Paris Hilton's Million Dollar Book Deal

Book deals are pretty much a given where celebrities are concerned. Books by hot, sexy, high profile celebrities like Paris Hilton, who is in the news every day, are not only a given, they are embraced by the world and purchased in mass quantities. Booksellers have a hard time keeping books written by celebrities in stock, due to overwhelming demand. People line up around the block for what book publishers see as a goldmine; Books that need minimal advertising and literally promote themselves simply by virtue of being written by a famous celebrity like Paris Hilton. It would seem that the publisher has nothing to lose and everything to gain by pushing such a book, even if it's content is slightly lacking, which many celebrity penned books usually are.

Quantifying the appeal of people like Paris Hilton is a tricky task. Is it the hot, sexy videos and photos that keep her in the news? Her party girl image? Why can't the world keep their minds off the hot celebrity gossip magnet that is Paris Hilton? Like most media darlings, she is hot, young and sexy, as well as able to command the camera with her mere presence. Young boys can't wait to glimpse another photo or video featuring the debutante party girl, and young girls just want to be like her, buying the clothes, shoes and accessories that most closely resemble Paris Hilton's wardrobe.

In retrospect, this fascination and adoration isn't exactly a new phenomenon. Marilyn Monroe, Racquel Welch and Betty Page were all once lusted after by an adoring public. Photos and movies of sexy bombshells and celebrity divas have alway been hot news. Stars used to travel in secret to attain some level of privacy, in the days before the media we have now. Celebrities these days take to all manner of circuitous routes and subterfuge to go undetected in their travels. Rabid fans and paparazzi wait at every possible route of escape to pop questions and flashbulbs in the faces of any celebrity they might catch out and about, without a James Bond level disguise. Photos of actors and performers with their hands up top ward off the inevitable flood of paparazzi are plentiful, an obvious sign that the attention can sometimes be too much to bear, too much to live with day in and day out.

The major difference now is that the paparazzi is a much larger, well funded and well organized institution than it has ever been in the past. Starlets are routinely harassed at every opportunity, feeding a fixated world one more snapshot of a hot, sexy celebrity and providing insight into every moment of their celebrity lives. Photographers supply fans with one snapshot after another, enabling young girls to wallpaper their rooms with the likeness of their favorite celebrity, wrapping themselves in a cocoon of adoration, like a shrine to a religious figure. With all the attention, it isn't hard to understand the success of marketing a book by a powerful celebrity like Paris Hilton, it nearly sells itself, when you consider the afore mentioned shrine, most likely a near exact replica of a million young girls' bedrooms stretching across the planet.

The possibility that Paris Hilton might earn one million dollars to write a book about her experience in jail isn't surprising. Books by celebrities are gold to publishers; Even people who hate Paris Hilton will pick up her book, if only to fuel their contempt. It isn't hard to imagine the glee in a publisher's eyes when a celebrity book deal comes across his desk. It's almost a license to print money, providing there is sufficient buzz surrounding the celebrity at the right time, rather than letting attention fizzle out before hitting the presses. It is actually somewhat surprising that she would accept a million dollars. Seems kinda cheap for Paris Hilton, who has a whole lot of money already. Couldn't she just buy a publishing company?