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Kate McCann:
huge media
interest
in her story |
Kate
McCann could expect to receive a seven-figure sum for
her Madeleine diaries, were she to sell the rights to a
publishing house.
The diaries - which
Kate has been keeping ever since Madeleine went missing
- are in the hands of the Portuguese prosecutors and
could prove crucial evidence for any case brought
against the McCanns.
No publishing house
has yet come forward to offer a sum of money but, were
Kate McCann to express an interest in a deal, the move
would be highly lucrative.
"There is no doubt
Kate McCann's diaries would be of huge interest to any
publisher should she think about releasing them," says
Neil Denny, editor-in-chief of The Bookseller magazine,
"but I haven't heard of anything yet, not even from the
ambulance-chasing publishers".
The diaries are
currently in the possession of the Portuguese
prosecutors and there has been speculation that the
document could even provide forensic evidance.
Meanwhile supporters
of the McCanns see the seizure as part of an
intimidation of the missing girl's mother.
But any potential
value rests on the outcome of the police investigation.
"The diary would
chronicle the progress of the biggest human interest
story of the year, from an inside perspective," says
Denny.
"So, if written well,
and Kate McCann is an articulate woman, it could fetch a
significant sum, although I wouldn't want to put a
figure on it.
"I also would not be
surprised if one of the journalists who has been on the
Algarve covering the case dashed out a book on the
events so far. There are certainly going to be plenty of
books written about it in the future."
John Blake, of the
eponymous publishing house, who in the past has
published books on high-profile criminal cases such as
the Soham murders, is surprised when I ask whether he
has expressed an interest in the diary.
"It would be hideously
insensitive to make any advances at this stage. But, of
course, any publisher would want to get hold of the
diaries.
"Obviously, the ideal
would be if Madeleine were found and the story had a
happy ending, in which case it would make a
million-dollar book."
