Rose’s Book Is a Coup for Publishing Firm

So how did Rodale Inc., a family-owned publisher in Emmaus, Pa., with headquarters on a 60-acre organic farm, land what could be one of the most buzzed-about books of the year, Pete Rose’s memoir, “My Prison Without Bars”?

After a heated bidding war last year, Rodale won the rights to Rose’s book, in which, according to much media speculation, the baseball legend admits that he bet on baseball games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds. The book is under strict embargo, with no advance copies being released.

On Monday, a Rodale editor said in a phone interview that Rose’s book fits with the publisher’s mission of promoting healthy lifestyles because the book is about “the beauty of a redemptive message.” The book goes on sale Thursday when Rose will launch a major book tour that includes stops in Los Angeles on Jan. 12 and 22.

Early in 2003, Rodale editors sat down in a New York hotel room with Rose and his agent, Scott Waxman. Jeremy Katz, Rodale’s executive editor of men’s health books, tells the story this way:

“Pete Rose looked at us, and said, ‘Why should we go to a company like Rodale?’ The answer was one that really struck Pete. It was that we were scrappy just like Pete, just like the work ethic he displayed through all of his years in major league baseball. We’re that kind of company.”

Waxman, who said that “all the major houses” were interested in signing Rose, confirmed details of the meeting.

“When you’re dealing with something like this, a book about your life, it’s a very personal thing,” Waxman said in a phone interview. “When you walk into a room with people, you want to get that right vibe. I think he really connected with the folks in that room. It was clear that [the book] was going to be as important to them as it was to him.”

Rose signed with Rodale the next day, said Waxman, though he wouldn’t disclose the advance Rose was offered. Waxman said he was thrilled with the way the book turned out. “We think they’ve hit a home run, as it were. I think they got the cover right, the timing right, and they handled a sensitive book with just the right amount of business savvy, as well as an understanding of who the author was. It was a real balancing act, this book.”

So far, local booksellers such as Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood said browsers have not been asking about the book. At Dutton’s Brentwood Bookstore, owner Doug Dutton said there has been “very little interest here” in “My Prison Without Bars.”

Rodale, which has made its name with health and fitness books, along with magazines on backpacking and organic gardening, turned out to be a great match with Rose, Katz said.

The press was founded in 1930 by J.I. Rodale, who owned the original farm site and was interested in promoting ideals on natural farming. Rodale family members still help run the company.

Rodale is the largest independent bookseller in the country, with $500 million in annual sales.

Rodale publishes about 85 titles a year, allowing it to focus on a plan for each book, Chief Executive Steven P. Murphy said.