Ben Kaplan: Author- Pipeline to the Pros

In this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Ben Kaplan, a VP in the sports and entertainment industry and a former Division III basketball player, who is the co-author of 'Pipelines to the Pros: How D3 Small College Nobodies Rose to Rule the NBA' with Danny Parkins.

Ben wanted to talk about how a non-journalist learns journalism on the fly for the purpose of writing a book, so that's what we did!

We look at the lessons he learned along the way about how a book needs a throughline, how to interview prominent people (like former NBA head coaches Jeff Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy) and dig for anecdotes they haven't shared before, and how to fight through the struggles of being a first-time author.

Ben's salutes: Chris Herring, Mirin Fader, Chris Ballard, Jeff Pearlman, and Jeff Passan

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to [email protected]

 Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod

Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com