Another entry in the media business model fray:Media Predict , a virtual market that lets users wager on the likely success of a book proposal, unsigned band or TV pilot. For instance, the site asks for manuscripts from agents and individuals, then posts pages of them on the site. As the NYT describes it, traders are given $5,000 in play money to bet on whether a particular book proposal is likely to get a deal. Currently, traders are helping determine the answer to “Will Dorothy Hamill’s ‘Skatey Katey’ get a book deal?” As of Tuesday morning, that title was trading at $44.20 while Greg Olear’s uS & TheM was in heavy trading at $82.94. High prices mean high chances of success. Low prices mean low chances. If an undiscovered book proposal trades at $38, that means users think it has a 38 percent chance of getting a book deal.

Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint is the first major publisher to sign on with Media Predict and has helped create Project Publish, which launched this week. By September, Media Predict users will elevate five proposals by trying to predict which one Touchstone editors will ultimately choose to publish. In turn, Touchstone will factor in those guesses in awarding one book in the project a contract. This is Simon & Schuster’s second online attempt to gauge the wisdom of crowds. In January, Touchstone ran a contest with social net Gather.com that allowed members choose “the next great writer.” Gather announced the finalists on Tuesday.

The site also lets traders bet on whether unsigned musicians that have gained popularity on MySpace will get a record deal. The television market is empty for now.