What a Steal! Ted Kennedy Book to Sell for $1000

As we approach the 40th anniversary of her death, Mary Jo Kopechne remains unavailable for comment.

You would think the guy would keep a low profile this time of year.

At a time when publishers are scrambling to keep customers willing to pay $26 for a hardcover book instead of $9.99 for an electronic version, the publisher of Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s forthcoming memoir is going in the opposite direction - issuing a limited edition it plans to sell for $1,000 a copy.

Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, is planning to issue 1,000 copies of a leather-bound, electronically signed edition of “True Compass’’ and sell them through the website of Hachette Book Group, the parent company of Grand Central. Although publishers and licensed contractors do occasionally produce collectors’ editions on various titles, such a premium version is quite rare.

Kennedy, 77, reportedly received an $8 million advance for the memoir that he wrote in collaboration with Ron Powers, an author of “Flags of Our Fathers,’’ about the Marines who raised the US flag at Iwo Jima during World War II, and other biographies. Kennedy’s book was originally scheduled for a 2010 publication date. Twelve is now planning to release the regular hardcover edition on Oct. 6, with a retail list price of $35. It is planning an initial print run of 1.5 million copies.