live again on the big screen and in the pages of a new book. Francis Albert Sinatra was born December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey and grew up to become one of the best known and most accomplished American singers ever. Also, Sinatra achieved recognition as... Read More →

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Successful screenwriter making his mark as a novelist

By on Friday, April 24, 2009

        Writer Derek Haas has had great success scripting movies for Hollywood. Haas co-wrote “3:10 to Yuma” (2007,) a remake of the classic western film based on acclaimed author Elmore Leonard’s short story with the same title. Along with his partner, Michael Brandt, Haas wrote the screenplay for “Wanted” and several major scripts in development like “The A-Team,” “Beverly Hills Cop IV,” and “The Thirteenth Hour.” Now Haas is creating a name for himself as a best selling author with the “Silver Bear” novels. The third installment in the series sold to Pegasus Books recently, according to Read More →

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Director of classic “Night of the Living Dead” film gets book deal

By on Monday, April 13, 2009

The director of the original horror flick “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), George A. Romero, is still very much into zombies and the mysterious undead. Romero’s new film “… Of the Dead” is scheduled for release this year. Also, he has signed a two-book deal with Grand Central Publishing, according to Publishers Weekly. Romero’s debut novel will focus on the origin of the zombies and is due out next summer. Romero, along with John A. Russo, created the black-and-white classic, “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), which is about a group of people trapped in... Read More →

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Former Internet hacker gets a book deal

By on Monday, March 23, 2009

Doing time in the big house has not hurt the writing career of ex-Internet hacker, Kevin Poulsen. Publishers Weekly is reporting today that Poulsen has sold his book “Kingpin” to Crown. In the 1980s and 1990s, Poulsen had quite a colorful reputation as a cyber criminal and was once a fugitive on the run. In one of his notorious hacks, Poulsen reportedly engineered a scheme to rig call-in contests of Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM to win two Porsches, some vacation trips, and thousands of dollars.  Finally captured by authorities, Poulsen pleaded guilty... Read More →

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Obama’s campaign manager gets million-dollar-plus book deal

By on Thursday, February 5, 2009

Google Image   President Obama’s campaign manager/Internet wizard, David Plouffe, has snagged a mega-book deal worth between $1.5 and $2 million, according to the publishing news site GalleyCat. Plouffe now heads Organizing for America, a new entity that aims to mesh 13-million or so supporters of the Obama campaign into a powerful force to help push the President’s message and issues for change. I got an e-mail yesterday from Plouffe as part of Organizing for America. Plouffe, in a style he honed during the presidential campaign, wrote a casual, but... Read More →

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“The Daily Show’s” Samantha Bee gets a book deal

By on Monday, February 2, 2009

Funny lady Samantha Bee has parlayed her television gig on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” into a book deal; taking a cue from comedienne/actress Tina Fey.   Bee signed onto “The Daily Show” back in 2003. The Canadian actress appeared in last year’s Box Office dud, “The Love Guru.” Also, Bee stars with Uma Thurman, Minnie Driver, and Anthony Edwards in the new comedy film, “Motherhood,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month. Publishers Weekly reports Bee has signed on with Simon Spotlight for a book of humorous... Read More →

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Movie deal for a new twist on the “Romeo & Juliet” love story

By on Wednesday, January 7, 2009

“Romeo and Juliet”  by Sir Frank Dicksee (1853-1928)   The publishing industry has been buzzing for months about Danish author Anne Fortier’s “Juliet.”  In the  novel a woman discovers she may be related to the star-crossed lovers who inspired the classic, “Romeo & Juliet.” Today, there are a flurry of reports about Universal Pictures picking up the movie rights for “Juliet.” Director/producer James Mangold is attached to the project along with his producer wife Cathy Konrad. Mangold and Konrad were involved in the 2007 remake of the western, “3:10 to Yuma,” and are developing the... Read More →

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New deal for a book about legendary singer Tony Bennett

By on Saturday, December 27, 2008

The most detailed ever biography of superstar crooner Tony Bennett has been bought at auction by publisher, John Wiley & Sons. Publishers Weekly reports David Evanier’s “Keeper of the Flame: A Biography of Tony Bennett” is set for release in 2011 to mark the singer’s 85th birthday.  He was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto on August 3, 1926. The singer’s career got a big break when Bob Hope asked him to join his stage show. Also, the comedian suggested a name change to Tony Bennett. In... Read More →

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Joe the Plumber becomes Joe the Author

By on Friday, November 21, 2008

  Joe the Plumber is really stretching his 15 minutes of fame. He’s that Ohio plumber who had a chat with then Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on the campaign trail, early last month. Joe, whose real name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, came away from that encounter criticizing Obama’s tax plan. Republican Presidential candidate John McCain leaped on this and outed Joe and his experience with Obama during the third presidential debate. It put Joe in the spotlight and despite his complaints about the media attention, he has been clinging to the fringes of... Read More →

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