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When you have to snail-mail books, use the U.S. Postal Service’s Priority mail rather than media mail service. The former will maximize your book’s chances of arriving at its destination within a few days. The latter will maximize your book’s chances of falling into the Black Hole.
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| Check out the media outlet before your interview, if you can. Read sample articles by the reporter, or catch an archived radio show, and so forth. The more familiar you are with that media outlet, the more prepared you’ll be for the interview. |
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| Keep your cool. Some interviewers choose a confrontational style, and the best thing you can do is stay calm and keep your sense of humor – and refuse to get hot and bothered about it. You’ll come away with your dignity intact and maintain your credibility if you refuse to take the interviewer’s hostility personally. |
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| Be respectful of media decision makers’ time when you’re pitching story idea. Be concise, get to the point quickly, and stay on topic – unless you’re invited to engage in a more personal dialogue. |
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Choose a project. If you have more than one book, highlight only one of them, and gear your efforts toward promoting that title. If you try to promote everything, you’ll end up promoting nothing.
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| Prepare your message points, and try to stay on those topics during your interviews. If the interviewer tries to stray too far from the subject at hand, try to gently bridge back to the topic, “That’s a good point, and also, [add a fact that’s part of the original topic here].” |
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| Use interview time efficiently and wisely. You might get only 2 minutes on the air, so be ready to state your most important messages in that amount of time. If you have the luxury of more interview time, then be ready to elaborate on your message points. |
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| Minimize distractions. If you’ll be doing interviews from home or a workplace with other people, find a private – and quiet – space. Keep it children- , pet- and coworker free. |
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| Choose a spokesperson. If you’ve coauthored your book, then designate which of you will do the interviews. It’s better to not pitch more than one author – media decision makers tend to want to schedule one person at a time for logistical reasons. |
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| Get ready for the “first pancake effect.” That means that, no matter how experienced you are (in the kitchen or on the interview circuit), the first pancake or interview will not reflect your best work. Do a less important interview or two before you pitch the major media outlets. |
