Incredible Story of Unified North & South Korean Women’s Hockey Team | Book Publishing with author Seth Berkman | Overcoming cultural barriers, a political sandstorm & sexist sports dymanics

Seth Berkman is the author of A Team of Their Own, a December Stephen Curry Book Club Pick & One of ESPN’s 25 Can’t Miss Books of 2019. Seth captures the complex humanity of the South Korean women’s ice hockey team; a story about overcoming a political sandstorm, of sparring against sexist dynamics in sports, and despite it all, keep on keeping on. It is as much of a journey of self-discovery for the South Korean, immigrant and adoptee Korean-American, Canadian, and North Korean players and coaches, as it is a journey of self-discovery for Seth, who visited South Korea for the first time since his adoption during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Join us for Seth’s incredible insight into the political, historical and gender dynamics behind the complex story of the South Korean women’s hockey team, and learn how Seth got his book published and what he would do differently next time, knowing what he knows now about publishing and writing a book.

Chapters
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:44) Getting to Know the Players
(00:08:51) Cultural Differences Impacting Team Dynamics
(00:17:29) Why Seth Wrote the Book
(00:18:27) North Koreans Players Added 2 Weeks before Olympics
(00:19:05) International Coverage by CNN, ABC, BBC
(00:24:14) North & South Korean Players: Sneaking in Each Others' Dorms
(00:29:02) Reporting at NYT & Wirecutter v. Writing a Book
(00:31:03) Writing the Book in One Month, from Sunrise till 10PM
(00:34:38) Seth's Self-Discover Journey as an American adoptee from Korea
(00:39:04) Keeping in Touch with the Players
(00:42:29) How Seth Marketed The Book & Found Communities
(00:45:52) How Seth Found His Agent & Published His Book
(00:49:28) Importance of Pushing Back on Publishers & Editors
(00:51:24) Self-Publishing v. Traditional Publishing
(00:53:35) Where to Find "A Team of Their Own"