Rubin's Final Answer: I'll Take Random House By Sara Nelson
Random House has won the Robert E. Rubin sweepstakes, earning the Bertelsmann-owned house the right to publish the former Treasury Secretary's memoir-cum-advice book for more than $3 million.
Ann Godoff, publisher and editor in chief, will edit the very expensive book, to be co-written by Slate chief political correspondent Jacob Weisberg. Godoff did not return calls, but a source close to the negotiations says that the final price is around $3.3 million for all rights. The runner-up was HarperCollins.
The book has been the subject of much speculation all week, ever since its agent, Morton Janklow, turned down a bid of more than $1 million from Simon & Schuster. Many major publishers joined the auction, but only Random House and HarperCollins remained after the bidding passed the $2 million mark.
But the deciding factor was not money, as both houses agreed to the price tag. Rather, Rubin and Weisberg met with the two publishers to decide whose strategy and personalities they preferred.
The Rubin deal is the most recent example of huge advances for nonfiction books that some publishers privately believe will never earn out. Presidential memoirs, for example, routinely reach bestseller lists, but not all make a profit for their publishers because their advances are so high. In this case, there's a question whether Rubin and Weisberg -- as admired and respected as they are -- will produce a book of interest to more than the policy wonk crowd. Random House will not likely publish before late 2001, well after the Clinton administration, whose financial policy Rubin guided, has been replaced.