HarperOne, the “mind-body-spirit” division of HarperCollins, announced late yesterday that it had become the exclusive publisher of Sylvia Browne, best known for appearing on television programs like The Montel Williams Show to demonstrate her “psychic powers” (including at least one stunning failure, when she informed the parents of an abducted boy he was dead, and he turned up four years later). Prior to this deal, Browne’s books had most recently been split between Hay House and Dutton; the exclusivity begins with the May 2010 publication of a memoir, Psychic—and also includes a promise to launch “The Sylvia Browne Collection,” a series of books by other authors about the supernatural and spirituality which Browne will promote through her website as well as personal appearances.
We would love to report that some publisher had given James Randi an exclusive three-book deal and created “The James Randi Collection” to promote books about the application of rigorous scientific research to claims of psychic and supernatural phenomena, but perhaps another day.