Using Your Column to Promote a Colleague's Book

Will only note that the last time I checked, Rupert Murdoch does NOT own Random House.

 

I couldn't pick Mike Vaccaro or his writing out of a lineup, but I were him and I found out you just compared me to Oprah, I would beat you like a rented mule.

Unless it turns out Vaccaro actually likes the comparison, in which case he's the one in need of the beating.

 

I see the ownership pecking order this way:

1.) It's the newspaper's column

2.) It's the readers' column

3.) It's the writer's column

That said, if he genuinely believes the book is something that his readers would enjoy -- and that appears to be the case -- no problem. The topic is in-market. If he were plugging a friend's book about Texas football or the Iditarod, then it may be a problem. But Thurman Munson in NYC?

 

Having now read the column in question, there's one thing that jumps out. Well, two things, but apparently everybody in New York is or should be in love with Thurman Munson so I guess Vaccaro's love probably isn't out of the ordinary......

Perhaps the most amazing part of this book is that it recounts, in remarkable detail, the tragic events of and leading up to Aug. 2, 1979, in a way that's never been done this completely before, yet still is far more a celebration of how Munson lived than how he died. In that way, it is a perfect companion piece to "Luckiest Man," Jonathan Eig's 2005 masterpiece on the life and death of Lou Gehrig, another Yankee captain taken too soon who was also denied the warm embrace of a welcoming Stadium (with one notable exception, of course).

Is it me, or is that sentence just stupid??

I mean, Gehrig got the warm embrace, which was so memorably warm that they basically made a movie about it and filled the rest of the time with clips of Gary Cooper pretending to be Gehrig but from the opposite side of home plate. That's obviously the one notable exception Vaccaro mentions, but does he think Gehrig should have had another one every week from then until he died? I don't understand at all what he means by saying Gehrig was denied anything by "a welcoming Stadium."

 

The piece is about wishing Munson was around to enjoy the adulation of the fans at Old-Timers' Day. Those are the warm embraces Gehrig, who died a fortnight short of his 38th birthday, was denied.

At least that's the way I read it.

 

I used to think publishers used to decide whether to publish a book or not on merit as well - until I realized the decision is based more on the author's ability to sell it.
Why else has every cable news and radio host published a book? Fox has been particularly successful between Doocy, Kilmeade, Beck, O'Reilly, and Hannity - I figure they have about 15 books between them. Larry King has written about six books.

 

Probably, but then the sentence should have said that or at least reflected it more clearly.

 

30 years since Munson died? Dang, that makes me old. I can still remember what I was doing when I heard the news ... on my way home from summer ball practice on my bike and heard it on my handy dandy Radio Shack transistor radio ... the ones that had one earphone.

I wasn't a Yankee fan, but I was a Munson fan. He was one of my favorite players. I just loved the way he played the game.

I'd have to agree with Jersey_Guy though: It's not inherently wrong to use a column to promote a book, if it's on a compelling topic and something your readers would be interested in. I, too, used to get the free review copies of books in the mail on a regular basis, attached with a personal note from the author. I'd look at all of them on a case-by-case basis.

I'd draw the line if it was something written by a friend, or I had some other conflict of interest, though, such as being part of the book in some way. But that's just me. Looks like there's a wide variety of opinions on this here, and that's great.

I don't have any problem with Vaccaro's column .. It strikes me as a bit odd that he's allowed to use his tagline to promote his own upcoming book, but if the Post is fine with that, then it's all good.

 

I think in the context of my post, you knew what I meant, yes?

The newspaper and/or the reader doesn't sit down 3-4 times a week to decide what's going in the column. The columnist is charged with making a responsible decision about what's going in the column, or he/she won't have that column very long.

I can't imagine a single newspaper editor objecting to Vaccaro's use of his column here, and I truly can't believe we're debating the ethics of Vaccaro reviewing/recommending a book on Thurman Munson. Picky picky.

 

ya gotta be kidding, right? it was crystal clear to me vac was saying both those yankee captains were robbed of enjoying an annual stadium embrace through the end of their natural lives. sheesh....

 

I don't think I'm accusing Vaccaro of being unethical. At most, I'm suggesting that he should have pointed out that his book and Appel's shared a publisher.

But it wasn't a book review. That's a completely different animal.

And if the recommendation hadn't been so over the top, I wouldn't have been compelled to look for a relationship between the two books.

If he had simply pointed it out in the column, the reader could draw their own conclusion. When you discover it later, on your own is when you question if he was avoiding/ignoring/hiding the relationship.

And to say that you don't think there's a conflict, or to attest that Vaccaro is the most ethical being on the planet is fine.

But I don't understand when you act like this subject isn't worth being debated. Isn't that what the board is for?

Wouldn't you rather explain the issue or give your take on it than let me walk away with lingering questions if you think my questions are off base?

 

I was a Yankee fan and Munson was my favorite player.

For all of the shit I gave those grieving the death of Michael Jackson, this was the one celebrity death that affected me. I was 10 years old, and I cried.

For me, it's one of those, "where were you when?" kind of things, like when older folks heard about JFK, or younger people heard about the Challenger explosion.

And I'll never forget the anniversary because it's also my brother's birthday.

I bet it's a great book. I'll probably buy and read it.

I have no problem with Vaccaro recommending the book. I just though it was over the top and that he should have pointed out that his book shares the same publisher.