Julian Assange: The Memoirs

Canongate has refused to confirm this story, but several outlets have picked up on it since yesterday afternoon: Everyone's favorite WikiLeaker -- and alleged rapist -- Julian Assange, has sold his memoirs. It's expected that they will be published sometime in 2011, with a first draft from Assange due to his editor by March.

Canongate publisher Jamie Byng confirmed the news to DailyFinance by email, adding that the U.K. publisher was handling all translation rights. (A spokesperson for Knopf was on vacation and didn't return request for comment.) Caroline Michel of the U.K.-based literary agency Fraser, Peters & Dunlop brokered the English-language book deals, and both publishers expect Assange to deliver a finished manuscript by March, with plans to publish later in 2011.

Interest in Assange is at fever pitch since WikiLeaks began disseminating more than 250,000 diplomatic cables in late November. Companies such as Visa (V), Amazon (AMZN) and PayPal have cut off the organization's ability to collect donations and existing funds, and Time magazine passed over Assange for Person of the Year, giving Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg the honor. As a result, a memoir from Assange is a logical step, since the book will have great interest for his many admirers -- and just as many detractors.

Read the full story at the AOL's DailyFinance.