Announcing a new book project from The Power Sweep

I am writing a book about the Green Bay Packers.

Whew, there, I said it. Or wrote it. Whatever. The point is, I am writing a book, and if all goes well, you’ll be reading it in 2025.

You no doubt have questions. Here is my attempt to answer them.

Why are you writing a book?

I am writing a book for two broad reasons: dreams and spite.

The first one is obvious. I’ve thought of myself as a writer for as long as I can remember. It’s always been a core part of who I am, and I’ve largely made my adult life work because of my ability to write. Every part of my post-college career has boiled down to that in some way, whether writing ad copy or marketing pieces or radio news reports or podcasts or something else of the many different things I’ve learned to write over the years.

Writing a book has always felt like the crowning achievement of that kind of career, and I’ve talked about doing this publicly and privately for years. Sooner or later, I figured I’d do it, and I think the time to do it is now. I’m not getting any younger, I have the time and ability, and I might as well get it done. Plus, there are lots more books that I want to write, but you’ve got to start with one, so here we go.

The second reason, spite, takes some explaining.

Not quite a year ago, I was contacted by a publisher asking if I’d like to write a book for them about the Green Bay Packers. Of course, I did, and I happily told them so. Talks progressed to the point that we were talking about payments and delivery schedules and outlines of the book, and the only obstacle that remained was a conversation with the owner of the publishing company.

My contact at the publisher assured me this was perfunctory; they liked me and my work and wanted to work with me. That’s what made it so surprising when the owner ended the call by saying “I’m not sure this is something that can happen.”

Why did he say that? One simple reason: I don’t live in Wisconsin.

The owner said their publishing model depends on authors being willing and able to make in-person appearances in their team’s home market to pitch the book at events and things like that, and if I wasn’t able to commit to doing that, they didn’t want to work with me. It just wouldn’t work.

He said if I could find a co-author who could commit to the appearances, they’d consider it. I made an honest attempt to do so, but two or three different options fell through, and to be honest, the wind was out of my sails at that point. I made an earnest pitch to explain that I bring a built-in audience of literally thousands of podcast listeners, that I make regular trips to Wisconsin for family purposes (I do! I still have family in Wisconsin!) and that my “real-life” job is mainly remote, so I have plenty of flexibility in my schedule for travel.

He was unswayed. Or, rather, I assume he was unswayed because he never returned any of my calls and stopped answering my emails. Ghosting someone you sought out because you failed to notice some publicly available information — tremendous professionalism!

So I’m going to write the book I’d have written for them. And now I’m doing it for me.

What book are you writing?

That brings us to the book itself.

I love the Packers and I love history, so I’m writing something that brings those two passions together. I am proud to announce (about 750 words into this self-indulgent post) the future publication of a book I am tentatively titling “Packers History in 100 Plays.”

I am going to look at 100 individual plays throughout Packers history and explain how they moved the story of the Packers forward. We’re going to start at the very beginning and move to the modern era, touching on the moments and players that shaped the history of the team I’ve spent decades following.

When will the book be published?

I don’t have an exact publication date in mind, but ideally we’re going to self-publish this thing right around the start of the 2025 season. There’s a lot that goes into that, and we’re a long way away from getting it done, but that’s the idea for now.

Here’s the kicker, though: to put some teeth to this plan, I am committing to getting a draft of this book done quickly. I’ve dithered around long enough, and it’s time to get rolling. Today, I am committing to have a draft of “Packers History in 100 Plays” finished by June 30, or else I will make a $100 donation to the Minnesota Vikings Foundation. June 30 or bust. Or, I guess, June 30 or give money to the Vikings — that’s even worse.

Over the next few months, I’m going to provide regular updates on my progress, and I may even share some sample chapters as I work on them. But I’ve got a lot of work to do and very little time in which to do it, so who knows if that actually happens.

One thing that will happen, though, is this book. It’s going to get done — or I’m going to pay up. Come this fall, we’ll either be talking about a book I’ve written or laughing about what I paid to the Vikings. Thanks for reading along.