The Creativity, Education, and Leadership Newsletter
The Creativity, Education, and Leadership Podcast with Ben Guest
46. From Proposal to Publishing Deal
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46. From Proposal to Publishing Deal

Pete Croatto, author of From Hang Time to Prime Time, shares his journey

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

It almost becomes innate how you tell a story.

Pete Croatto is a freelance writer and “idea vendor” (a term he borrowed from author Taffy Brodesser-Akner), based in Ithaca, New York.

His first book, From Hang Time to Prime Time, was published by Atria Books in 2020.

The New York Times writes that Mr. Croatto documents the broader cultures and social tensions of the modern NBA well.

In this episode Pete and I discuss the following:

  • Why finding an agent and publishing a book is like falling in love.

  • The benefits of joining the American Society of Journalists and Authors (@ASJAhq).

  • “The dirty little secret (of marketing) is that you’re doing a lot of the work when the book comes out.”

  • How he made his local, independent bookstore, Odyssey Books, his home base.

  • The process of cold emailing media and podcasters. His “hit rate” from cold emails was 30%.

  • How Larry O’Brien taking the job as NBA Commissioner in 1975 would be like Elizabeth Warren taking over the National Lacrosse League today.

  • How O’Brien handled NBA owners by delegating and how David Stern served as O’Brien’s lead blocker.

  • Our mutual appreciation of Robert Caro.

  • How telling a story is like coiling a garden hose.

  • How Leon Huff, of the legendary “Philadelphia Soul” musical production team Gamble and Huff, gave Pete a great metaphor for writing a good scene. Huff said, in song production, “that ding (of a bell) can be the difference between a good song and a great song.” It’s the same with the little details in your scene. Was O’Brien smoking Winstons or Camels? Did David Stern have eggs or oatmeal? The little details immerse the reader.

  • You can find Pete on Twitter (@PeteCroatto).

  • If you order directly from Odyssey Bookstore you can buy a signed copy of Pete’s book, From Hang Time to Prime Time.


Pete goes into detail about the process of finding an agent and getting a book deal. Here are the steps Pete took to publish his first book:

  • Was a freelance journalist who wrote articles for various outlets, including a piece on Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game.

  • In his reporting for the article Pete started unearthing a bigger story about how the NBA went from a “rinky-dink” league to a global brand, primarily due to Larry O’Brien, Commissioner of the NBA, from 1975 to 1984.

  • Pete’s editor at Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly), Mark Rotella (@MarkRotella), suggested Pete put together a proposal and Mark would send it to his agent.

  • Spent a year on the proposal, which included an outline of each of the ten chapters, two completed sample chapters, and comparable books like Jeff Pearlman’s (@jeffpearlman) Showtime and Jonathan Abrams (@Jpdabrams) Boys Among Men.

  • Agent never replied.

  • Pete joined the American Society of Journalists and Authors (@ASJAhq).

  • Attended an in-person 2017 ASJA event and pitched his book to a roundtable of agents

  • One agent, John Bowers (@John_W_Bowers) at The Bent Agency (http://www.thebentagency.com/), was interested and agreed to represent Pete.

  • A month later John left the agency BUT passed Pete on to a more experienced agent, Louise Fury.

  • Louise shopped the book and it was acquired by Atria Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

  • From proposal to book deal was five years.

Here’s the cover of Pete’s book:


Speaking of sports writing, my new book, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, drops November 1st, as both print and e-book, exclusively on Amazon (it’s not available for pre-order as I want to maximize first day sales).

Pressure plays, buzzer-beaters, and mindfulness meditation: A team of teenagers goes for the championship in Namibia’s professional basketball league....

Here’s a photo of our team captain, Sepo Libana, 19 years old.

Sepo Libana

The “big idea” of the book is that he way we think about coaching sports is all wrong, that it doesn’t have to be rooted in anger and intimidation and fear.

Here’s the cover:

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And please share this email/post with the coaches, players, and parents of middle-school and high-school athletes in your life.


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