The Yang Slinger: Vol. XCVI:Sports books used to find themselves all over the New York Times bestseller list. So what the hell happened? And is there hope? And does it even matter?
Once upon a time, the New York Times’ bestseller list was flush with sports offerings. This was during the golden age of, eh, um … golden ages. A time when … argh … eh … um … Hmm. Let me start again. (Clears throat) Twenty years ago, my first book made the New York Times bestseller list. It was a biography of the 1986 Mets titled, “The Bad Guys Won!”—and I still vividly recall the ol’ agent hitting up my phone and saying, “You made it! You made it!” Made what? “The New York Times bestseller list!” Holy shit. Holy. Holy. Shit. I called my mom. I called my dad. I called my wife. I called my friends and inlaws. I called everyone. Me? Jeff Pearlman? A New York Times best seller? Hot damn! Only, when I opened up the following weekend’s (print) Times Book Section, “The Bad Guys Won!” wasn’t listed. Literally, I scanned the pages and it was nowhere to be found. So I called said agent and asked, well, “Where’s the book?” “Ohhhhh,” he said. “You made the extended list.” “What does that mean?” “It’s the list,” he said. “Only … extra. Like, they print the Top 15. But the list actually goes 30 deep. You’re No. 23!” Oh. “Don’t be disappointed,” he said. “It still counts.” And—disappointment be damned—he was 100 percent correct. As you can see below, the paperback version of my book (on the right) includes cover language the initial hardcover could not (rightly) boast …
Over the next two decades, seven of my 10 books made the New York Times list. A bunch reached the Top 15. A smaller handful wound up on the extended platform. The algorithm remains a mystery. The model continues to baffle. How many copies do you need to peddle? I have no remote idea. Whatever the case, it was always a thrill for both me and the publisher. Say what you will—being able to refer to your release as a “New York Times best seller” carries some legit weight. And yet … These days, it has become increasingly hard for sports books to wind up on the list. Two years ago my Bo Jackson biography, “The Last Folk Hero,” hung around for a week or two, then vanished. Simultaneously, David Maraniss’ Jim Thorpe bio, “Path Lit by Lightning,” also appeared and—like Bo—quickly snuck off. Earlier this year, to my delight (and slight surprise), Ian O’Connor’s awesome Aaron Rodgers bio, “Out of the Darkness,” hit No. 5—a thrill for him, but also (as an Ian admirer) for me. Alas, the placements feel like aberrations. We exist in the crap era of reality TV star biographies and political tell-alls; of actors who want to take you behind the scenes of their moldy TV shows and singers willing to tell you about the time they drank beers with Eddie Vedder while giving him a handie. It’s a here-and-now society of instant gratification and a craving for the dark, the crass, the lustful, the sensational. Give us junk! Give us garbage! Give us the sensational! Put different, making the list as a sports book is ridiculously hard to do. But not impossible. So let’s talk about how to do it.
