Meanwhile, Matthew Flamm of Crain's reports that the deal is raising some eyebrows among fellow publishers:

Others wondered about the wisdom of betting large on an election season that is still a long way off, and which may not match 2008 for drama, intrigue and soap opera plot twists.

At more than $5 million, the deal is one of the biggest in recent memory, and harks back to a period before the recession ate into book sales and put pressure on houses to hold down costs. But the giant price tag is also representative of a trend among publishers toward making bigger bets on known commodities.