What authors have to put up with…

As you probably know, there’s a podcast component to this blog on which I chat with authors, artists, filmmakers, etc.

I sometimes get first-timers who reach out to me because they may not have the cachet to get “real media” attention. I know I went through that with 501 Baseball Books. Just about every author thinks his or her work is great and deserves attention (sometimes they’re right, sometimes, not so much). In part, that’s why this blog exists.

But apart from the debut writers, I’m constantly amazed that bigger names would consent to be a guest on the podcast or do an e-mail Q&A. Not to drop names but you’d think people like John Feinstein or George Vecsey or Eric Rolfe Greenberg wouldn’t need the help of blogs like this to promote their work. But as the publishing industry has changed in recent years, authors are responsible for more and more of the publicity aspects of the business. Some have the reputation and/or resources to engage personal publicists, but others — like me — can’t and have to scramble to get the word out by whatever means possible.

(On the other hand, I heard from the author of one of the books which appears in 501 who published his book more than a decade ago. He said that based on happily discovering his book included, he pitched a revised edition to a number of publishers and is getting some interest.)

This is all prelude to this video I found of Willie Randolph appearing on Kilmeade and Friends, normally one of FOX radio’s political talk shows, about his new book, The Yankee Way: Playing Coaching an my Life in Baseball (sic, from the FOX website).

Kilmeade opens the segment with a comment about putting politics aside for a moment.

Just curious: I wonder how much of a bump Randolph got from including the Yankees in the title. If he had just called it Willie Randolph: Playing, Coaching, and My Life in Baseball?

Just sayin’.

I didn’t recollect that Randolph previously published two memoirs: Willie Randolph: Brooklyn, the Bronx, Baseball & Beyond in 1997, and Rising Son: Mets, Yankees, and My Journey to the Big Leagues, with Wayne Coffey in 2010. Both titles are out of print. Considering that Randolph was a good but not great player, I think he’s reached his allotment.