The Yang Slinger: Vol. LXXXIII

All authors fret over the covers of their books. But, in 2024, does it even matter? Does anyone judge a book by its cover?

This is the story of two book covers.

Though, really, this is the story of all book covers. Every single one of them.

But, for the moment, let’s focus on two covers. They were both created in the lord’s year of 2017, when my wife—the smart, cool, fabulous Dr. Catherine Pearlman—wrote her first book, “Ignore It!: How Selectively Looking the Other Way Can Decrease Behavioral Problems and Increase Parenting Satisfaction.” Now, if you’ve never written a book (congrats on maintaining your sanity), the process goes sorta like this:

You write it.

You submit it.

An editor reads it and marks it up.

You and the publisher and a designer come up with different cover concepts.

You make millions of dollars and become famous.

Anyhow, after Catherine wrote the book, submitted the book, had an editor read and mark up the book—a cover was brought forth. A tremendous, eye-catching cover that all of us in the Pearlman household loved.

This is what it looked like …

Now, I don’t think I’ve ever been jealous of my wife (we’re a squad), but—Jesus—was I jealous of her cover. I mean, look at it. The cute kid. The fingers up the nostrils. The eyes looking directly at the potential buyer, screaming, “You need this book!” We were both in love with the cover, and excited to see how it would play once release day came.

But then …

A rep from Barnes & Noble called the publisher. They would carry the book either way—but they would carry more copies of the book with a more tasteful cover. “It was crazy they have to power to determine covers,” Catherine says. “It kind of makes me laugh because now there are covers with all kinds of curse words that are super popular. But a kid picking his nose was too unsightly.”

Ultimately, thanks to B&N pressure, the cover was switched to this …

… and life went on.

The book sold pretty well, Catherine got another deal. Mike Tyson agreed to fight Jake Paul. We accepted the cover. Catherine even came to like it.

But I still wonder. We still wonder: What would have happened had the nose picker remained?

What difference would it have made?

To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a study on the impact of a book cover. Sure, there’s a famous saying (“Don’t judge a book by its cover”) and some iconic covers, but … do the visuals on the front of a book actually make a difference? Does it impact sales?

First, we need to address the obvious: Times have changed. Back, oh, two decades ago, people purchased books by entering these things called … stores. Literally, you would walk into a Borders or Barnes and Noble or Book & Record, scan the shelves and decide upon a title that suited your fancy. You would pick up the book, look it over, make a literal visual decision. It was raw and tangible and physical. To this day, I love strolling along the shelves of a shop or library and seeing what grabs me.

Alas, these days less than 10 percent of book purchases are made in person. Say what you will about Amazon, it has undeniably changed the nature of the business. And while I’m not certain what makes people buy books off of Amazon, my educated guess would narrow it down to:

• A friend recommends it.

• You heard about it on the Interweb or TV.

Put differently: I don’t think a cover is impacting online book sales.

“I’ve always thought that publisher should do some testing of different covers, trying out versions a BNC with test audiences,” says Jonathan Eig, the best-selling biographer. “Almost any other industry would do that. If you were trying out cereal boxes, you would run tons of focus groups, right? But publishers approach it more as an art and I guess there’s some thing nice about that. But you never know if they’re getting it right.”

So, again, does it even matter? Does the nose picker make a dent? Peter Hubbard, the VP and publisher of Mariner Books, says he’s firm believer in the value of a top-shelf cover. “Covers are an honest tell of a publishing team’s aspirations for a book,” he says. “Do they see it as an average example of a tried and true genre? Or do they think the book reaches beyond the confines of a genre?”

And I certainly can’t argue. A great cover conveys something. It’s powerful, moving, impactful. My literary agent, the elite David Black, has repped thousands of books throughout his decades in the industry. He’s seen great covers. He’s seen shit covers. “I have strong feelings about covers,” he says. “They are a billboard. They should be there to encourage people to pick up the book. They do not need to tell the story of the book in total. Too many books do that.”

I asked Black to name his all-time favorite cover, and he didn’t flinch. Back in 2017, Eig wrote, “Ali: A Life.” This was the cover …

That’s it. No author. No title. Just Ali’s fist up front, his blurred face behind. “How many authors can put their ego aside to not have their names on the cover?” Black says. “I saw that cover and just stopped cold. It was incredible.”

