Are You Ready When the Media Calls? Book Marketing and Promotion Tips for Newspaper, Magazine, and Radio Interviews

Are you prepared for the media to call you? Have you prepared your talking points for when the radio, newspaper, or magazine journalist calls for an interview about your book or writing? If you’re not, you should be. Pitching your books or writing is great, but if you’re not ready when the call finally comes in, it really is just a wasted effort.

Most authors go about their routine of sending out press releases, e-mailing pitches or mailing books to journalists and reviewers, but they’re unprepared for the caller that says, “Yes, I’d like to interview you for a story I’m doing.” It is even more important to have your talking points ready because the interviewer or journalist who is likely calling several people; being prepared will give you a leg up on the competition.

As thorough as you’re being in getting your book or writing in front of media, radio, newspaper, and magazine journalists, you’ll need to be equally thorough when they call you. The first step is to keep a file close at hand with a list of places you’ve pitched and the angle you’ve given them. Most reporters won’t take the time to reconfirm the slant you took or the ideas you offered; having this handy will give the impression of someone who is on top of their media campaign. Likewise, taking the time to dig or reconstruct this information while on the phone is unprofessional and will reflect badly on you.

Next, have all your tip sheets handy. If you didn’t submit tips to the media in your pitch (and even if you did), you’ll want to offer these to the person interviewing you. It’s also important to keep up with current events that might add a new twist to your topic. When relevant to your industry, it’s also a good idea to stay up to date with new research that might shed some additional light on your subject matter. Also, keep a list of other experts in your field to help the reporter or producer flesh out a story. If you do your homework, they won’t need to call anyone else, but in case they do, have this information handy, especially if they can offer a different perspective than yours. Remember, it’s the media’s job to offer all sides of the story. Keep in mind that this is not just about getting them the information they need, but also about ingratiating yourself to the media and becoming their first contact for this particular topic. The more you can help them do their job, the better an interview will go, and the greater the chances are that you’ll get called on again.

It is also important to be courteous of their time and be aware of their deadlines. If they need to see a copy of your book and they’re local, offer to drop it off. If they aren’t local, do whatever you can to get the book to them on time, even if this means incurring overnight mailing fees. The more you can help them enhance their segment or print piece, the more time or “ink” you might get. Also, if there are pictures or digital files related to your subject matter, make sure you have them handy and can e-mail them or even better, point them to your website and media page (part of your author platform).
It is not that hard to be prepared for media calls, but often we forget to do this in our frenzy to market and promote our books and writing. By preparing your talking points ahead of time, however, it is possible to avoid any embarrassments and to really capitalize on newspaper, magazine, and radio interviews. Doing so is not only smart book marketing and promotion, but it is an essential part of being a successful independent author and writer.

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