by Linda White

Publicity has been called “glorified telemarketing”—this from a member of a panel I once attended at BookExpo America. I’m a publicist, so it was a little disheartening to hear my area of expertise described so. I worked mainly in broadcast publicity for many years, and I pitched to a lot of producers across the country. My main mission has always been to place authors I work with on as many shows as possible, while still helping the shows maintain the integrity of the content they want to produce.

A few pointers:

Producers love it when you can pitch an original angle to them. I once had a fiction author go on a radio show to talk about trends in Christian fiction, just to get her own book on there. She was a veteran writer and knew her market. That host-producer was very happy.

Make sure the producer understands what you are pitching. A national television show producer was interested in an author I represented when she thought he could talk about getting kids ready for back-to-school. Maybe she hadn’t carefully read the materials I had sent her. I had pitched it as a back-to-school topic, but it was not about getting the kids out the door in the morning. The producer was thrilled to discover the book was about bullying (which was a relatively new mainstream topic back in 2006), and we developed a very successful relationship between this national television show and the author.

Be prepared to have a conversation. I have never produced a radio show, but I can imagine the horror of having a guest who does nothing but utter monosyllabic grumbles. Or being a television host with a guest who keeps refusing to answer questions on the grounds that he or she doesn’t want to give away what’s in the book.

Okay, people. Here’s the deal. What’s in the book—that’s why you’re there. The host thought the topic of your book, or some personal detail about you, was fodder for a show interesting enough that people would want to tune in. And if you stonewall that host, you will never—never—be asked to repeat that performance. Not only that, but you won’t have a decent clip to show around, because that clip will be the kiss of death and after viewing it or listening to it, no producer in her right mind would book you.

The name of the game is content. You are there to share your book. Share it! Be the wise one with all the answers. Don’t be afraid to give something away. It’s like the movie trailers that show these awesome scenes. Are they the only good scenes in the movie? Sometimes they are. But even if they are the best scenes, if they are really good, that is enough to entice you to go see what the rest of the movie is like. And if the rest of the movie is even close, you will walk away satisfied.

So be the movie trailer. If your book is a mystery, don’t give away the ending. But in most cases, you can talk about what the book is about and there will still be something left for the audience to read. With fiction, much of the time there is a true-life component to it. How did you come up with the story idea? What is it based on? So you can talk about the process without giving away every twist and turn of the plot.

By all means, if you do end up enjoying a witty repartee with the host, go with it. Just don’t forget to get your main message in there. Don’t get hijacked. If you are doing a radio interview, you’ll likely be doing it on the phone, so it is easy to stay on track if you keep a copy of your main points in front of you.

Other tips for phone interviews:

• Stand—preferably in front of a mirror. It projects your voice better.
• Smile while you talk. Smile at yourself in the mirror. You are having fun now, aren’t you?
• Don’t use a cell phone if you can help it. No matter what kind of phone you use, don’t walk around. Your reception may change, and you don’t want that.
• Keep all distractions away. Kids, dogs, other phones that may ring. Turn off call-waiting.
• Use the host’s name. It makes the interview feel more like a conversation. Hosts like this.
• Offer a book for giveaway to the audience. Mention this when you pitch the show. Hosts love to reward their listeners.
• And finally, be sure you have covered all your points. Don’t get sidelined into a conversation about your kid going off to college or your new dog.

If you are doing a television interview, don’t obsess about holding up your book the whole time. But feel free to hold it up if you are talking about it—which of course you are, right? Sit forward and engage yourself with the host. You’re happy to be there.

In both cases, be very aware of the time, and make sure you have covered any salient points before your time is up.

After the interview, send a thank-you note. This courtesy is getting more and more rare. You want to stand out in this host’s or producer’s mind. He or she will be more likely to have you on again if you can do that.

It’s natural to be nervous when you first start doing interviews. Start small, with local stations that you are comfortable with. Use those clips to land more regional or national shows. By then you will be more relaxed and a better guest. And while there is no definite correlation between book sales and broadcast interviews, they really are a great way to get your name out there. And we all know word of mouth sells books.

Linda White is a publicist, writer, and editor. She runs BookMania, at www.bookmaniaonline.com, which offers services to authors and publishers. She has worked in publishing for over 15 years, the last several in publicity. Linda gives talks to groups and offers classes on publicity. See the BookMania website for more information. Linda especially enjoys talking with authors about the publishing world and helping them find their way through it.