Dear Amy:

I'm a major New York City literary agent who is conducting, publishing types are saying, a fast-moving auction. Based on a proposal for two books — a darkly funny memoir of childhood trauma and a novel — the auction caught the publishing world by surprise, and everyone's whispering it has quickly escalated to the $4 million mark for two books. I'm bringing the author, Amy Dickinson, Ann Landers's successor as the Chicago Tribune's advice columnist, on a tour of Manhattan publishing houses on Monday, people say. How do you suggest I choose between the books' suitors, which some say include "nearly all the usual suspects," such as Crown, Spiegel & Grau, and Hyperion's new Voice imprint?

—Auctioning Agent in New York

Dear Auctioning:

Cheers to us!

—Amy

Update: Sold!