Five things you should do when you're interviewed about your book
What I've learned after 14 years and 16 books about getting the word out
Writing a book is only part of the battle. The really important bit, especially if you want to write more than one, is to get people to buy it. Even if you’re not already a major name, your publisher should organise some kind of publicity around the official publication date (if they don’t, then you need to think about changing publisher for that tricky second title). I’ve hawked my wares since 2010 on everything from BBC Breakfast television and Radio 4’s Today programme to my hyperlocal writers’ group, so while this brief listicle is by no means an exhaustive ‘must do’ bible, as I’m also a journalist by training I’m the archetypal poacher-gamekeeper. I hope it might help a bit.
Decide what you want to get out of it - I heard an interview with the comedian Al Murray the other day in which he was asked a very vague question about touring. His answer did include some nice detail about the ups and downs of a life on the road, but only after he’d first made it very clear that he was doing loads of gigs and all around the country and was really looking forward to seeing everybody and tickets were on sale now. He wanted to get, if you’ll forgive the coarseness, bums on seats and went about it efficiently. Think about what you want people to take away from the conversation - attendance at your book signing, signing up for your newsletter, etc, or simply why they should buy it - and emphasise that clearly and early on.
Mention your book - It’s very unlikely the person interviewing you has read your book which is understandable considering the number of people they interview in any given week. The best you can hope for realistically is that their producer has at least had a quick flick and put together some decent questions for the presenter to ask you. This means that while you will, hopefully, get a name check for you and the book at the beginning and end of your conversation, you should also try to get in one or two mentions of the title during your chat. No more than that or you’ll look a bit desperate. I learnt to do this after appearing in 2010 on a radio programme by Alice Roberts about working from home in which neither my Shedworking site or my book, which had just come out, were mentioned a single time.
Tailor your conversation - For my latest book ‘100 Words for Rain’ I’ve been interviewed by various BBC Radio regional stations. One of the main selling points about the book is that it’s got lots of weather terminology that is used in certain counties, so before each one I made sure I had on the tip of my tongue three or four interesting examples that local listeners could identify with and as a result interest them into buying the book. If I’d been interviewed by Radio Shakespeare, I’d have been eager to throw in the various references to his works that appear in the book. Make your book relevant to your listeners/viewers/readers.
Don’t write down 'answers in advance - Put any notions of imposter syndrome completely to one side. It’s your book, you know all about it, and almost certainly vastly more than the person talking to you. S, don’t feel tempted to write down long, extended monologues to vomit out at an appropriate question for radio interviews. It will sound stilted and you’ll probably garble it anyway. A few brief notes are fine as gentle aide memoires but do trust yourself. I hate the phrase ‘You’ve got this’ but you actually so do.
Point people towards your appearance, before and after - If you are absolutely sure that it’s going to be in the paper on Thursday or that you’ll be talking to Radio Wessex at 1.55pm on Monday week, then signpost people to it on your socials, newsletter, and in person so they can listen in or read all about it. Once you’ve done it, do very much the same, with links to the original chat or piece online if possible. Keep people talking about your work.
And here’s a bonus thing to make it up to nearly a baker’s half dozen…
Don’t panic - If they ask you something to which you’ve no idea how to reply, you can’t just say nothing. But it’s a conversation and you’re the expert, so what you can do is steer towards something that you do feel confident about. I’m not advocating politician-levels of obfuscation, but the truth is that the whole thing is happening to entertain listeners/readers/watchers so entertain them.