Why are sports books a tough sell?

Cuz women don't buy them, generally

 

Even given the varied timing of the releases of the books in question, still find it depressing that Frank is outselling
Pearlman knock-down-drag-outter.

 

In an interview with Ahmad Rashad, he was asked what he thought about Knight's comments.

"I told him 'I wish he'd make his mind up so I could know how to dress in the morning," Feinstein said.

 

At the end of the day, it probably won't end that way; Pearlman's book came out first, and sold a ton immediately on publication. I don't have cumulative figures, but I'd guess the Cowboys book would be way ahead.

 

In fairness Gifford decided to write book in tribute to his friend David Halberstram who had started the project and was killed on his way to interview YA Tittle.

The fact that Mark Bowden is not outselling them all is more depressing.

 

The Bowden and Pearlman books were marvelous.

I wonder what role the economic collapse plays into the lack of book sales.

 

I read Confessions of a Dirty Ballplayer (around 1970). You have to consider it in the context of its time. In 1970s, here was this black player with about 12 years of experience talking dirt about some big name players, saying he was blackballed out of both leagues. It might have seemed reasonable - after all, this was shortly after Connie Hawkins sued the NBA for banning him and after Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their gloved fist protest. Here was Johnny Sample talking about these things and how he was the toughest and meanest hombre in professional football. There weren't many books about the less savory side of the NFL, and it was shortly after Ball Four. The book fit perfectly in its time.

The only problem was that Johnny Sample was an extreme self-promoter who turned out to have the credibility of somebody like David Wells. He was later convicted of fraud related to a business he was involved in. In Weeb Ewbanks's book with Paul Zimmermann, he said when Sample was with the Colts, he would steal money from players pants - maybe if there were $50, Sample might take $10 and they looked at it like a psychological disorder.

 

As funny sidebar Sample became Line Judge on tennis tour.

 

A couple of big factors in Sample's book being published -- he was a loudmouth, which means the publisher knew the book would be promoted.

And he played for the Jets, who were in NEW YORK in those days. Therefore he had to be one of the most important athletes on the planet.

 

Gotta admit I do love the Sample updates...actually his book was so much more well-written than Tatum's. Those two covered the whole "angry african-american defensive backwith a chip on my shoulder" angle I would say. Did you ever read the book about the Browns move to Baltimore...Fumble I think it was called. I was just wondering if it was worth my while, if it was spin from one side or if it was actually balanced.

 

20,000 sold is a strong number.

However, gotta be careful reading the numbers, as "sales" can be interpreted a bunch of different ways.

"Sales" could be books shipped, say, 50,000. What they don't tell you six months later is that 23,000 of them were returned (for credit---basically, consignment sales). Or 17,000, or whatever.

Some publishers will use marketing copy that says 200,000 copies in print. What they don't tell you is that 50,000 of those never left the warehouse either becasue of poor sales projections or canceled big orders, etc. And of the 150,000 that did ship, 40% were returned and another 20% were remaindered (sold at 5 cents on the dollar, now known as "Bargain Books" at B&N).

When asking for an advance, be mildly aggressive but don't get greedy. A few years ago I had $15K offer for a book that would have been a relative snap to write. I asked for 20K, was willing to take 18K, and they told me to get lost. Actually, that's just a horror story, not a representative of all publishers.

Have a nice day.

 

I was once offered the princely sum of 5K to ghostwrite what would have been Rodman's fourth or fifth book, I think. Imagine that. And, no, I didn't bite.