'Power of money' Kardashians to kill new book based on sex tape scandal

The Kardashians appear to be aggressively trying to block the publication of a scorching roman à clef novel about the family.

As Page Six first reported, former family confidant Kevin Dickson has written a book called “Post Famous” whose central character, Zia Zandrian, bears a striking resemblance to Kim Kardashian.

Among other uncannily familiar plot points, Zandrian sells her sex tape for $5 million at the urging of her mother.

Dickson — who’s written two successful books about the seamy side of celebrity, “Blind Item” and “Guilty Pleasure” — is a former tabloid editor who acted as a go-between between the family and In Touch magazine from the very beginning of Kardashian’s career until their relationship blew up during Kardashian’s divorce from NBA star Kris Humphries. Now an insider tells us that at least one publisher has been scared off by strong-arm tactics.

“It seemed a dead certainty that the deal would happen [with that publisher],” said an insider, “Another author [who writes for] the same publisher even reached out to Kev to say that they were excited because they’d heard that they were [now both] going be published by the same company.”

But we’re told that Dickson’s agent got a sudden and unexpected “polite pass.” Insiders at the publishing house said that they’d been told that if they published the book, they’d face a legal backlash. “It wouldn’t be worth the hassle,” said the source. But we’re told that Dickson’s currently in negotiations with two other houses, and a studio is interested in a TV adaptation.

Kardashian’s infamous sex tape with Ray J was released in 2007 by Vivid Entertainment, and its founder Steven Hirsch has denied persistent rumors that Kris Jenner was involved in its sale as “nonsense.” However, he has confirmed Vivid paid Kardashian to release the footage, and would not dispute rumors her fee was as much as $5 million. A lawyer for the star has said that figure was “greatly inflated.” Jenner has also denied leaking Kardashian’s sex tape.

Reps didn’t get back to us.