Theo Wargo/WireImage for Candie'sYou better believe Bristol Palin works hard for the money.
At least that's what a source close to Bristol says in insisting that the $262,500 she has made as a teen-pregnancy education ambassador for the Candies Foundation is "not out of the ordinary for a celebrity."
"But because it's Bristol it makes news," the source exclusively tells E! News, adding that the 20-year-old single mom is being paid for much more than just her name.
"The money she received was from multiple projects she did with them," the insider explains. "She shot PSAs, print and Internet ads and did town hall meetings, as well, and the money she made was an accumulation of all of that. This is not out of the ordinary for a celebrity to make an income off of a charity they represent.
"If you do your research you'll find that most nonprofits compensate their celebrity spokespeople and Bristol's no different."
Furthermore, our Bristol source says, "this is clearly something that was leaked by the same anti-Palin organization that says Trigg isn't Sarah Palin's son."
For the record, that's a rumor—apparently fed by a picture of Bristol holding her brother Trigg—that was first floated when Palin was John McCain's running mate. The salary news was first reported today on the blog Palingates, which bills itself as "The Sarah Palin Watchdog Team."
Neil Cole, founder of the Candie's Foundation, says that Bristol was worth every penny in getting out the message, and that she's no longer on the payroll.
But while Bristol can't possibly be too pleased about her financial info floating around for all the world to see, we hear that she's currently holed up in Alaska "really cranking" on her first book, which is due out in June from HarperCollins (which, incidentally, put out Mama Grizzly's Going Rogue, as well).
"The first draft is done and it's gone on to the publishers, who are now in the editing stage," our source says.