Timing is everything. It’s a cliche. And cliches suck. But they don’t suck quite so much when they’re true. And, when it comes to sports books making the New York Times list, timing is absolutely, positively everything. Point A: It’s the lord’s year of 2021, and Mirin Fader is a young features writer at The Ringer. She has completed her first book, and it’s a dandy— “Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP.” For more than a year, Fader busted her ass. Digging. Interviewing. Navigating through Covid. Life on the Road. And the final product is legitimately wonderful. Truly, it’s a fantastic book. But … who the fuck knows for sure? “Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP” could sell six copies. Maybe five. What if Antetokounmpo cracks his leg in half midway through the season? What if he’s arrested for peddling meth and bootlegged Greek editions of “Mein Kampf”? What if—(oddly) worst of all—the Bucks are merely a forgettable six seed who go out in the first round? Again—who the fuck knows? But, instead of a hellscape, “Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP” is gifted with the greatest literary timing I have ever, ever, ever, ever witnessed. The Milwaukee Bucks win the NBA crown. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the story of the Finals. He’s the talk of the league, the talk of a game that has gone global. And on Aug. 18, 2021, when Mirin Fader picks up the New York Times, her book is number fucking three on the hardcover non-fiction bestseller list. “My editor called me and said, ‘You’re a New York Times best seller,” Fader told me. “I just couldn’t even believe it. Like what? Me? I was completely shocked. I didn’t think it was possible.” A close second in the glorious splendor of timing: Three (or so) years ago O’Connor—a veteran sports writer and one of the best to ever do it—agrees to write a biography of Aaron Rodgers. If it comes out after the first game of the 2023 season, Ian is cooked. If it comes out at, well, most any time this predictably dog-shit Jets season, Ian is also cooked. Instead, “Out of the Darkness” drops on Aug. 20, 2024. It’s 2 1/2 weeks before the Jets kick off the campaign. The team is widely considered a Super Bowl contender, and Rodgers—back from the catastrophe of a year earlier—looks reborn. Everyone who talks football is talking Aaron Rodgers. Everyone. And Ian’s masterful book debuts at No. 5 on the Times’ hardcover nonfiction list. Because Rodgers has yet to toss a meaningful pass, yet to throw Mike Williams under the bus, yet to look old and cranky and yet to annoy the fuck out of New York City’s 8 million residents. He is interesting and exciting and, like a scoop of mint ice cream that has yet to meet a Hepatitis C-impacted tongue, perfect. “I made sure ‘Out of the Darkness’ came before Aaron Rodgers could get hurt again and/or before the Jets could become the Jets again,” O’Connor told me. “To maintain some control as news was leaking out of my book early, and to build up pre-orders before the Democratic National Convention dominated the news cycle during my official release week (yes, that could negatively impact even a sports book), I started doing major interviews on August 12, eight days before “Out of the Darkness” came out and seven days before the start of the DNC. I believe that decision helped me debut at No. 5 on the Hardcover Nonfiction list and bought me extra time before Rodgers and the Jets started free-falling.” Again—timing. It’s everything.
There’s little debate that, as we sit here in 2024, the king of the sports book is the Washington Post’s John Feinstein. Every so often, someone will ask me if I’m trying to have a Feinstein-esque run, and the answer is no—because it’s not possible. John has written 43 books, 23 of which sat upon the New York Times list. He’s also the talent and pen behind “A Season on the Brink,” which is on the short list for all-time best sports chronicling. I’m not being humble in saying he’s way, way, way, way, way, way out of my depth. So when we spoke on the subject of texts and our genre and the list, John was surprisingly … at a loss. Less than a month ago, Hachette Books released “The Ancient Eight: College Football’s Ivy League and the Game They Play Today.” And while the work has garnered unsurprisingly excellent reviews (The Boston Globe: “Feinstein’s book is a reminder that Ivy football is the American Beauty Rose of the fall sport. That’s a title enough.”), “The Ancient Eight” failed to chart. And John says he was neither surprised nor overly disappointed. Why? Because the landscape Sadly, John is right. As tremendous as “A Season on the Brink” remains, I wonder if the 2024 version (writer embeds with a top college hoops program) cracks the list. Back in the day, John had Indiana coach Bobby Knight—a legend identifiable for one program. Is there, truly, a modern Knight? And do players stick around long enough so readers would care about their plights? And, in this age of immediate gratification, would