Too Good to Be Through, my sixth book, launches on Labor Day, Sept. 1, and for me, it’s now a 3-3 tie between self-published books, all post-retirement in the past decade, versus the three done earlier with a publisher.

As you might guess, those M.O.’s are a lot different. In a nutshell, my first three were done at the invitation of a publishing company, which does most of the work – uh, well, except for writing the book. But the publisher assigns the work, establishes a deadline, edits the copy, sends you galley proofs and requests that you approve them, and handles most of the marketing.

When you self-publish, you do . . . pretty much all of it. The beauty is in being your own boss. The burden is that everything is on you.

I’m in that marketing phase now – the fun phase – when the book has been put to bed, when everything has been written, edited, fine-tuned, double-checked and is ready to depart the womb (I think) and greet the public.

My first one was done in 1991 in collaboration with Ralph Miller, the former Oregon State Hall of Fame basketball coach, and if you asked me how marketing today differs from marketing then, I’d tell you it’s like the difference in basketball between 2025 and the era when they staged a center jump after every basket.

Suffice to say, my first publisher wasn’t exactly imaginative. Or maybe it was merely cheap. I distinctly recall lobbying it to supply some books around Iowa City and Wichita, Miller’s first two coaching stops, which didn’t seem to me such a radical idea, inasmuch as this was a book in which he was recalling his entire career. And although the book wasn’t coming out until about 20 months after his retirement, the publisher was going to use a candid shot of Miller on the bench – until I gently campaigned for something different, in the form of a nice, newly photographed, pensive shot of him cradling a basketball.

You know, something that actually looked like a coach in retirement. We shelled out $175 for a newspaper photographer with whom I was friends to drive up to Miller’s mountain home in Oregon, do a free-lance shoot, and I split the cost evenly with the publisher.

As for marketing, strictly speaking, about all I recall was a joint signing at the OSU bookstore, and the line ran out well out the door. Have to confess, that was more about Ralph than it was me.

Now the marketing opportunities are manifold, particularly for a book whose subject matter is the major sport at the two biggest universities in Washington. (It’s a book on the Apple Cup football rivalry.)

I’ve already discussed the book on the radio, thanks to KJR 93.3 FM. There have been approaches to do three different podcasts, another one for a fan website, and one more for a pregame radio show on Apple Cup game day Sept. 20. The influence of social media is staggering, from a post and responses on Facebook to posts on X. I’ve come to believe that the dynamic of whether somebody thinks your book will be worth paying for is actually a lot less important than the recognition that it exists.

At any rate, here’s my agenda Sept. 19 and 20. Hope you can be a part of it.

Sept. 19 – Signing from noon to 2 or 3 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 West Main in Spokane. I’ve done a signing in the past at Auntie’s and they’re good people.

Sept. 19 – Signing as part of the WSU Alumni Association’s First Down Friday at Flatstick Pub, 618 West Main in Spokane, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Sept. 20 – Signing at the Hampton Inn, Pullman, time TBD (about two hours, probably starting in the 8 a.m. hour).

Sept. 20 – Signing at the Crimson and Gray Gathering, WSU Alumni Centre, 1 Alumni Way, tentatively 12:30-1:45 p.m.

Sept. 20 – Signing at the WSU Bookstore, 1500 North Glenn Terrell Mall, Pullman, 2-4 p.m.