The publishing world is abuzz over the news that a former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, may write a memoir justifying the military strategy for the war in Iraq. While a deal has not yet been struck, Mr. Rumsfeld has toured New York publishing houses with an outline of his book in an effort to gauge how much information he would have to disclose in the memoir in order to justify a large cash advance.

A principal for the publicity firm Shirley & Banister, Craig Shirley, said such a book would have a better-than-fair shot of becoming a bestseller if it was properly marketed, well-written, and contained interesting new content. In addition, the publisher of the conservative imprint Regnery, Marji Ross, estimated the former secretary would command at least a six-figure advance. Someone like Mr. Rumsfeld, who has a loyal following and yet sparks a lot of controversy, is good for book sales, she said.

Comments for this post are now closed