MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
March 16-31, 2004 Edition
Who Represents
Singer Keys’ Memoir?
That’s the Question
NEW YORK, NY/03/09/04—Literary agents Noah Lukeman and David Vigliano are conflicting over who has representation rights to singer Alicia Keys’ book, which includes her personal diary entries, kept since she was 14 years old. The fray, if ending in litigation, could delay publication of the work.
Noah Lukeman originally took the book to a series of meetings with New York publishers earlier this year and then conducted an auction. Bantam reportedly won the bid with an offer of $1.15 million. Now, however, David Vigliano, says he represents the singer’s work, and is representing it as if it has never been sold.
Lukeman says he was fully authorized by Alicia’s management company to represent the book, and subsequently brought them the sizable offer. According to Lukeman the company suddenly decided not to honor the commitment, and has hired the second agent, possibly in order to sell the book for even more money.
Both agents reportedly submitted the project without a written book proposal, on the basis of Keys’ celebrity. Some publishers say that realistically Keys can’t expect to get much more than Bantam has offered, especially since there is no material.
