Howard ready to spill the beans
Report from The Age.

After running a country, John Howard finds a book auction easy.

No surprise that John Howard has signed up to write his memoir. It will be published by HarperCollins in 2010. Apparently there was one other multinational publisher competing hard with HarperCollins for the former PM's signature but he put his name to the contract last Friday.
And he conducted the auction himself. Said publishing director Shona Martyn: "It was very impressive. But when you've run a country, running a book auction is straightforward. He got a good deal and a fair deal."

Martyn intends to publish the book in November 2010, with Howard due to deliver his manuscript this time next year. He's on track though — according to Martyn, he's written 40,000 words already and there's no ghost in sight. Martyn says it will be a $60 hardback, it will be long and she will print "as many as possible".
And perhaps no surprise that Howard didn't plump for Melbourne University Press. Remember? It published Peter Costello's memoir late last year. And chief executive Louise Adler is married to Max Gillies, who has spent much of the past 10 years lambasting Howard in his stage shows.