Right-wing foreign policy expert/financier Dan Senor and his brother-in-law, the neoconservative Jerusalem Post editorial page editor Saul Singer, are writing a book together about Israel's performance in the global economy. The book will be published by Twelve, the upstart imprint of Hachette Book Group led by publisher Jonathan Karp that makes a point of publishing only 12 books per year.

Mr. Senor, a regular commentator on Fox News who is married to CNN anchor Campbell Brown, recently served as a campaign adviser to Mitt Romney. Before that, he worked for the Bush administration as an adviser to Paul Bremer, who was at one point charged with overseeing the reconstruction of post-invasion Iraq. Mr. Senor's sister (his co-writer's wife) heads the Jerusalem office of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.

The book by Mr. Senor and Mr. Singer, titled Start Up Nation, will "explore Israel's success in the global economy," according to a description provided by Twelve's publicity director Cary Goldstein. Twelve acquired the book in a preempt from U.K.-based literary agent Ed Victor.

Former editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest Jackie Leo and Williams College math professor Edward Burger are teaming up to write a book about the history of the number ‘7’ for Twelve Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA started in 2005 that defines itself by its small list of titles and selectivity.  read more »

Back when the writers' strike was keeping him out of work, actor Rob Lowe decided it'd be fun to write a book about his life. And so he wrote up a proposal, and with the help of Richard Abate of the Endeavor Talent Agency, submitted it in early February to publishers all over town. Mr. Lowe was a big hit, according to Mr. Abate, impressing editors with his insistence on writing the book himself instead of hiring a ghostwriter like most celebrities do for their memoirs.

After an intense auction, the book had a buyer in Jonathan Karp, publisher of the upstart Hachette Book Group imprint Twelve. Mr. Karp, who publishes just one book every month, beat out formidable bids from several other major houses, agreeing to pay Mr. Lowe what several knowledgeable sources said was about a million dollars.

The deal was just about ready to go—Mr. Abate had informed Mr. Karp that he had prevailed in the auction and contract negotiations were under way—when, on Wednesday the 13th, the writers' strike up and ended, and Mr. Lowe suddenly became an actor again.  read more »