How to get on the radio to plug your book First, select your radio station and the programme on it most likely to want an interview. We’d all like to be on Today or Front Row, but, let’s face it, it aint going to happen. But, with the right pitch, we can all get on our local station, generate publicity from that and perhaps get an all-important review to put on our Amazon page. So, where to start.. Well, the website of your local station is the best place. It will list all the programmes and presenters and give a hint of what their show is looking for. Unless your book is very topical and in tune with the current news agenda, it’s best to ignore the breakfast and drivetime shows. We’re looking for something softer and more chatty -- we want the show that says something like ‘we bring you amazing tales of Blogshire people’. So we’re looking at late morning/early afternoon. The station’s website will probably have a ‘contact us’ link. I’d recommend ignoring that. Much better to go straight to the presenter. For a BBC presenter the email address is fairly easy to work out, it’s just [email protected]. Of course, if your presenter is called Jane Jones then it’s not quite so straightforward as several Jane Jones’s probably work for the BBC -- but a Google search for the presenter’s name and email will often reveal it, or just ring the station and ask for it. Next, have a listen to the programme -- you will be able to listen back to BBC shows on i-player -- and check they do the right kind of interview. Then send that all-important email. This is where some thought is needed. Basically, it’s a trade off. They’ll let you come on air and will talk about your book -- provided it makes good listening. So, just sending an email saying ‘I’ve written a book and would love to appear on your programme’ isn’t going to cut it. You need an extra dimension to your story which is going to make you an interesting and worthwhile guest. To use my own example -- my novel, The Past Lies Waiting, is set in Tuscany. It’s partly a ghost story and uses as a location a remote farmhouse where I spent a holiday and which did have a strange atmosphere. This is what I could offer to talk about -- in effect ‘my holiday in a spooky house inspires novel’. The station could then build on that, invite people to call in or text with their own ghostly tales. You need to find, in the jargon, your own u.s.p. Maybe your book is set in the station’s area, or inspired by some people who live there, or maybe you transposed some real locations listeners would recognise to your fictional landscape, perhaps your book is set somewhere which has been in the news and you can talk about your experiences there. It might be the u.s.p. is you -- it could be you wrote the novel while working full time and set the alarm for 5am every day to do a few hours before your regular job; maybe your careers teacher at the local school told you to forget all about being a writer, or perhaps someone inspirational who lives locally gave you the confidence to do it. There are a great many possibilities -- in short, the radio station is looking for a story about you which will engage their listeners. So, you’ve emailed the presenter and he/she likes the sound of it. They will, if it’s a BBC station, pass on the details to a producer who will ring you up for a chat. This is important. You’re almost there, but it’s not a done deal yet -- you have to convince the producer you are an interesting guest, so answer his or her questions as if you were on air. Be bright and chatty. Offer to send a press release if you have one, or a link to your Amazon page or any sites which have reviewed your book. If this conversation goes well, they will set a date for you to be a guest. Offer to drop a review copy of your book in to the station, for both the presenter and producer. The presenter might not read it all before the interview -- but they will certainly take a look and might say something nice about it on air, then, bingo, you have a review quote for your Amazon page! On interview day, unless you are an experienced broadcaster it’s natural to feel a little nervous. Approach the interview as if you were just chatting about your book to the one person sitting opposite you. Make sure you have a cup of water. Wear comfortable, loose fitting clothes, it helps the breathing. A newsreader I used to know always undid his trousers before broadcasting! Remember, radio hates silence -- so don’t have a long pause while you think about a question. And don’t worry, you’re not going to get a grilling by John Humphrys. It’ll all be quite relaxed and friendly! I’ve post a copy of my interview with Radio Oxford -- I’m not for one minute pretending I’m the greatest guest, but it does give you some idea of the style of a local radio interview and the type of questions. If this has been any use, it would be great if you could ‘like’ my page! I’m happy to try to answer any further questions people might have.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 11:03:03 +0000
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