By Stacey J. Miller, Book Publicist
S. J. Miller Communications
[email protected]
We all work hard to create book promotion opportunities. That’s why serendipitous book publicity opportunities are so welcome. How would you like to generate unexpected book publicity opportunities? An invitation to appear on a radio show that comes your way while you’re busy doing other things — such as writing books? Perfect!
How do you garner book publicity opportunities without persistent outreach to radio show producers and radio show hosts, though?
That’s easy, and you don’t even have to be a book publicist, or an especially aggressive author to do it. With a little bit of savvy self-marketing, you can get radio show opportunities even when you’re not reaching out for them.
Authors who let radio show producers and radio show hosts know that they’d be available for media interviews on short notice — either through their book publicists’ outreach or via their own followup thank-you emails (after interviews) — are well-positioned to receive radio show invitations when another guest has cancelled or, for one reason or another, air time has opened up and needs to be filled. It’s not unusual for a radio show host to be called upon to fill in for another radio show host at the mast minute and to need something to entertain and/or inform listeners. Why not call upon an author? And, naturally, the first authors radio show hosts (and their producers) call upon are the ones who have said they’d be available with little or no notice.
So, if you’re an author whose schedule allows for last minute radio show opportunities, do let radio show hosts and radio show producers know that you’d be available to do an on-air interview at any time. Then sit back. Sometimes, book promotion opportunities come your way when you’ve just set the stage for them to happen. There. Now, isn’t that great? You earned the book publicity opportunities just by being clever enough to lay the groundwork for them!