book buyers wait, oh, eight months to return to a season past? I don’t know. In 1979, a modestly well-known Yankees relief pitcher named Sparky Lyle came out with a fly-on-the-wall seasonal diary called, “The Bronx Zoo.” At best, Lyle was probably baseball’s, oh, 50th most-famous player. Yet the book spent 29 weeks on the New York Times list. Twenty five years ago, Random House published a book written by a relatively unknown writer named Laura Hillenbrand about a relatively unknown thoroughbred from the 1930s named Seabiscuit. There was no logical reason to think “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” would sell 10,000 copies—let alone the 13 million that wound up being peddled. Fourteen years later, on June 4, 2013, Penguin Books released, “The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics,” by a college writing professor named Daniel Brown. Like Lyle and “The Bronx Zoo” and Hillenbrand and “Seabiscuit,” there were zero hints that “The Boys in the Boat” might become a phenomenon. Well, three million in sales screams otherwise. The thing is—would they sell in 2024? Sure. But would they sell as they did back in the day? Not a chance. We simply live in a different era; one that overwhelms us with distractions and loud bells and bright flashes. It sucks, but it’s true. With rare-rare-rare-rare exception, for sports books to sell big enough to make the list you need at least one of several factors: • A huge, neon, kick-ass subject: Back in 2014, shortly after his retirement from Major League Baseball, former Yankees star Mariano Rivera dropped his memoir, “The Closer.” It immediately hit the New York Times’ list, and stayed there for a good chunk of time. “The most surefire route to the list, in my view, is to write a book about an iconic athlete in the wake of a historic performance or career,” said Wayne Coffey, Rivera’s co-author (and the king of an awesome substack). “This doesn't qualify as a revelation, of course, but it is foolproof. [The Rivera book] would've gone to the top of the list if it had been written by a second grader.” More recently, in 2022, Chris Herring’s 1990s New York Knicks biography, “Blood in the Garden,” found itself on the list—a nod both to the author’s talent as a writer/reporter (Chris is fabulous) and a riveting team in a nostalgia sweet spot. And actually, since I brought that up, let’s talk about … • Nostalgia sweet spot: Yes, this is a thing. And yes, it can make or break a book. Over the course of my two decades writing books, I’ve received endless suggestions from readers—the vast majority (apparently) seniors pining for the glory days. Or, put different: I’ve had people ask me to write books about (in no particular order): Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, Willis Reed, the 1969 New York Jets, Roger Maris, Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Tony Casillas, the 1977 Denver Broncos and Yogi Berra. And, as good as those subjects may well have been decades ago, they no longer strike me as viable sellers. Why? Because (sadly) their fans have aged out, and therefore their readers have aged out. Or, put different: Time is a conveyor belt, and as the years fade farther and farther away, they generate less of an audience. My best-selling books all rely on nostalgia as a character—but not a dead character. The mythology of Bo Jackson dates back 30 years. The Shaq-Kobe Lakers—25 years. My current project, Tupac Shakur, oozed nostalgia for millions of music fans now in their 40s, 50s, 60s. That’s perfect—as was Herring’s timing with “Blood in the Garden.” Fans who loved watching Patrick Ewing and Anthony Mason and John Starks are now (often) telling their kids about the NBA’s 1990s glory days. It’s perfect. • Breaking news: The best sports book I read last year—and one of the best sports books I’ve read, period—was Fader’s biography, “Dream: The Life and Legacy of Hakeem Olajuwon.” I swear, I’m not saying this because Mirin is a pal … the book is the absolute shit and had me tearing through pages like a crack addict seeking out loose rocks. It was riveting detail after riveting detail. And when, after its Oct. 15 release, “Dream” didn’t make the list, I’m sure Mirin was disappointed (we all have those moments). But it was less an indictment of the quality of her work and 100 percent an indictment of the times we live in. We need nuggets. Juicy little nuggets that set off our Elon Musk-poisoned minds and make us think, “Whoa, did they have sex?” and “I didn’t realize he shot her in the ass five times!” What every book publicist will inevitably ask an author is, “What can we splash out there in pre-release? What will titillate?” Why? Because titillation sells. And, to its credit, “Dream” isn’t that type of book. Olajuwon is a fascinating figure with a saga unlike anyone I’ve met. But he didn’t fuck around. He isn’t dropping a new single with J.Cole. He doesn’t bash gays, love Trump or have sex with apple pies. I suspect it’ll sell a ton of copies. Just over time.
