A Secret Posthumous Dolly Parton Memoir Reportedly Has Sold for $13 Million

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Ian Mohr at Page Six Hollywood is reporting that a secret posthumous memoir by the late, great Dolly Parton has just sold for $13 million following a heated bidding war. The book was apparently snatched up by Grand Central Publishing, whose roster of best selling authors includes David Baldacci, Nicholas Sparks, Harlan Coben, Sally Field, Caroline Kennedy, Scott Turow.

Nothing is yet known about the book, what it may or may not contain, or when exactly Parton wrote it. Parton last published a memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, in 1994 and collaborated on a number of other books throughout her life including numerous tomes on her style and live performances as well as children’s books, a novel with James Patterson, and a cookbook with one of her sisters.

The deal was brokered by lit agency Folio, which also sold Parton’s 2023 book, Storyteller: My Life in Lyrics. 

If the $13 million price tag is accurate, that would make this one of the most lucrative celebrity book deals in history, coming in just behind Britney Spears’ $15 million deal with Simon & Schuster for her candid 2023 memoir The Woman in Me.

At the time of Parton’s death in August of this year, her estate was around $450 million. She had no children, but her large extended family — she was one of 12 children — were very involved in her life and business ventures and Parton herself is said to have put a lot of time and energy into planning exactly how her legacy and estate would be managed in the years after her death.

“Dolly worked up until the day she died,” said her longtime rep Danny Nozell. “She loved seeing her dreams come to life, and loved knowing her work brought people joy. Ever the planner, Dolly worked with the team that she handpicked, for the past several years to build a project roadmap that will guide us for decades to come.

“Many projects were in various stages of development, and we want to be transparent with her fans about this fact. If you see unreleased music, products, books, experiences, and campaigns launched through official Dolly Parton channels, you can have confidence in knowing that she placed her personal stamp on it.”

The question is: what exactly will be revealed in this posthumous memoir? Will it detail the medical struggles that plagued the end of her life? What about addressing the rumors have long persisted that Parton was a lesbian or bisexual. Could her final story be a coming out story? Probably not. It’s hard to believe her family and the money-making machine that is her legacy and which so many of them rely on for their own incomes would ever allow something like that to be published. It would be way too disruptive. But, man, it would be so cool! Either way, the new book is sure to be a massive hit and we’ll certainly be placing our pre-orders as soon as possible.