When I asked Eig how he felt about the decision to go photo sans words, he hesitated. His most recent book, the terrific, “MLK: A Life,” has significantly outsold “Ali.” The cover is also cool, but a hair or two more conventional. It has the title. Names the author. “Being neurotic,” Eig says, “I still wonder if it might’ve sold better with the title on the cover.”

I have written 10 books.

My biggest seller, “The Bad Guys Won,” features a fairly OK cover that—with time—has grown on me.

My second biggest seller, “Boys Will Be Boys,” well, it fucking blows.

To this day, I don’t know what the people at HarperCollins were thinking, sniffing or drinking. The thing looks like a third-grade clip-art project. Three photos, some words, bold red title. You probably can’t tell from this angle, but the photo of Jimmy Johnson and Troy Aikman hugging is fuzzy and poorly lit. Michael Irvin appears twice (why?). I mean, it’s really, really, really, really bad, and in the aftermath of the decision I begged the power people to reconsider. No one listened.

And yet, I continue to make royalties off “Boys Will Be Boys.” A couple of times a year a check magically appears in my mailbox. Nothing Stephen King-ish. But a few thousand here. A few thousand there. It’s sweet.

Meanwhile, two years after “Boys Will Be Boys” dropped, I came out with “The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality.” I’m still not 100 percent certain what the subtitle means (rage?), but the cover is splendid …

I mean, look at that beauty. The slanted race car font. My name in red. Clemens peering out from behind his glove. It is, without question, my all-time best cover, and I love everything about it.

The book sold about three copies.

Maybe four.

And here’s what I find oddly reassuring. “The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality” is a mediocre book. It was rushed, under-reported and cursed by a couple of unforgivable blunders (This wasn’t so fun). It’s OK, but no better than OK.

Actually, scratch that. It’s a shit book. My bad.

And maybe, just maybe, what matters most when it comes to a book selling or not selling isn’t the cover or title, but (gasp) quality. Maybe people seeking parenting advice don’t care if a tyke is picking her nose. Maybe people were more intrigued by the plight of Martin Luther King than Muhammad Ali. Maybe the Roger Clemens book stunk, and even a top-flight cover couldn’t save it.

That works for me.

The Quaz Five with … Kristian Dyer

Kristian Dyer covering Rutgers for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and nantional recruiting for USA TODAY High School Sports. You can follow him on Twitter here.

1. Kristian, so you cover Rutgers at Rutgers Wire. So ... what does that mean? As in, how much of Rutgers are you covering? What are you looking for?: Rutgers Wire is part of USA TODAY Sports Media Group, offering a unique national platform for beat reporting. As far as what I’m looking for … well, in this era of NIL, I’m not as certain as I used to be. College sports is certainly in a period of flux and is resembling more and more professional sports without contracts. But I love the rhythm of a daily beat, and covering a college athletics program certainly provides that. In season, there could be two or three different sports happening any given day, any given weekend. That provides the rhythm that I like. Primarily, football and basketball are what sell, and covering recruiting is a big part of that.

2. You spent one year at Sports Illustrated Maven covering the Jets. I say this with all due respect, but I never really bought the whole SI Maven beat thing. Was I right or off?: I think Maven had the right idea but the growth was ramped up very quickly. I think the model can absolutely work, and a return to it for SI is not a bad idea. Fans want national news, but they follow sports for their teams. Providing that can be a useful model. I think having reporters who know and cover a team, with integrity, is important. Merely writing listicles can’t replace actual reporting. There must be a depth to the reporting, something that pushes the news further along.

3. You graduated from Montclair State in 2003. What was your goal? Dream?: My time at MSU was fantastic. My goal? I wanted to be a high school teacher. I stumbled into journalism as a fan. I played soccer in high school and then in college. After college, I worked in a corporate job and was asked to start writing for a fan site covering soccer—this was 19 years ago. I did and enjoyed it. I wrote more and more. Six months later I was freelancing for ESPN.com. Now I consider every day a blessing. I have a tremendous job. But more than anything, I get to spend time with my family …see my son off to school every morning. He is 5-years old and the cutest thing. Must take after his mother.

