Working Titlez

Radio interviews can be a powerful tool in the author/marketer’s toolkit. They work especially well to help generate interest in an event, signing, or workshop that’s upcoming. They are quite easy to book, as well.  Ask your publisher if they’ll record a short interview with you. Post it online, on your blog and website, and email it to radio show bookers as a demo. Book publicist Stephanie Barko shares some useful advice. ~CHU

By Guest Blogger Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist

Authors often wonder why their attempts to capture the attention of radio & TV producers fail.

Book marketing on the radio is an art, and perhaps getting on the radio and generating sales from your spot is an even greater art. You can be featured on the most highly syndicated show for an hour and still not generate sales from your time there unless you carefully prepare for your interview.

Here are some tips for getting on the radio:

1. Create a catchy subject line. Although some producers like to be pitched on the phone, you cannot go wrong with sending an email with a catchy subject line. Unusual subject lines capture attention. If your subject line is boring, you will be assumed to be likewise.
2. Ask for a specific date. Especially if it’s locally produced radio, and you will be traveling to that location on a set date, make sure you state when you will be in town. If you are there because of a local event or special date in local history, mention that also.
3. State why the information in your book is compelling to that station’s audience. You can be general or specific here, but include a sentence or two about why their demographic would benefit from hearing your message.
4. List five things that you will reveal to their listeners. Surely there are five points in your book that this station’s following would find especially useful, fascinating, or surprising. Make those points clear to the producer.
5. List three good reasons to book you as a guest on their station. Now that the producer wants your message, explain why you make a good guest because of your speaking career, your media experience, your voiceover or acting training, your career as an entertainer or whatever you can leverage about your presentation skills. If you have a radio podcast or video clip, embed it in your email to illustrate your skills.

Here’s how to generate sales while you’re on the radio:

After you get the booking, send the show’s host a Q&A ahead of time that brings out the issues in your book. And most importantly, when you enter the studio or pick up the phone, have five talking points written down on index cards in front of you. That way, you’ll stay focused and remember to repeat your buy link several times.

Learn more about Stephanie by reading The University of Texas at Austin’s interview with her that posted this week. Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist was voted Best Book Promotion Service in Preditors & Editors’ 2010 Readers Poll. Her award winning clients include nonfiction and historical fiction publishers and authors. Follow Stephanie at http://www.stephaniebarko.com/blog.

This entry was posted on June 17, 2011 at 10:01 am and is filed under Authors, Books, Marketing, Publishing. Tagged: book marketing, Book Publicists, Radio Interviews, Stephanie Barko. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.