Even if nothing else comes of Kenneth Starr's meticulous investigations, he has at least spawned a mini publishing empire.

After digesting the deluge of press analysis and Internet coverage, the public is now buying the book.

A handful of American publishers have leapt on the Clinton-Lewinsky bandwagon and rushed thousands of bound copies of the Starr report into bookshops across the world.

But while Ken Starr can, with some licence, claim to be a best-selling author, Monica Lewinsky is struggling to sign a deal for her personal account of the affair.

Monica Lewinsky has yet to sign a book deal

At least five publishers are reported to have been approached by Ms Lewinsky's representative Judy Smith with the promise of an expose of her time at the White House.

But none are thought to have stumped up the advance sought by Ms Lewinsky, which has been put between $6m and $10m.

The fact that the most intimate and salacious details have already been published, in Kenneth Starr's report, is probably putting publishers off, says Liz Thomson, Associate Editor of London-based Publishing News.

Publishers may also be reflecting the widespread backlash against Ms Lewinsky, who is seen by many as "predatory" and someone who entrapped the American president.

Racing up the charts: Ken Starr

However, cynics say the cold shoulder is nothing more than a wily attempt to drive down Ms Lewinsky's "asking price".

By contrast, copies of the Starr Report have been flying off bookshop shelves in the United States, even though it is freely available on the Internet.

A spokesman for Public Affairs, part of Perseus Publishing, said it's version, which includes analysis by Washington Post reporters, has already gone into reprint after the first 275,000 copies sold out within days.

Thousands of copies

Pocket Books, a subsidiary of Simon & Schuster, printed 500,000 copies of the 445-page report, which comes complete with White House rebuttal. Prima Publishing's presses have also been working overtime as they turned out 155,000 copies.

"It's easy to forget that a lot of people are not on the Internet so the book is the only opportunity they have to read the unedited report," said Ms Thomson.

The picture in Britain is more confused. Orion reported "very good sales" of its paperback £4.99 edition since it hit the shops on Wednesday.

But a spokesman for Border's bookshop in Oxford Street in London could not muster such enthusiasm. Kate Steele of Waterstones bookshop in Charing Cross Road - the heart of London's book land - said not one copy had been sold in almost two days of trading.