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No, but I think this is something that some authors don't take into consideration. This is a gamble the publisher is taking, and I think that some authors...

I'm not kicking about this. This is one of the hazards of publishing.

Exactly. But I think that it would be interesting--or at least from my point of view, maybe other people wouldn't think so--to see exactly how much it is.

With a firm like Doubleday that publishes so many big books, heaven knows how much money they've lost. I know a couple of people that they've given huge advances to and have never heard from them again. Actors and such who plan to write their autobiographies--but never do. That isn't as prevalent as it used to be, but there was a time when everybody was trying to sign up every movie star for books.

We've had these fits. One was with Judy Garland. When she was sick--she had hepatitis I think--she was up at the Doctors Hospital. I've always loved Judy Garland. She is an irresistable little woman--but one of the most tragic in the world. I'm sure that one day she's going to do herself in. At any rate, she called and she was miserable. She was married to Sid Luft. I went up to the Doctors Hospital, and she was ready to write her autobiography. She had just the man to write it for her, she said. His name