Ollie North Signs Eight-Book Deal

by Rachel Deahl, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 5/15/2007

With 2007 marking the 20th anniversary of the Iran-Contra hearings, one of those proceedings best-known figures, Oliver North, has signed a multibook deal with the Christian house B&H Publishing Group. The contract calls for North to do four fiction titles plus four nonfiction titles based on his Fox News Channel show, War Stories. North will co-write the novels with Austin Boyd, a former navy pilot and published author.

B&H previously published North's fiction—his military-inspired titles include Mission Compromised, Jericho Sanction and The Assassins—and, according to the publisher, his books have sold nearly 500,000 copies.

Moving forward, the house plans to aggressively market the former lieutenant colonel, releasing a new fiction and nonfiction title from him annually over the next four years, starting in 2008. B&H publisher David R. Shepherd said that the house will "double team the North publishing plan," with groups from both the fiction and nonfiction sides working with him. North's first book, from the planned War Stories tie-in series, is scheduled for April 2008.