Grand Central Aces Serena Memoir

by Matthew Thornton -- Publishers Weekly, 9/16/2008 7:52:00 AM

Grand Central has won the auction for Serena Williams’s untitled memoir, and will publish the book next fall; senior editor Karen Kosztolnyik acquired North American rights to the book from Suzanne Gluck at William Morris after bidding involving at least two other publishers was said to be approaching $1 million. In the book, Williams, who just won her third U.S. Open, will discuss race and her faith; according to two publishers who passed on the 30-page proposal given the expected steep price tag, sample chapters included one on a searing experience she had at a tournament a few years ago, and another on her trip to Africa. Veteran collaborator Dan Paisner, who’s worked on books with Montel Williams, Ed Koch, George Pataki and Whoopi Goldberg, among others, is co-writing.

Serena’s sister Venus sold a book to Dawn Davis at HarperCollins's Amistad imprint in July just after beating Serena to win her fifth Wimbledon title; The Coach Matters: Life Lessons Beyond the Playing Field is slated to be published at least six months after Serena's book, in summer 2010.