Comedian Amy Schumer has reportedly been paid an advance of $8m-$10m (£5m-£7m) for a book of essays.
According to Entertainment Weekly, an auction for the Trainwreck writer and star’s essay collection came to a close on Friday, although their source did not name the publisher.
Trade magazine Publishers Weekly had reported two weeks ago that the book was expected to explore “Schumer’s childhood, how she got her big break in comedy, her family and feminism”, with those interested in reading the material asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.
Three years ago, Girls creator Lena Dunham signed a book deal for more than $3.5m for her memoir/collection of advice, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”. In 2008, Tina Fey was reportedly paid more than $5m for Bossypants.
“In this new age, visibility is really key to selling books, and particularly to selling them in the huge numbers which obviously publishers will want to do, when they pay amounts like this,” said Philip Jones, editor of the Bookseller. “So the bigger the name, the bigger the media exposure. And in a way, the market is moving increasingly in that direction, because as the slots to promote books dwindle, only the real stars can get them. It’s entirely consistent with the way the market is evolving that publishers would pay so much for these books.”
Jones added that although “in some cases the amounts can look excessive, and in terms of quality, the books don’t always stack up, I can’t remember the last time a publisher went bust because they paid out a large advance. So although the individual amounts might look extreme, publishers still seem to know what they’re doing.”
Earlier this week, Schumer’s sketch show Inside Amy Schumer took the best variety sketch series at the Emmy awards in Los Angeles. She is currently writing a comedy with Jennifer Lawrence, in which the pair will play sisters.