One of my favorite book gurus is Susan Canavan, the former Houghton Mifflin Harcourt editor who, a bunch of years ago, shifted career course and became a literary agent. I’ve known Susan for a long time, and when I reached out to her for this post I figured she’d have some gold. I was not disappointed. Unlike, well, me and others, Susan wasn’t nearly so doom and gloom about the list and my genre. “Many in the industry will tell you that sports books are hard these days,” she said. “But that's not quite accurate. I've been publishing in this category for over 20 years and sports books can still really work and break out. Time and again, I've seen titles in this category withstand the winds of politics or a news cycle that can easily submarine other nonfiction publications.” According to Susan, “the New York Times bestseller list uses a rubric that is shrouded in mystery and befuddles authors and publishers week after week. But what we know is that the bestseller list is driven by weekly sales and having a big first week is the name of the game.” That said, she makes the (wise, important) point that people like, eh, me need to stop worrying so much. The list, she says, is but a list. It comes and it goes. It’s lovely, but it’s not everything. “Books in this category tend to sell over time and backlist fairly well,” she said. “The notion that a book is dead in the water if it doesn't make the list or if it doesn't become a success in the first two weeks no longer holds. We're also seeing strong audio numbers for sports books that are bolstering their patterns in different ways. I've had books like “Rainmaker” by Hughes Norton that have sold consistently all year, even though being just shy of making the list. On the flip side, some books can make the list for one week and then sink like a stone.” In other words, chill the fuck out. It’s just a list. An unimportant … Insignificant … Meaningless … Stupid … Inane … List. That I still really wanna fucking make. Dammit.
The Quaz Five with … Michelle Nicoloff
Michelle Nicoloff is a Southern California-based photographer who takes kick-ass holiday family photos. One can visit her website here and follow her on Instagram here. 1. Michelle, so holiday seasons are approaching. Which means you're busy taking family photos for holiday cards. In your opinion, what makes a good family holiday card vs. a crappy one?: A good holiday card is one that includes a photo of mine. Just kidding. Truthfully, is there really a crappy holiday card? Sure it may not be the best photo on the card—or it may even be a CVS slim line card—but the fact that you are receiving a card from a friend or family member that includes the people they love, instantly makes it a great holiday card. But to really answer your question … I do appreciate a holiday card printed on a beautiful card stock. A professional photo always adds to the card, but small touches can also make it special. Include family highlights, major milestones, new additions to the family, making each card a reflection of that year. Add a vacation photo. Add humor. Spice it up with a bold font or even a foil accent. Try a themed card. My favorite card I receive every year is from a family that chooses a theme each year—they dress in character and take a photo. One year it was, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and the next it was “The Office.” Over the years they have included their kids' spouses. I look forward to that card every year. Another favorite is receiving a handwritten note or a handmade card. 2. We're about the same age, which means we recall the time when we all just sent out the cards from CVS with, like, a wreath on the front and some generic message inside. When would you say that changed? And why?: I have no idea what you are talking about. I never sent out a CVS card. lol. I am not sure when that changed. Early 2000s maybe? I think the digital age and social media have helped spear the change. People love being creative with holiday cards and we now have easy access to help with our creativity. It first started with Costco and Shutterfly, and now we have Minted and many others. I remember my first cards I sent out were purchased from Papier—I inserted a photo into the cutout and signed our names.The next year—I purchased a card stock paper, printed 5x7s, glued them onto the card stock and added a red ribbon (I kinda cringe at that one). I eventually found a printer that added the ribbon for me. lol. Then it evolved into a printed tri-fold card for a few years, then a little six-page booklet showcasing our year in adventures (cost me a small fortune)—to a folded card, and now a simple 5x7 card on a thick beautiful card stock. 3. What's your craziest photograph-a-bunch-of-people experience?: Spelling out a teacher's name with 35 kindergartners—literally forming kids into letters. It was crazy and fun! I loved giving the print to the teacher. 4. How do you convince little kids to sit for photos?: That is easy—I don't. I literally run around chasing them. You should see how crazy I look after a session. Ha! 5. What's the joy in it all? What I mean is, what level of happiness does family photography bring to you?: This is my favorite question. It brings me immense happiness. I love seeing the unique bonds between family members. The laughter, the hugs, the love and even the tears. Capturing those interactions makes my heart so happy. Every single time I leave a session I feel so lucky that they trusted me to follow them around with my camera. It truly is a gift to me. Sometimes I cannot believe I get paid to do something that brings me so much joy. BONUS: rank in order, favorite to least: Burger King, Steve Garvey, Columbia University baseball, sunsets, Laguna Beach, diaper rash, your left foot, Chaka Kahn, Costco pumpkin pie, Polaroid instant cameras: 1. Diaper Rash—it means there's a baby around; 2. Laguna Beach; 3. Sunsets; 4. Costco Pumpkin Pie all to myself; 5. Columbia Baseball (really any baseball team my son is affiliated with); 6. Polaroid Instant Camera; 7. Chaka Kahn ( I feel for you—I cannot get that out of my head); 8. My left foot; 9. Burger King (have you had their tacos?); 10. Steve Garvey (sorry. Steve).
