The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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S&S serves up Serena autobiography

07.10.08 Graeme Neill

World tennis number two Serena Williams will have her autobiography published in the UK next autumn after it was acquired in a pre-emptive deal by Simon & Schuster.

Queen of the Court was bought by Mike Jones, editorial director for non-fiction, from Eugenie Furniss at William Morris for a “good six figure sum”. Jones bought UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada. The book will be published in the United States next year by Grand Central and will be co-written by Daniel Paisner, who co-wrote 9/11 memoir Last Man Down.

Jones said the book will be one of the publisher’s key titles for Christmas 2009. It will chart Serena’s rise as a child tennis prodigy to her becoming one of the most successful players of recent years. “It’s a fantastic story about her background and how both her sister and her were pushed into becoming winners by their father,” said Jones. Winner of eight Grand Slam titles, Williams has won more than $21m in tour earnings during her career. Her elder sister Venus is currently ranked eighth in the world.

“She has huge appeal because of what she has achieved during her career,” said Jones. “This book goes beyond tennis fans. She’s a top top athlete with a really great personality and interesting story behind her.

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