15-Minutes-of-Fame Paydays

By Rebecca Winters

When your life is briefly a front-page story, the window for profit can be narrow. These three newsmakers struck quickly:

MARK (DEEP THROAT) FELT

The Deal

The FBI leaker sold his Watergate tale for a book and a movie

Celebrity Godparent

History buff Tom Hanks, who will develop the film and may star

The Real Winners

Felt's heirs, who might want to invite Nixon's grandkids--or Bob Woodward--out to lunch

JENNIFER (RUNAWAY BRIDE) WILBANKS

The Deal

She bartered book and TV-movie rights to the story of faking her kidnapping days before her wedding

Celebrity Godparent

Go-getter Katie Couric, whose interview with Wilbanks airs this week

The Real Winner

The groom, who cashes in for sticking by his gal

ASHLEY (HOLY HOSTAGE) SMITH

The Deal

The single mom who persuaded a suspected killer to surrender just sold a memoir

Celebrity Godparent

Rick Warren, whose book she read to her captor

The Real Winners

The needy. Smith will give some of the book's proceeds to a fund for the shooting victims