Hillary Promises to Tell All! Publishers Quake!

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HILLARY CLINTON, first lady. Hillary Clinton, Senator. Hillary Clinton, publishing magnate. The junior Senator from New York, who already has one current best seller (An Invitation to the White House), was the center of a bidding war last week over her memoirs, as publishers courted her with huge sums. In the end, she said yes to Simon & Schuster, reportedly for an $8 million advance. The publishing house will have to sell 1.5 million hard-cover copies to recoup that kind of money. Clinton has promised that she will spill the beans, in a "dignified" way, about the Clintons' eight years in office--including MONICA LEWINSKY. Indeed, talking about the former intern was key to the frenzy. A publishing executive who dropped out of the bidding says, "If she tells the story from the heart, it will be a blockbuster. But if the book gets censored by her political operatives, then it could be a much less interesting book. That's the risk."

--By Andrea Sachs