New York Post Albany Bureau Chief Fred Dicker has inked a deal to write a biography on Gov. Andrew Cuomo for HarperCollins — and instantly stepped into a competition with Vanity Fair writer Michael Shnayerson who signed his own Cuomo book deal two months earlier.
Both are believed to have snagged low six-figure advances to write about the governor. Many political pundits are already pegging him as the rising star in the Democratic Party who could loom even larger on the national stage by the presidential election in 2016.
So far, however, Dicker, is the only one to have secured the cooperation of Cuomo.
“Mr. Dicker has been reporting on Albany politics and government for 30 years and is widely acknowledged to be an expert on the topics,” said Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto. “The Governor and his staff plan on cooperating with Mr. Dicker’s book.”
Asked about the rival book, Vlasto said, “We make a decision on a case by case basis and no decision has been made yet on that book.”
Shnayerson, who collaborated on the 2011 Harry Belafonte memoir, “My Song,” told The Post, he is writing the book, “The Son Also Rises,” for the Grand Central imprint of the Hachette Book Group. “It’s a great subject and it is only going to get better,” said Shnayerson.
“Fred is the dean of the Albany press corps but being in the middle of the fishbowl in Albany, he might not have the same objective approach as a newcomer to the story,” said Shnayerson.
“I’m not concerned,” said David Hirshey, executive editor of HarperCollins, who will be editing the tome, which will not be vetted by the governor.
Harper Collins is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Post. It expects it to be out by mid-2013.
Shnayerson said he expects his book will not hit “until sometime after 2013.