The Press: Reporter Makes Money

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Allen Drury is a thin-haired reporter who spent 16 competent years on the Capitol Hill beat for United Press, the Washington Evening Star and the New York Times before he unburdened himself of a book. Otto Preminger is a bagel-bald producer-director who has a reputation for outbidding everyone for film rights to bestsellers. Last week Preminger and Drury got together on a deal likely to make cash registers jingle for a long while. Happily counting the returns from his Anatomy of a Murder and preparing to start shooting on Exodus, Preminger bought the rights to Drury's Advise and Consent, which has led the bestseller list for nine weeks.

Hearing the news, the Times's Movie-Page Reporter Richard Nason phoned Drury in Washington. Asked Nason: "How much did he pay you?" Drury brushed off his fellow Timesman: "You'll have to ask my agent." Later his agent said Drury's take ran well into six figures.

Reporter Drury could afford to play coy with the Times. His first novel, a long (616 pages) and intimate look at the life of Senators and Presidents, is in its eighth printing. So far it has sold 285,000 hardback copies ($5.75 each), plus 2,800,000 in a Reader's Digest condensation. On Broadway, Producers Robert Fryer and Lawrence Carr plan to stage Advise and Consent next autumn. Counting the Preminger deal, Drury could gross more than $500,000 from his book. At week's end New Novelist Drury announced he would resign from the Times, to write more books and become the Reader's Digest Washington Correspondent.