John McCain’s 24-year-old daughter Meghan has a book deal! Sources say Hyperion has prevailed over at least three other publishers in an auction that began earlier this week, following a round of meetings during which the in-your-face young conservative and the literary agent she shares with her father, Sterling Lord Literistic president Flip Brophy, discussed a number of possible approaches to the book with editors around town.
Several sources said the advance Ms. McCain will receive from Hyperion, which is owned by the Disney Company, is in the high six figures.
While we haven’t quite nailed down what Ms. McCain’s book will be about—no one at Hyperion nor Ms. Brophy returned calls this afternoon—if her recent columns for Tina Brown and Barry Diller’s Web site The Daily Beast are any indication, it will probably have something to do with the future of the Republican party, and how it must change to attract the votes of modern young people.
Ms. McCain has flexed her essayist muscles on The Beast in pieces like Why Republicans Don’t Get the Internet and Looking for Mr. Far Right. Mostly, she’s used the site to wage a few battles, as in My Beef With Ann Coulter and her response to Laura Ingraham’s jibe about her being a “plus-sized model,” headlined, Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham. She’s also used it to prop up some friends, like Louisiana’s first lady Supriya Jindal and G.O.P. “hottie” Aaron Schock.
This will be Ms. McCain’s second book. Her first, a biographical picture book about her father titled My Dad, John McCain, was published last September through the Aladdin imprint of Simon & Schuster.
UPDATE (1:32 PM): Hyperion has just issued a press release that provides a few details on what Ms. McCain will be covering in her book. According to the release, she will “explore what it means to be a progressive Republican in the party today,” and “delve into what it means to love the Republican Party, while not always fitting in.” She will also “touch on topics ranging from what the party needs to do to attract others like her, to the importance of technology in reaching out to younger voters, to what needs to be done to keep young people passionate and involved in politics in the future.”
The book will be published in the spring of 2010.
