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.

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

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

   1 more example

   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.

   2004, Jason E. Squire, The Movie Business Book, Third Edition, page 93

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.

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

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

   2 more examples

   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.

   1998, Ken Dornstein, Accidentally, on Purpose: The Making of a Personal Injury Underworld in America, page 361

   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.

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