ABC's diary does double duty. (Programming).(Diary of Ellen Rimbauer)(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, April, 2003 by Albiniak, Paige

ABC's May 12 made-for-TV movie, The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer (right), took a circuitous route to the network. Last January, ABC aired miniseries Rose Red, penned by author Stephen King specifically for the network. The mini was so popular, scoring 18.5 million viewers and a 8.5 rating/20 share among adults 18-49, that the network decided to publish a book based on a part of the story.

So Hyperion, a publishing house owned by ABC parent Disney, published The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer. As a "diary," the book listed no author, but the network hired Stephen King crony Ridley Pearson to ghost-write it. Since Rose Red had been written by Stephen King, fans assumed that he wrote the diary, which helped it hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Noting that...

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