AP source: Debut author gets 7-figure book deal

February 20, 2013 at 2:03p.m.

NEW YORK (AP) — A debut author who graduated from the celebrated Iowa Writers' Workshop has a seven-figure book deal.

HarperCollins announced today that it will publish Erika Johansen's "Queen of the Tearling," a fantasy trilogy inspired in part by Barack Obama.

A person with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal was worth seven figures. The person was not authorized to discuss financial details and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 35-year-old Johansen says she heard then-Sen. Obama give a speech in 2007 and was inspired to create the series' idealistic heroine, 19-year-old Kelsea Glynn. The publisher is billing the books as a female version of George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones."