• Book Marketing and Promotion

  Publicity

  Posted by jennaharte on September 2, 2021 at 7:37 pm

  Here are a few tips for getting booked on podcasts and other media that talks to authors:

  1. Have your media kit on your website (you can use the one-page template for a basic media page https://writewithharte.com/freebies/). When you pitch, you can include a link to it for the media outlet to review.

  2. Review the last six months of the media outlet’s content to get a feel for what they cover, as well as the mood or feel of the content. You don’t want to pitch something the outlet just covered.

  3. Create a value-oriented pitch idea for the outlet. The outlet and its listeners don’t care about you or your book. They are curious about elements of you and your book that they can relate to. Use what you’ve learned by researching their recent content for ideas on how you can attract the outlet and its readers/listeners/viewers. If there’s something different about your book from the traditional genre, that could be an interesting point. I recently read a marriage of convenience romance in which the woman was the billionaire and the man was financially strapped, turning the conventional tropes around. Another value you can offer is a free book giveaway!

  4. Write a short, succinct, value-centered, pitch. When it comes to pitching for guest spots, you don’t want to be wordy. You want to provide the basics: why you’re writing, what you offer, why you’re the one to offer it and contact info.

  5. Tailor your pitch to the outlet and direct it to a specific person. Let the person reading your pitch know that you understand their goals and their audience.

  6. If the outlet has pitching guidelines, follow them! This sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised by how many people don’t follow instructions. The fastest way to end up in the deleted file is to not follow the guidelines provided for pitching.

  7. Follow up. Emails get lost. Producers get busy. There are many reasons you might not hear back that doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of interest. Give the outlet a week or so, and then follow up.

  8. Be professional. Whether you’re booked or not, always be polite. If you are booked, show up on time and be ready. When you finish, thank the interviewer with a thank you note. Handwritten and mailed will make a HUGE impact, but if you can’t do that, email.

  9. Share the interview with your readers, followers, and subscribers. This not only gives you some cred, but also it helps the outlet. Plus, if other outlets you’re pitching do a Google search on you, they can come across your website and social shares that show you promote your interviews, which can make you more appealing. (NOTE: Since media outlets might Google you and find social media postings, you will want to be careful about what you post. If you have digital dirt, delete it and put up new content to push the old, bad stuff down in search rankings.)

  Do you have other thoughts on pitching media? Let me know!

  • This discussion was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by  jennaharte.

  Freebies (Members)

  jennaharte replied 3 years, 2 months ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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