NEW YORK - How Sarah Palin plays her next hand, politically or otherwise, will determine how well books about her or written by her will do in the publications market, the Politico reports.

Earlier this year, Palin inked a deal with HarperCollins for her memoir, due out in spring 2010. Washington lawyer Robert B. Barnett helped her secure an advance that has been reported to be several million dollars. He says that the actual sales of her story, however, will depend entirely on how she plays her next hand.

“If she has an eye on 2012, she probably will write a carefully worded, bland policy book that won’t make headlines,” said Bernadette Malone, a former editor at Penguin Books.

“If she’s not running for president in 2012, she can write a much more candid book that’s likely to get attention from both the press and the public. She can explain the real reason she resigned the governorship, and she can talk about how badly she was treated by specific people in the media and the John McCain campaign.”

More than 20 titles are available on Amazon.com, though most are published by little-known companies and take a highly partisan tone. The unusual series of titles range from “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down” (Tyndale House Publishers) to “TheoPalinism: The Face of Failed Extremism” (Vervante) and “Terminatrix: The Sarah Palin Chronicles” (Collins). Palin has even gotten the comic book treatment; like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama, Palin is the star of an edition of the “Female Force” series.

At least five more books, including Palin’s own, are in the works. But her name splashed across a book no longer guarantees a hit.

“Her resignation will help books about her if they come out soon - and it will hurt her own book, unless she has something up her sleeve,” said Marion Maneker, a former vice president at HarperCollins.

“On the face of it, the resignation is bad for her own book because it takes her out of the political action.”

Palin’s resignation reinforces one of the key reasons that publishers were quick to arrange for books on the subject: Better to strike now, while the iron is hot, than wait to see if she runs for president in 2012.

Palin will likely remain a lightning rod for years to come, and therefore an attractive subject for publishers. (ANI)