$4.94-Million for ‘GWTW’ Sequel

NEW YORK — Warner Books has won the bidding war for hardcover and paperback rights to the yet-untitled sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s classic, “Gone With the Wind,” to be written within 18 months by Southern novelist Alexandra Ripley.

Warner spokeswoman Ellen Herrick said Monday that the company bid $4.94 million, beating out Dell Publishing’s offer of $4.8 million.

Mitchell’s heirs revealed in the May edition of Life magazine that they had authorized Ripley to write a sequel to the Civil War love story. Mitchell’s novel has sold more than 25 million copies since it was published in 1936.