Yeah. I kid you not. Some publishing numbskulls decided to offer the giant book deal, not to the actual reptile, of course, but whoever the quasi-clever prankster was who set up the meteorically-popular Twitter account, @BronxZoosCobra, wherein the cobra allegedly cracked wise about its alleged adventures in New York City. (In reality, the two-footer never left the reptile house.)
But what's really shocking is that, according to forensic publishing accountant, Flora Lipso Day, the acquiring Snakespell Books, is actually a new Imprint from of a famously-financially-strapped publisher that collectively owes its authors and vendors millions.
When asked for comment, beleaguered editorial holdout A. Kirsch Leers states: "We at Snakespell are absolutely not paying this advance out of the earnings owed our authors and vendors. We are making a prudent investment that we believe will allow us to recoup sufficient funds to repay all our creditors. Someday. Hopefully."
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, By Kamalnv (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons