Free Book Marketing Tip #8 – Prepare a Set of Interview Questions

Remember reading What Color Is Your Parachute, the job search bible, in the time before we had access to the internet? I have several dog-eared editions from my early 20s. This book was important. The teachings of Richard Bolles helped to launch careers for millions of faithful readers. It also showed me the value of research and being prepared.

What Does Searching For A Job And Talking Your Book Have In Common?

They both require research.

Researching Your Audience

Finding your audience and building a strong community is very much like the research involved in a successful job search. Today it is relatively easy to research a company, person, or group by “googling” them. If you are not comfortable with doing research, you have allies in the guise of research librarians. Make friends with the research librarian at your local public library or university library. Librarians are experts at organizing and finding information. They can assist you in finding what you are after and being efficient in your search.

When you have an interview lined up, your mission is to find out about your interviewer and who follows them (their audience). The more you know about them, the easier it is for you to create questions to tell a story that will be a match to their interests.

It is very likely that you will be asking for interviews when you are just starting out. Until you become a recognized expert, you will be reaching out to the media. Do it enough, and they will come looking for you as the expert in your niche.

Get Ready For Your Interviewed

Do your homework

Don’t expect that they have read your book. They may only know your name and the title of the book. When you come in like a professional, you make them look good. Be the best guest ever. You want them to want to invite you back again.

Find out about the person who is going to interview you:

What do you have in common?
Education
Places you have lived
What are they famous for?
Have they written a book?

What To Bring With You To Your Interview

Arrive early
Always bring printed copies of your biography (short and long versions)
Print out your introduction (large type to make it easy to read)
Bring printed copies of your questions and answers to them
Bring your book
Bring any related products
Bring a good story to share
Remember, this is not a commercial, be interesting and engaged
Come prepared to have fun
Be prepared for the unexpected
If you don’t know the answer to something asked, deflect and get back to talking about what you want to share
Have a positive belief that you will do a fantastic job

Practice

Doing local media can lead to regional opportunities, regional to national, and national to international. You may appear on radio, television, a podcast, or in an article, always come with your own set of questions can give you the confidence to enjoy the show, because you know all the answers.

Pick a Day: Leverage National Holidays for Smart Publicity

Created with Tagul.com

“On National Day Calendar, you will find the unique, fun and sometimes unusual designations of each calendar day.”

Check out the National Day Calendar website. There are lots of events that are well-known, some that are quirky, and I bet there is just the one that would be a perfect one for your book.

If that site doesn’t work for you, take a look at Days of the Year. This site has some of the same days listed and some that you may not have encountered on the National Day Calendar site.

According to Days of the Year, October is:

National Pizza Month
Fair Trade Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month

So you can see, you can find a day, week or month that matches your genre.

Linking to Something Bigger is a Smart Publicity Strategy

I call it the “shopping mall” effect. When I go to a shopping mall, I’m usually there to buy something specific. But, have you noticed that on your way to your destination, something attracts you that you didn’t event know you wanted? The original purpose of your trip to the mall got you into buying range of something wonderful, but unknown to you before you saw it. Hitching your book to an event that is well-known allows you to get in front of a crowd of buyers who didn’t previously know about you. Its like the prompts on Amazon: “buyers who bought X also bought Y.” This is a brilliant way to get in front of the people you want to connect with. Go where there are crowds. Then, keep on providing fresh, quality content to gain a your own following.

Event the Big Guys Do It

If you are in a retail store, check out the seasonal displays throughout the year. You will find tie-ins to major holidays like: Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Passover, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, St. Patrick’s Day and more.

There are even entire months that have a focus:

February has become the month of Go Red for Women – created to increase awareness of the symptoms of heart attacks in women

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (I am a survivor)

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (to remind women to get a mammogram to catch early signs of breast cancer). Ford Motor Company has an entire Warriors in Pink campaign. You can see more on their website built around this cause.

You too can use the power of a national holiday in your traditional and social media, just like the big guys. I love Halloween themed Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ad that has fang marks on the candy.

For ideas, I recommend that you visit the National Day Calendar website to find all kinds of events that you can use to leverage your visibility and grow your audience.

NATIONAL CLEAN YOUR VIRTUAL DESKTOP DAY

The third Monday in October is “NATIONAL CLEAN YOUR VIRTUAL DESKTOP DAY.” This unofficial holiday created by the Personal Computer Museum would be a natural partner in publicity for books about technology, clutter, computers, disaster planning, virtual assisting, how to avoid a computer meltdown, best practices for safe computing, going paperless, humor (why I can’t find anything on my computer), how-to guides on computing…, and for people who service personal computers.

I know my computer could use a bit of organizing and cleansing to keep it running at top speed. Here is the day for designated for this “techno” housekeeping task.

Make Up Your Own Day

If you don’t see a day that is a perfect fit for you, make up one of your own. My friend, Jeff Rubin, created National Punctuation Day (September 24th). As a result, Jeff has appeared on national television and radio, he has also been covered in newspapers and blogs . Visit the website for more details and ways to celebrate the day. You will also find humorous grammar tips, and information about “Punctuation Playtime Products” that help teach grammar to children. Contact Jeff at Jeff@NationalPunctuationDay.com

What is Happening on Your Birthday?

I looked up my birthday and found three listings:

National Fig Newton Day
National Nothing Day
National Religious Freedom Day

My challenge to you is to create a post that ties all three of these celebrations together.