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Posnanski and the Paterno book

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Stitch, Nov 10, 2011.

  1. Glenn Stout

    Glenn Stout Member

    To write a Maraniss/Lombardi-style biography, or a Cramer/DiMaggio-style biography, or Leavy/Mantle, or Bryant/Aaron, or any biography or work of history that aspires to be serious and comprehensive and sweeping and lasting - is a multi-year commitment - a year or two research and a year or two of writing, MINIMUM. Often more, and usually while doing nothing, or very little, else.

    I can think of very few biographies or books of serious history that reach that level - and I'm not talking about a reported snapshot-in-time news event book - without a similar time commitment on the part of the author and publisher. David Halberstam once told me the worst thing you could ever do is turn in a book before it's ready, because, as he said, "It's you f-ing book; it's got you f-ing name on it."
     
  2. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Was the book scheduled to come out in 2012 when the deal was first agreed upon?
     
  3. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    On March 22, 2011, Posnanski announced he "would take the next 18 months or so to write a book for Simon & Schuster about the life and impact of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno."

    Eighteen months from that exact date would be September 22, 2012, which is still a month away.

    That brief paragraph doesn't clarify whether the book was to be published in September 2012, or if it was to be "written", i.e., manuscript submitted, by then. But 18 months was the timetable.
     
  4. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Thanks. I'm not sure what to do with that knowledge right now.
     
  5. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    I don't know Poz, never met the guy, have no idea if he's completely satisfied with this effort in his heart of hearts. But I think he's going to have a serious, lifelong regret that he did not do more to halt the rushed publication of this book.

    I truly believe he could have written a reasonable book about "the life and impact" of Joe Paterno if only he had more time to process how the big-picture story changed over the last 10 months. Some people still would have hated it — because Poz isn't a cynic and will always see the good in people so he still wouldn't have condemned Paterno as much as maybe he should — but at least it wouldn't be quite so difficult for those of us who respect his work to defend him as it is now.

    And that's a shame, because he really did have the opportunity of a lifetime to write a book that no one else ever could.
     
  6. sportbook

    sportbook Member

    According to BookScan, the Paterno book sold 11,500 copies in hardcover first week. It has a chance to be No. 1 on the New York Times list. It will definitely be in the top 3. In all, decent sales but I'm sure they were hoping for higher sales.

    To compare, the Simmons book sold 32,000 copies first week. Also, and I know it is a memoir, Drew Brees's Coming Back Stronger sold more than 18,000 its first week on the shelves. Deanna Favre, for Don't Bet Against Me, had a week when it sold more copies than the Paterno book did last week.

    Again, they'll be pleased with the NY Times ranking (it could be No. 1) but they have a LONG way to go to possibly earn back that advance.
     
  7. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    It's already fallen to #163 on Amazon.
     
  8. sportbook

    sportbook Member

    The book will likely sell half the amount of copies in the second week as it did in the first. It isn't a good sign.
     
  9. 3OctaveFart

    3OctaveFart Guest

    Paterno fatigue or bad word of mouth?
     
  10. sportbook

    sportbook Member

    I think it's really tough to sell sports-related biographies.
     
  11. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Just spit balling and also understanding that I know little about the industry but is it possible that Simon and Schuster did not care much about the final content and more about just having an end product widget that they knew was going to sell regardless of the quality and how it would be judged by journalists verses the masses?

    Someone who truly knows can prove me wrong but I tend to think that the big publishers are more marketing companies that now want to sell as many books as possible regardless of the quality of content. I would be willing to bet that they factor in that most will buy a big name book on impulse and not even get half way through it before they move on to the next one.

    If Posanski did the book that most seem to want here on SJ would it have sold more copies if it came out in say December verses now when everyone is talking about college football?
     
  12. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Postmodern publishing makes more sense if you think of it like the movie business, Boom. A couple mainstream blockbusters a year pay for the esoteric Oscarbait.

    Given the reported advance in this case, the publisher thought this was going to be one of those rare crossovers - a high-quality commercial success.
     
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