Before the FDA had even approved controversial Botox injections for cosmetic purposes, Elizabeth Beier, executive editor at St. Martin's Press, had signed a book all about it. It's The Botox Book and its author, Dr. Michael Kane, pioneered the use of Botox to change the look of the face more than a decade ago; he has been frequently published in medical literature and trains other doctors in how best to use Botox. He will answer lots of typical questions about Botox use, including whether it is painful, how much it costs and whether its use can replace face-lifts or brow-lifts. It was a six-figure world rights deal, signed with agent Meredith Bernstein, and SMP is rushing the book out for a late summer pub date.

Another recent signing at SMP, and an unusual one for the house, was something called The Sweater Book by photographer Stephen Mosher. He spent six years shooting a range of celebrities, as well as up-and-coming stars, all wearing the same cardigan sweater. The resulting 600 700 photographs from which the ones in the book will be selected show how various personalities can be expressed while wearing the same garment. Tom Dunne signed it for his imprint, for publication for Christmas 2003, from agent Mitchell Waters at Curtis Brown, and a substantial part of its royalties will be donated to AIDS charities. Among those included are Julie Harris, Dame Maggie Smith, Jason Alexander, Kathleen Turner, Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg and Dominick Dunne.