Self Publishing & Media Interviews for Authors

All right, authors, good news. The media wants to interview you about your book. Stick around. I've got 10 tips to help you master those media interviews when they come along. Alright, so good news. If you've written a nonfiction book, chances are the media is going to want to talk to you. They're always looking for content and they're looking for experts to talk about to different things on their show. When the media comes calling, you want to make sure that you are prepared. And these 10 tips will help you master the media and make the most of it for your book and your business. Number one is going to seem obvious is show up for your interview. Now why do I even mention this? Well, a couple of reasons. One is time zones. If you're doing podcast interviews or radio interviews, it's really easy to get mixed up. So double conversation. Confirm the time zone that you're in and that they're in and make sure you're showing up for the interview at the right time. If you're on a TV show and you have to start really early in the morning, some of my interviews were I had to be on set in the green room at 6am if you're driving around at 5:30 in the morning trying to find the location of the TV studio and you get lost, guess what? You're gonna miss your interview and on live TV it's gonna run without use. So make sure that you're prepared and you show up on time so you don't miss those interviews. Number two is prepare in advance. If it's a TV show, watch it before you go on it. If it's a radio or podcast interview, why don't you listen to a few shows, make some notes and most importantly, make a note of the host name and the show name and just have it on a cue card. It's easy when you're under pressure to forget important details like who you're talking to. So have it on a cheat sheet and then you'll always know. Number three is have water handy. It seems obvious again, but the number of times you can get rushed onto a set or even sit down to do a quick radio interview and you've got this dry cotton mouth. That happens when you're nervous and suddenly you have trouble speaking. So just have water handy so you can take a quick sip and carry on. Number four, read your book in advance. Sounds funny because you wrote the book, right? But here's what happens. By the time media interviews are happening, it may be three to six to nine months after you've actually Been deep in the trenches of your book and you forget. Next thing you know, the host of the show is opening up to page 123 and saying, now here you say blah, blah, blah. Tell me of what you were thinking when you wrote that and you're gonna go, I don't know. So make sure you stay familiar with the content that's inside of your book. While most hosts honestly do not read your book and will just go off of the questions you submit, the odd one will catch you off guard. If you're not familiar with your own material, stay up to date on the news, especially news specific in your industry. Not only will that help you create relevant pitches for your media outreach, it also gives you something trending and topical to talk about when you're on the show, which the show will always appreciate. Number six, think of this as a speed date. What does that mean? Typically you only have a couple of minutes and they go fast. So you want to have quick tips. No long stories, just short anecdotes, little sound bites and you're good to go. Number seven, prep your talking points in advance. You're going to create questions. Every show producer is going to ask you for talking points. What you want to do is create some questions that lead into the air, answers that you most want to talk about, and write those questions word for word because a lot of show hosts will actually ask them word for word. So you got to know your talking points, have multiple ways to answer each of those questions. So not only will you keep your interviews fresh, but you can go a slightly different direction if that show needs it. Number eight, invest in the right equipment to do home interviews. I've been on shows where you Skype in so you don't have to travel. It's great. However, you will not look like a pro if you don't have good lighting, great audio, and a good backdrop. I've seen shows where you can see people's closet and see the clothes in them and some of the messiness. And that's really distracting as an audience viewer. And the show won't like it either if you are a great guest. A lot of times these shows will have you back again and again and again. So spend a few hundred dollars, get great equipment and you'll look like a pro and probably get invited back. Number nine, send people to a specific page with a specific offer. You can have them go to your website. It's so much better if you say go to booklaunchers.com sellbooks where you're gonna find a fantastic resource on eight ways to sell a thousand books for under $100. Now they've got a reason to go to that page. Sign up for your newsletter and and how you can build a relationship with them. Number 10 don't be friggin boring. Let your personality come out. Have some fun with it. The shows are really looking for character and personality. They want great interviews and that only happens if your character comes out and you have a little fun with it. All right, so the media's gonna call you now. You're so much more prepared. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. It makes me happy. And of course, while you're here, subscribe. Subscribe to the channel so you get all the tips to help you write, publish and sell a fantastic nonfiction book. See you on the next video. Make a note of the guest name. No, you're the guest.