Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish a memoir by former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning that describes why she decided to send classified military documents to WikiLeaks. Slated for publication in winter 2020, the yet-to-be-titled book was acquired by v-p and executive editor Colin Dickerman. Luke Janklow and P.J. Mark of Janklow & Nesbit represented the author in the negotiations.
In addition to describing her efforts to increase institutional transparency and government accountability, the former Army intelligence analyst details her fight for rights as a trans woman, according to a press release. The book will also explore Manning's childhood and the decision to join the military.
Manning, who smuggled more than 720,000 classified military documents out via the memory card of her digital camera before sending them to WikiLeaks, was sentenced by the U.S. Army to 35 years in military prison in 2011. The day after her conviction, she announced her female gender and began to transition. She was released from prison in 2017 after President Obama commuted her sentence.
Last month, Manning refused to testify about WikiLeaks before a grand jury over ethical objections and was arrested for contempt. She now faces another subpoena to appear before grand jury.
FSG’s Dickerman said the publisher is proud of its acquisition of Manning’s memoir, which he said will “capture the complexity of her journey.” The following foreign rights have also been sold:
- British/Bodley Head (Random House)
- Canada/McClelland & Stewart (Random House)
- German/HarperCollins Germany
- Dutch/HarperCollins Netherlands
- French/Librairie Artheme Fayard
- Italian/ Rizzoli
- Spanish/Ediciones B
- Danish/Informations Forlag