4. How do you feel about Twitter/X as we sit here in 2024? And do you need it for the job?: I am finding the need to use X for my own brand less and less. That seems less interesting to me than a decade ago when it was professionally all consuming. X is a good way to facilitate news and develop contacts. But in terms of my own personal X’ing … or Tweeting … I find myself to be a rather boring follow. In addition, I’ve developed a disdain for reporters always having to chime in on every moment with some sort of a take. It’s a game. It’s a sport. Let the moment be. But everyone is looking to go viral for each and every comment. Enough already. Be more concerned about doing your job and less about your brand. If you’re using X professionally, and I get that there is some crossover with social media, but if you’re using it as a platform for a job, then do so. We don’t care about your golf game or what you ordered at a diner. X has become a den of narcissism. I guess this was inevitable. But good grief, some people need to put the phone down. Watch an episode of the Kardashians for a break.

5. Why do the Jets always suck?: When your starting quarterback is more interested in being a vice presidential candidate than winning a Super Bowl … there’s your answer. But I believe the answer is simple: Institutionally, the Jets are a poor organization. Always being in search of a quick-fix leads to nothing but long-term problems. Imagine if the Jets had signed Baker Mayfield last year, the position they could be in right now with their young core. But that wasn’t the flashy thing to do. When the Jets as an organization are more interested in winning than selling jerseys, then and only then, will they stop being a disaster.

Bonus (rank in order—favorite to least): loud horn honkers, Don Van Natta, Wayne Chrebet, Don King, Doug Edert, BTS, vanilla milk shakes, dog breath: Vanilla milk shake (I’m assuming with whipped crèam and light chocolate syrup). Don King (a big influence in my childhood). Wayne Chrebet (what is not to like?). BTS (Just Googled them, but I think I’m hooked). Doug Edert (should rank higher but I’m jealous of the hair). Don Van Natta (again, should rank higher but I’m jealous of his ability). Dog breath (I couldn’t come up with anything witty here)

A random old article worth revisiting …

On July 24, 1904, readers of the Morning Post in Raleigh, N.C. woke to the news of a billy goat saving humanity. And, even 120 years after the fact, a billy goat saving humanity needs to be trumpeted. So—thank you, billy goat. Thank you.

The Madness of Tyler Kepner’s Grid …

So unless you’ve been living beneath a pebble beneath a rock beneath a big hunk of cheese, you’re aware of Immaculate Grid, the daily game that’s drawn thousands of nerdy sports fans (guilty!) to its ranks. And while the NBA grid, NFL grid, NHL grid and WNBA grid are all fun, this game is at its best when it comes to baseball—where the names are endless and the transactions ceaseless.

Over the past few weeks I’ve often discussed the grid with Tyler Kepner, the Athletic baseball writer. And now, for kicks, every week I’m gonna feature one of Tyler’s bonkers grid results. He’s the ultimate baseball geek (I say this with great affection), and his outputs blow my mind.

So …

Tyler thoughts …

• Tom Foley is my brother’s least favorite player ever because they traded his hero, Bo Diaz, to the Reds to get him. I mentioned this to Foley once and he was a good sport.

• Alejandro Sanchez was one of those Phillies prospects you’d hear a lot about when I was little. They made several trades with San Francisco and he went there in one of them.

• Erskine Thomason is quite a story. So NFL Films was branching out and decided to follow two prospects all season. One was Thomason. And when he makes his first and only Big League appearance … NFL Films is actually there and the game was not on TV. They freak out and riuh from their South Jersey headquarters to the Vet to re-stage the footage of him pitching on the mound, and then use stock footage of random Cubs batting (not even the guys he actually faced). Also arranged for a fake call from Harry Kalas. Basically, NFL Films fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line. But their film is a fascinating little period piece.

• CJ Nitkowski played for a bunch of teams, now a broadcaster for the Braves and MLB Network Radio. An all-time great guy.

• Roger Mason I’ve probably written about before here, played for many teams, postseason star for Pirates and Phillies in the 1990s. Great for my World Series book.

• Virgil Trucks. Great old Tiger pitcher with a classic name.

• Chien-Ming Wang was a nice, quiet kid who had an amazing sinker that made him a 19-game winner twice for the Yankees when I was on the beat. He hurt himself running the bases in Houston in 2008 and was never the same. Bounced around to a few teams including the Nats and Jays.

