Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Since her release from an Italian prison, the only words that Amanda Knox has uttered in public were brief, tearful comments directed to the scrum of reporters who had gathered outside Seattle's Tacoma airport to witness her homecoming.
In a brief press conference, she thanked supporters, wondered out loud if her acquittal was all a dream, and offered no fresh disclosures about the events which had just seen her incarcerated for a little over 1,500 days.
Today, that discretion looks like a canny piece of news management. Four months after Ms Knox returned to the US, the story of the former exchange student's arrest, conviction, imprisonment and eventual release is reported to have attracted a seven-figure price tag.
A proposed memoir, based on a diary she kept before, during and after the death of her British flatmate, Meredith Kercher, is said to have sparked a bidding war between America's wealthiest publishers: Simon & Schuster, Random House, Penguin and Harper Collins.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Ms Knox and her agent, Robert Barnett – who has previously negotiated literary deals for Barack Obama and Bill Clinton – have been holding meetings with editors, publicists and senior executives from interested firms.
A guest at one of the discussions said: "Everyone fell in love with her." An employee of a publishing house bidding for the memoir commented: "The world has heard from everybody else, but the world has not actually heard from Amanda Knox."
The million-dollar value attached to Ms Knox's story is an understandable by-product of the enduring fascination she sparks on both sides of the Atlantic, despite having succeeded in staying out of the public eye since her release.
Supporters peg her as the innocent victim of a conspiracy fuelled by a hungry media, the Italian police force and a chaotic justice system. Opponents believe that she's a cunning femme fatale who got away with murder. Ms Knox, now 24, and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were acquitted after serving more than four years, due to concerns about the handling of DNA samples used to secure their conviction. Neither has yet answered wider questions about the case. Ms Knox's book will allow her to do that, and also help to pay off her family's considerable legal bills.
Celebrity memoirs: The big earners
Bill Clinton
The former US president received an advance of $15m for his memoirs.
Wayne Rooney
HarperCollins paid the footballer £5m for five books over 12 years.
Keith Richards
The guitarist earned £4.8m for his chronicle of his wild lifestyle.
Julian Assange
The WikiLeaks founder became the first person to disown their autobiography as "unauthorised", but still pocketed an advance of £1.2m.
Nick Clark
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments