Greenspan Sells His Memoirs To Penguin for Over $8 Million
Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, sold his memoirs to Pearson PLC's Penguin Press imprint for more than $8 million, according to people familiar with the situation. The book is expected to be published in the fall of 2007.
"We think he is going to write a book that will live for a long time," said Susan Petersen Kennedy, president of Penguin Group (USA). "He lived through an amazing part of history, and he was never able to speak out. He had to be very careful because of his position."
Mr. Greenspan also will look to the future. "He's going to offer American readers a look at the economic situation, the political situation and the global economy," Ms. Kennedy said. "He has a complete world view."
Mr. Greenspan's pronouncements before Congress were closely watched and often eloquent, but they were also deliberately abstract, even opaque. Even so, Ann Godoff, publisher of Penguin Press, thinks the broad public will want to read the book.
"He wants to write a general-interest book that will last for many generations," said Ms. Godoff. "He is loaded with anecdotes and goes from one to the next."
The advance is one of the biggest in the history of U.S. publishing, but because it includes world-wide rights, it will be partly offset by sales to foreign publishers.
Mr. Greenspan's memoir will be edited by Scott Moyers, the editor in chief of Penguin Press. It isn't clear if Mr. Greenspan will work with an outside writer, though Ms. Godoff said Mr. Greenspan told her he intends to write the first and final drafts.
Robert Barnett, the Washington-based attorney who represented Mr. Greenspan, said more than a dozen publishers participated in the four-day auction.
Mr. Barnett also represented the Clintons in their recent book projects.
Former President Clinton's memoir, "My Life," received an advance estimated at $10 million or more from Bertelsmann AG's Alfred A. Knopf imprint, while CBS Corp.'s Simon & Schuster paid an $8 million advance for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's memoir, "Living History."
Press reports in 1994 stated that Pope John Paul II received an advance of $6 million to $7 million for "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," published that year by Knopf.
格林斯潘回忆录800多万美元卖给企鹅出版社
据知情人士透露，美国联邦储备委员会(Federal Reserve)前主席格林斯潘(Alan Greenspan)已将他的回忆录以800多万美元的价格卖给了培生公司(Pearson PLC)旗下的企鹅出版社(Penguin Press)。此书预计在2007年秋季出版。
企鹅集团美国分公司总裁苏珊?肯尼迪(Susan Petersen Kennedy)说：“我们认为他会写出一本不朽之作。他生活在一个起伏跌宕的时代，却一直无法倾吐心中所想，因为他所处的地位使他必须出言非常谨慎。”
据肯尼迪介绍，格林斯潘的书中还将谈到未来。 “他会让美国读者对经济、政治形势以及全球经济大观有一个概括的认识，”肯尼迪说。“他有著目及全球的视角。”
格林斯潘在国会的讲话向来受到密切关注，这些讲话往往表现出极强的雄辩力，但有时也特意被处理得隐讳甚至艰涩难懂。即便如此，为企鹅出版社买下格林斯潘回忆录版权的该社出版人、原兰登书屋（Random House）编辑高朵芙(Ann Godoff)还是认为公众会很愿意读这本书。
高朵芙说：“他想写一本能够传世的雅俗共赏的书。他满脑子的奇闻异事一个接一个地娓娓道来，都是不为人所知的事情。人们由此也将看到一个他们从不曾见过的格林斯潘。”
格林斯潘的代理人罗伯特?巴涅特(Robert Barnett)称，超过12家出版商参加了为期四天的版权竞拍；不少海外出版商也对这本书表现出了很大的兴趣。巴涅特是华盛顿的一名律师，曾做过克林顿夫妇出版回忆录的代理。
这笔交易的金额可跻身美国出版史上顶级版权交易之列。当年贝塔斯曼集团旗下的出版公司诺夫(Alfred A. Knopf imprint)购买美国前总统克林顿的回忆录《我的生活》(My Life)的版权时据称支付了1,000万美元以上，而哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS Corp.)旗下的出版公司赛门舒斯特(Simon & Schuster)同样出手不凡，以800万美元买下了前第一夫人希拉里(Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton)的自传《亲历历史》(Living History)。发表于1994年的一篇报导称，诺夫同年出版的教皇约翰?保罗二世(Pope John Paul II)的著作《跨越希望的门槛》(Crossing the Threshold of Hope)也曾卖出600万-700万美元的高价。
企鹅出版社的主编斯科特?梅耶(Scott Moyers)将亲任格林斯潘回忆录的编辑。企鹅出版社也已购下了该回忆录的全球发行权。这意味著出版社可以通过向海外出版商出售版权收回部分投资成本。据估计，超过24个国家的出版商已经对格林斯潘的回忆录表现出了兴趣。
