Turning Pages

Shawna Vercher appears to have struck a potential gold mine from two completely unrelated elements — basketball and electronic books.

Her Largo-based company, VTi Media (originally called Vercher Technology & Innovation), had already created a niche as a specialty publisher of books for executive types when she got a call late last year from Tim Donaghy, the former National Basketball Association referee who was imprisoned for accepting money from a professional gambler for inside information on games, including some he had called.

Donaghy, who resides in Lakewood Ranch, had a previous book deal with Random House's Triumph Books subsidiary that was abruptly dropped last fall when the NBA reportedly threatened legal action. The most bothersome part of the story is that Donaghy had already put thousands of dollars on the line to publish what was a certain best seller, only to have it canceled.