Forget that image of the poor writer slaving away in musty old office in patched Dockers. Even if Hollywood doesn’t come calling, a number of authors recently have made extremely lucrative deals with their publishers:
>> U.K. science fiction author Alastair Reynolds is producing 10 books for Orion imprint Gollancz – for about $1.5 million.
>> “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny,” a four-page proposal by Indian author Kiran Desai has brought $2.5 million from Alfred Knopf.
>> Audrey Niffenegger, author of “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” reportedly got close to $5 million from Scribner for “Her Fearful Symmetry.”
>> Bestselling romance novelist Debbie Macomber is getting seven figures each for six new books for Ballantine Bantam Dell.
>> “Beatrice and Virgil” by Canadian “Life of Pi” author Yann Martel fetched advances totaling $3 million from Random House Canada.
