The Boss is going to find out if he was Born to Write.
Bruce Springsteen is said to be quietly working on his autobiography. Publishing insiders are already panting for the book — even though there is no manuscript yet.
“It could be the biggest rock music autobiography of all time,” said one insider at a major publisher, who did not want to be named. “He could get $9 million to $10 million for the world rights.”
Springsteen has already been the subject of a few bios written by his unofficial historian, David Marsh, who is married to Springsteen’s co-manager Barbara Carr. It could not be learned if Marsh will be involved in this book.
“Springsteen is a better writer than Marsh,” said our source.
Springsteen is, however, said to be interested in hiring a researcher to assist him.
If there is a bidding war for the book, insiders expect it to eclipse the $8 million advance scored by Rolling Stone Keith Richards from Little Brown or the $4 million advance that Broadway Books paid Eric Clapton.
The Boss, who recently turned 60, has kept voluminous journals throughout his career. They will serve as the basis for the book.
Another music world icon, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner, has run into a snag with Lewis MacAdams, the Los An-geles-based writer who signed a deal with Sonny Mehta‘s Knopf imprint of Random House to write a biography more than five years ago.
While the book has not been cancelled, the buzz is that law yers are battling over it.
“MacAdams was trying to protect his independence and delve into the psy chological basis of the man,” said one source. “Jann didn’t want that. He hates that stuff. He wanted a book about how great he was.”
Deborah Drooz, an attorney for MacAdams, said “There has been a delay. I don’t believe there has been a rift or any parting of the ways.”
The bio, while written with Wenner’s cooperation, was supposed to be fair and independent.
One major stumbling block is that Wenner won’t deliver key people to talk to MacAdams, including his wife, Jane Schindelheim.
Wenner left his wife in the mid-’90s for former Calvin Klein model Matt Nye. Jann and Schindelheim never formally divorced and remain partners in the business.
A spokesman for Knopf said the book is still under contract but there is no publication date. A Wenner spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.
Axe Time
Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore and Editor-in-Chief John Huey formally took the ax from its sheath and let unionized members know layoffs will begin at the company today.
A Time Inc. spokesperson confirmed, “We alerted the Newspaper Guild there will be layoffs.”
The Newspaper Guild contract covers editorial workers on the bigger magazines, including People, Sports Illustrated, Time, Fortune and Money. They will have two weeks to volunteer for a package that will include two weeks’ pay for each year of employment.
Workers at most of the other magazines, including In Style, Real Simple, Southern Living and Sunset, can be axed without notice.
Sources say that when it is all done, an estimated 540 people — or about 6 percent of the worldwide workforce — will be gone.
One lucky exec was handed a promotion. John Cantarella, who was running Time.com, has been named to Senior Vice President, Digital, Time Inc. Business, News, and Sports Group.
He essentially gets the responsibilities — but not the lofty title — of former Time Digital President Vivek Shah, a rising star who said on Monday he was quitting the company after 15 years to pursue other ventures.
Cantarella will over see CNNMoney.com, TIME.com, SI.com, GOLF.com and LIFE.com. The general managers of all the sites will report to him.