Jonah Keri is a NY Times best-selling author, sports writer for ESPN’s Grantland, and told me some fantastic stories on this week’s show.  He has been a paid journalist his entire professional life and he details his journey as a writer. Jonah dives into how he started his podcast, the process behind writing his best-selling books, and how he wound-up working for Bill Simmons’ Grantland website.

Great Jonah Keri quotes:

“Somebody is always paying attention to what you’re doing somewhere.”

“One of my favorite quotes is by Branch Rickey: ‘Luck is the residue of design.’  Meaning you need a lot of luck in life, but if you work hard and you have a baseline level of skill – things will come to you.”

Listen on iTunes here

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Jonah’s book writing process, how long it takes him to research and interview subjects
• How his girlfriend helped him get back into baseball during Major League Baseball’s ’94-’95 strike season
• How he booked early guests like Rickey Henderson, Evan Longoria, and Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard for his podcast
• The story behind his first job as a sports writer
• How posting on baseball message boards helped him land his first book deal
• How he connected with Bill Simmons to start writing for Grantland

Connect with Jonah Keri:

• Jonah Keri on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jonahkeri
• Joah Keri’s “Extra 2%” NY Times Best-seller: http://amzn.to/dmz0hk 
• His new Montreal Expose book “Up Up & Away!”  goo.gl/EwWQtS 
• Jonah Keri writes for Grantland:  http://www.grantland.com/