Live Interviews

The whole marketing thing is still a mystery to me- how to catch the attention of the book-buying public. There are so many books out there to choose from, in every genre imaginable. I have tried a variety of avenues, radio and podcast interviews, and book club events. My admiration for TV anchors who appear each night before the cameras, speaking live to a TV audience, has increased tenfold.

I don’t really have any advice for authors, but I can share my experiences with this approach. I have had several interviews, and the one thing I can say is that it does get easier. The first one was in the studio of a local radio station, WHUP. The setup was a bit intimidating. Who am I kidding? It was really intimidating, but Bob Burtman, who conducted the interview, was very experienced and kept it going for twenty minutes by prompting me and offering positive comments. What I learned from listening to the interviews, after the fact, is that my recorded voice doesn’t sound like the one in my head. Clearly, the polish I imagined does not come out of my mouth!

The second was with Chat and Spin, a British radio broadcast, and lasted 10 minutes. This was on Zoom, and I should have been more at ease sitting in front of my own computer, but I hate the way I look on my webcam. Am I really that old? Again, Ron Clark, the interviewer, was excellent. Are you getting the picture that the amateurishness is about me?

The third one I had was with Impact Radio. Paul Reeves was more interested in me and my life than the book. Maybe listeners are too. I know I enjoy learning about authors. I enjoyed that chat, since we have a shared history of Michigan. The final one was with The Authors Show. This broadcast was all about books. Linda Thompson said the interviews are designed from a marketing perspective to present the book to the book-buying public. I hope she is right because I need all the help I can get with that.

I have also participated in Q&A sessions with book clubs. One with the sailing book club and the other a women’s reading club. I enjoy these events as they are not so formal and look forward to doing more.

Does any of this help sell books? I’m not sure. I’ll keep you posted.