A random old article worth revisiting …On Sept. 5, 1959, a cameraman with little concern for his health or bodily well-being laid down on the ground as four large attendees of the College of the Pacific held hands and leapt over him. The Independent of Richmond, Cal. ran the image.
The Madness of Tyler Kepner’s Grid …
So unless you’ve been living beneath a pebble beneath a rock beneath a big hunk of cheese, you’re aware of Immaculate Grid, the daily game that’s drawn thousands of nerdy sports fans (guilty!) to its ranks. And while the NBA grid, NFL grid, NHL grid and WNBA grid are all fun, this game is at its best when it comes to baseball—where the names are endless and the transactions ceaseless. No one owns the medium like Tyler Kepner, the Athletic’s fantastic baseball writer. Here’s a breakdown of one of his recent efforts …
Tyler thoughts: • Weaver is a guy I covered with the Mariners. He gave up a grand slam to Nomar in his three-homer, 10-RBI game • Scott is a South African reliever who had a great year for Houston this season. He’s pitched on a lot of teams for very few games—that’s Grid gold. • Covington had a nice year for the doomed 1964 Phillies and played for a bunch of teams. • Leiter pitched two games for the Mariners when I covered them and then hurt his shoulder. Pitched for Detroit for a while. • Gene Harris was part of the Randy Johnson deal from Montreal to Seattle. For some reason I remember that he played for the 1984 World Series teams. • Eddie Robinson is a great Grid guy who lived to be 100. I talked to him for my World Series book. • Ozzie Timmons is another of my 1999 Mariners. Talked to him on when I was hosting a radio show this season and he was a Brewers hitting coach • Danny Jackson had a very eventful career for KC, Cincy, Philly and several other teams at the end, including these. • Jay Loviglio played very briefly for the 1980 Phillies (a roster I know well) and then very briefly for both Chicago teams.
This week’s college writer you should know about …
Dawson Iasillo, University of Nebaska A sophomore journalism major, Dawson wrote a lovely-yet-depressing piece for the Daily Nebraskan on her feelings after last month’s presidential election. Wrote Dawson in THE MIND OF A WOMAN IN AMERICA …
She ain’t wrong. One can follow Dawson on Instagram here. Bravo.
My TikTok offering of the week …So I left Twitter, joined TikTok—and am loving, loving, loving the storytelling modus. It’s fun and light and free of the Twitter hate. You can follow me here, and every week (at least until the medium is banned in America) I’m gonna post one of my videos. Just, because, hey—a guy needs to eat.  @jeffpearlmanauthorA DI college football player reached out to me about online harassment (“I hope you tear your ACLs”) and how gambling is ruining college sports. He’s not wrong. And media has been bought. #draftkings #fanatics #billsimmons #chrislong #ryanclark #espn #ncaa #collegefootball #collegefootball25 #sportsbetting #writersoftiktok
Journalism musings for the week …
Musing 1: A pretty depressing-turned-optimistic piece here about Victoria Hughes, a Lakeland, Fla.-based IHOP waitress who was fired after 13 years on the job for the horrific crime of … looking after someone in need. Wrote Georgia McCarthur for the News Channel 8 website: “Despite losing her job, just before the holidays, Hughes told us she stands by her decision. ;I need my job, but I would still do it again,’ she said. ‘I truly would. I would still help somebody if I could. If he asked me for my shirt, I probably would have tried to give him that too.’ After 8 On Your Side got involved, Hughes tells us she got a call direct from IHOP’s corporate office, a call that included a job offer, and compensation for the days of work she missed. ‘He also told me he would make a donation, a healthy donation, to a charity of my choice, that I wanted in my local community,’ Hughes said.” Musing 2: Jesus Christ, Peter Hegseth seems to be a uniquely awful and unqualified man for … any job, let alone the United States Secretary of Defense. Jane Mayer of the New Yorker breaks it down in PETE HEGSETH’S SECRET HISTORY, and Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fare doubles down with THE STORYBOOK START—AND BITTER END—OF PETE HEGSETH’S FIRST MARRIAGE. Musing 3: Kenrick Lamar’s new album, GNX, is excellent. But if you wanna skip to the most important track, check out his Tupac-inspired dandy, “Reincarnated.” It’s art. Musing 4: Megatron roasting San Francisco 49ers fans at Universal Studios is the love we all need right now. Musing 5: I feel badly for the Bidens. Hunter’s demons have been an anchor on the family, and the Republicans have repeatedly used a man’s addictions as a piñata. That said … I don’t support the pardon. Joe Biden insisted he would never pardon his son—then did just that. I know Trump is a corrupt POS. But why should we emulate that? That said …
Musing 6: If you see one movie this holiday season, make it “A Real Pain” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin. Probably the best flick of the year and one that should garner legit Oscar buzz. Musing 7: I am waaaaaay late to this, but Aaron Hughley, a professor in the Department of Counseling and Student Affairs at Western Kentucky University, wrote this piece for the Bowling Green Daily News—TRUMP’S WIN SHOWS US WHO WE REALLY ARE. And it’s a chef’s kiss. Musing 8: Judd Legum writes on what happened when California raised its minimum wage—and why it was a win-win-win move. Writes Legum: “Despite the dire warnings from the restaurant industry and some media reports, the Shift Project's study did ‘not find evidence that employers turned to understaffing or reduced scheduled work hours to offset the increased labor costs.’ Instead, ‘weekly work hours stayed about the same for California fast food workers, and levels of understaffing appeared to ease.’ Further, there was ‘no evidence that wage increases were accompanied by a reduction in fringe benefits… such as health or dental insurance, paid sick time, or retirement benefits.’ Musing 9: The Tupelo (Miss.) Daily Journal wins the day, month, year with this mini-headline …
Musing 10: I’m not sure an NFL team can win with Jameis Winston as its starting quarterback, but, lord, the dude is talented and entertaining. In THE JAMEIS WINSTON ROLLER COAST WAS ON FULL DISPLAY IN BROWNS’ LOSS TO BROWNS, The Athletic’s Zac Jackson got to the heart of it. Musing 11: The Onion remains the king of satire with this gem, headlined, AARON RODGERS TAKES BLAME FOR PARTS OF GAME WHERE JETS WERE WINNING. Trust me. It’s fantastic. Musing 12: If you are struggling to understand the unrest in South Korea, I highly recommend taking five minutes to read this breakdown—SOUTH KOREA IS FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY AGAIN-AND THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW—from Heesoo Jang, a UMass professor of media law and ethics. Money graph: “South Korea’s struggle is a powerful reminder that democracy is not self-sustaining—it requires active vigilance. The protests and demands for reform exemplify how civil society can confront governance failures. The world deserves more context and a nuanced understanding from international journalism about what South Korean democracy is facing, as its fight for justice, transparency, and the rule of law holds lessons for all democracies.” Musing 13: I hate social media. Musing 14: In case you need to remember how awesome sports can be. here you go. Have a tissue. Musing 15: Disturbing article from Margaret Fleming of Front Office Sports on Tulsa football players insisting coaches at the school lied about NIL payouts. “They were using this money as leverage, and then it just kept getting pushed back, pushed back, pushed back, and now the season’s over and no one ever got anything,” quarterback Cooper Legas told the local news station KTUL. Musing 16: This, from Will Holder, is genuinely depressing.
Musing 17: The new Two Writers Slinging Yang stars David Aldridge, the longtime NBA writer and author of a new book, “The Basketball 100.” Great stuff.
Quote of the Week …
Can’t go wrong with Toni Morrison.¹ You're currently a free subscriber to Jeff Pearlman's Journalism Yang Yang. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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The Yang Slinger: Vol. XCVI:
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