A lot has changed at Sports Illustrated Books since Terry McDonell took over as managing editor of the Sports Illustrated Group in 2002. The men's glossy veteran was charged with making SI.com a leading online sports destination and bringing new life to the magazine. McDonell also was “determined to have Sports Illustrated publish good books as soon as I got here.” He's done well; since he joined SI, revenues from the group have increased 173%.
Most recently, McDonell—formerly of Wenner Media, Us, Men's Journal, Sports Afield and Esquire—has brought TIHE in contact with such outside publishers as Simon & Schuster and Grove/Atlantic. He recently signed a deal with S&S executive v-p and publisher David Rosenthal for an as-yet-untitled basketball book by Chris Ballard that will pub in 2009. McDonell said S&S is the publisher, but a spokesperson said that the book will be produced “in a joint agreement with Sports Illustrated.” The spokesperson would not elaborate on the terms of the deal, but said, “Both parties will benefit from the arrangement.” McDonell said he is also hoping to do a book with Morgan Entrekin at Grove/Atlantic soon. In general, McDonell said he looks to partner with other publishers if a book will be written by an SI writer and appears to have strong sales potential. He explained, “I go to [a publisher] and say, 'This is going to be an expensive book [with a large advance], but maybe if we do this together, we can limit our exposure, publish a good book and have a chance for a bestseller.' ” McDonell said partnering with a house like S&S gives SI added financial and marketing resources.
One of the first things McDonell did at SI was to separate, at least partly, from Time Inc. Home Entertainment; rather, they're Sports Illustrated Books. In the past, McDonell said, TIHE would find book packagers to produce branded SI books. But in an effort to keep a hand in the books' creation, McDonell began using his own editorial and design team (although TIHE handles distribution and manufacturing).
Sports Illustrated Books has seen strong sales of a 50th-anniversary book and four books in a large-format sports book series (the most recent is College Football, which pubbed last month); there are one million copies of those heavily illustrated books in print altogether. There are between 11 to 13 titles a year published under the SI name. Said McDonell, “We have a booming albeit secret book business here.”
