ESPN as book publisher?

February 13, 2007

<p><a href=”http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117132033196106402-JXXh8HzCZLUbEFeJJbnZSN3_lN0_20070219.html?mod=blogs”>An article</a> in today’s <em>Wall Street Journal</em> (Feb. 13) takes a look at ESPN’s attempt to &quot;smarten up&quot; its core audience (i.e., men 18-34) by getting them to read more than a few sports pages or their own magazine.</p>

<p>ESPN is the publisher of a new book by former basketball player John Amaechi, <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=500,height=500,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0’); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/amechi.jpg”><img title=”Amechi” height=”125″ alt=”Amechi” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/amechi.jpg” width=”125″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 5px 5px 0px” /></a> who recently disclosed that he is gay. &quot;While it isn’t exactly a shocker that some pro athletes happen to be gay, the story quickly became national news. A big part of the reason is that Mr. Amaechi’s memoir &quot;Man in the Middle,&quot; published by ESPN Books, is now hitting the shelves. The imprint is small, but it is using its ties to the rest of ESPN to help build buzz around its titles.&quot;</p>

<p>No doubt this will have a wider audience than, say, a book about Mickey Mantle or Tiki Barber. You will have sport fans in general, basketball fans in particular, and those interested in the sociological aspects of the subject who have little or no interest in sports. </p>

<p class=”times”>According to the article &quot;Chris Raymond, who edits ESPN books, says he specifically looks for books that will work &quot;for the magazine and for television.&quot; Mr. Raymond has heard criticism that the graphic-intensive magazine’s subscribers prefer pictures to words, but he says the publication has consistently run 2,000-word stories since the first issue. And he notes that Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN.com’s Page 2 and the magazine, drew hundreds of young readers while touring for his book, &quot;Now I Can Die in Peace: How ESPN’s Sports Guy Found Salvation, with a Little Help from Nomar, Pedro, Shawshank and the 2004 Red Sox.&quot; ESPN Books said it sold 80,000 copies.&quot;</p>

<p class=”times”>So what’s wrong with &quot;graphic-intensive&quot;? This is sports, not politics. Most sports are visual, artistic, beautiful to watch. Sports photography (not the ubiquitous highlight reel which has had its own impact on the sociology of the games) is very evocative both for joyful moments and those filled with heartache.</p>

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