• Al Oliver played for four teams in his last two seasons: San Fran, the Phils, LA, and the Jays. Had a big ALCS hit for Toronto in 1985.

• Jim Acker I remember as a quality middle reliever for Toronto for a while. Turns out he only had one partial season for them with an ERA under 3.00, but it counts.

This week’s college writer you should follow on Facebook …

Alex Belzer, University of Iowa

Belzer, an opinion columnist for the Daily Iowan, recently wrote a smart, insightful piece headlined, PROTECTING TRUMP WHILE RESTRICTING IOWANS’ VOTING ACCESS IS HYPOCRITICAL.

Wrote Belzer:

One can follow Belzer on Facebook here.

Bravo, kid.

Journalism musings for the week …

Musing 1: In case you missed the news, Deadspin is dead. And, yeah, Deadspin has been dead for a good while. But this is the undead Deadspin that replaced the good Deadspin. Or, put different: Back in 2019 the real Deadspin ended when G/O Media and its douchey band of douches canned deputy editor Barry Petchesky and the entire staff resigned. Then G/O hired a bunch of new scribes, who tried their best but … eh, it never worked. Wrote Scott Nover for Slate: “Despite the best intentions of many on its late-stage staff, the G/O version of Deadspin was a sports blog with little of the original’s charm, let alone edge. Deadspin was imperfect and brash, as were all of the ex-Gawker properties, but it succeeded in providing an irreverent internet-native alternative to established sports institutions like ESPN and Sports Illustrated—but it also covered media, food, culture, politics, and everything the staff felt like writing about. New management turned off the once-popular comments section and employed headlines that were just ‘self-consciously edgy without actually being sharp,’ as my Slate colleague Justin Peters wrote at the time. (‘Shocking but True: Aubrey Huff Is Still the Worst,’ and ‘The World Series of Poker Is a Petri Dish for Disease. Why The Hell Hasn’t It Been Cancelled Yet?’ stood out at the time.) In recent years, the site has been marred with sloppy errors like when it called Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel ‘a white guy’ and implied he’s not fit for a head coaching job (he’s biracial, his father is Black, and he’s a very good coach); when a writer wrongly assumed a Kansas City Chiefs fan wore blackface to a game, which led to a recently filed lawsuit; or even recently when it misspelled college basketball legend Caitlin Clark’s name twice in a single headline.” RIP.

Musing 2: Along those lines, Sports Illustrated will cease publishing in print after the May issue drops. And I get it. Sincerely. Print is pretty much dead. But, man, the corporate douchebags who took over the brand name never cared about the actual magazine. It’s all been one glorious (for them) opportunity to meet Shaq and throw parties.

Musing 3: Clay Travis trying to slam Ryan Clark for a conflict of interest is the ridiculousness I’m here for. Take a moment and check out Travis’ timeline. He’s supposed to analyze the news fairly, accurately. Does he? Or is he owned by the right?

Musing 4: I’m a huge admirer of Richard Deitsch and his podcast, and I love love love love that this week he brought on three staffers at the Daily Iowan to discuss covering Caitlin Clark. Really cool, and a memorable experience for Kenna Roering, Cooper Worth and Colin Votzmeyer.

Musing 5: Sports sparks joy, and this video of Dodger outfielder Teoscar Hernández teaching teammates Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto how to speak Spanish is the absolute best.

Musing 6: Donald Trump’s willingness to use people at their lowest moments always dazzles me. He’s not only heartless, but lacking any/all empathy. Oh, and he’s dumb as fuck. Need more proof? Earlier this week he met with the parents of Laken Riley, signed a photo of their dead daughter … and misspelled her name. Anything for points.

Musing 7: I am having a passionate love affair with this video of a “journalist” named Davey Hookstead discussing his recent death threat—and how he won’t back down. Now, to be clear, I’m anti-all death threats. They suck, and I certainly don’t wish ill upon MC Davey Hook. But I’ve watched his response at least five times. It’s like “Rambo III” meets “Pretty Woman.”

Musing 8: The new Two Writers Slinging Yang stars Peter King, the all-time NFL scribe who recently announced his retirement from the biz.

Quote of the Week …