Publisher Sues Best-Selling Author

 Publisher Sues Best-Selling Author Over Failure To Deliver Biography Of Alex Rodriguez, Broken-Down Yankee

A New York City publisher has filed a lawsuit seeking repayment of a $550,000 book advance given to best-selling author Richard Ben Cramer, who contracted to write a behind-the-scenes account of Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.

In a New York State Supreme Court complaint, the Hachette Book Group alleges that Cramer, 62, failed to deliver the Yankees book by its February 2010 due date (which had been extended from an original March 2008 due date).

According to documents filed with the lawsuit, in September 2006, Cramer signed a $1.5 million, two-book deal with Warner Books, a Hachette subsidiary. Cramer’s first book, a contract notes, would take readers “inside the world of today’s New York Yankees and shows what makes them the best franchise in baseball history.” The contract included a $250,000 bonus provision if the hardcover edition of the Yankees book sold 200,000 copies within a year of its publication.
Full article at The Smoking Gun