Things are going great for Megyn Kelly lately. A certain presidential candidate by the name of Donald Trump has allowed her to earn journalistic cred even from people who normally wouldn't be caught dead watching Fox News, and her recent profile in Vanity Fair raised her profile even higher. Now, she's signed a lucrative book deal with HarperCollins following a bidding war involving multiple publishers, who were all vying for her first book.
Reports vary on exactly how much Kelly is getting paid for her first book, with some outlets reporting it as being between $3 million and $4 million, another reporting $5 million, and still another reporting a $10 million deal for Kelly. Of course, even if the lowest figure is the most accurate, it would still be enough to land Kelly in the number 15 spot on this list of the biggest book advances, while a $10 million advance would be enough to put her in the top 3, behind only Bill and Hillary Clinton. Advances in the six or seven figure range are increasingly rare in the publishing industry, especially for unproven debut authors, and the healthy advance HarperCollins is paying for Kelly's book demonstrates the faith they have in her popularity's enduring at least until the fall when the book is set to be published (not coincidentally at the height of election season this year).
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As for the memoir itself, it's not known how much it will actually focus on the 2016 election's cast of characters, although it's safe to say that Trump will at least rate a chapter or two, regardless of his place in the actual election by the time the book comes out in the fall. The deal with HarperCollins is something of a family affair for Kelly, since her current gig at Fox News is overseen by News Corp, which also owns HarperCollins. A title should be announced soon, but for now HarperCollins' senior vice president and director of creative development Lisa Sharkey seems optimistic about the book's prospects in a public statement:
"Megyn Kelly is among the most interesting and influential women in America today and we are thrilled to be publishing her first book. This book is coming out at the perfect time and is bound to be one of the most read and talked about books of the fall."
