Ugh, okay, okay: $1.25 million dollars. Palin earned $1.25 million dollars of actual American currency from HarperCollins in exchange for giving her approval to some ghostwriter and an (ill-chosen!) dust jacket photo. And that’s just the advance! She will make more as soon as the thing comes out and people buy it. Everyone: Please keep in mind—especially as the holidays approach—that money does not know when it is being used ironically and will still “count.” [The Caucus]

As Sarah Palin proved to a disgusted nation, you don’t need to know how to write or even read to get a book deal in End Times America. All you need to be is a disgraced former beauty contestant who hates the same fruits and coloreds as Red State America, where illiteracy is no barrier to buying, say, a Glenn Beck book at the Wal-Mart. What do you call a dumb bigot with big hair, high heels and a few pounds of makeup? How about America’s Next Top Author? MORE »

HOBO KEN LAYNE TO WANDER BEACHES AND WRITE BOOK ABOUT CALIFORNIA: If the publishing industry isn’t officially dead yet, this is sure to kill it! At some point in 2010, HarperStudio will publish “a history of California’s culture, environment and politics framed by [Layne's] bravely idiotic solo hike up the entire 1,000-mile coastline of America’s weirdest, most populous state.” It will sell like hotcakes, as long as he publishes under the moniker “Meg McCabe.” [New York Observer, HarperStudio]