book deal

book deal (plural book deals)

1. An agreement between a publisher and an author, by which the author agrees to write a certain number of books to be published by the publisher.
   • 2004, Jason E. Squire, The Movie Business Book, Third Edition, page 93:

     If an original screenplay is commissioned by a producer, or written on spec by a writer and then purchased by a producer, there may be an effort to make a book deal before a financier-distributor gets involved.

   • 2008, Mickey Sherman, How Can You Defend Those People?, page 148:

     Dominick Dunne would arrive on the scene for an exclusive interview in Vanity Fair. Could a book deal be far behind?

2. An agreement between a publisher and one or more individuals to permit the publisher to publish a book, typically written by a different author, about events in the life of the individuals.
   • 1998, Ken Dornstein, Accidentally, on Purpose: The Making of a Personal Injury Underworld in America, page 361:

     He is guarded with the details of his upbringing because he thinks that he will be able to turn them into cash at some later date with a book deal.

   • 2003, Jessica Weiner, A very hungry girl: how I filled up on life--and how you can, too!, page 151:

     Some even had book deals and movie producers sniffing around to secure rights to their stories.

   • 2008, Barbara Walters, Audition: A Memoir, page 534:

     Strangely enough Monica had been having trouble reaching an agreement with an American publisher for a book deal. A lot of publishers felt her story had already been told in The Starr Report. But on November 16, 1998, it was announced that Monica Lewinsky would be telling her story to Andrew Morton, the British author who in 1992 had collaborated with Princess Diana on a best-selling book about her unhappy marriage.

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