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EXCITEMENT!

You have a request for an interview.

When I was doing interviews for Wisdom Television, I was like a dog with a bone.  I not only read every book of every author, I dug into all their other books, read all the reviews.  I knew more about them than their own mothers.

I thought every interviewer did that.

Now I had a book to sell.  And I was in for a shock.

My publicist arranged many interviews on radio for me.  Not small stations.  Big ones in New York and San Francisco – all over the country.  They were done by phone.

Only a few had looked at our press kit and almost no one had opened the book.

I think most of these people did not know who they were interviewing until a few minutes before the show.

The first question was invariably this –

“So, what’s your book about?”

WHAT?

I realized I had to design my own interview to get the ball rolling.  What some people call a “thirty second.elevator pitch.”

You have to give enough information about your book so that the interviewer had some fodder to ask follow up questions.

My book was called Reflections from a Woman Alone.

“My book, (mention the name of your book here) is a book about a young widow facing life as a single.  But it is not a book about grief.  It is a book about entering society that you have not experienced for years.”

And all the rules of being single have changed.

That gives the interviewer an entrance to at least ask “How?”

I would answer – (GOD!  There is a whole half hour to fill up with this person)

Let me read you the prologue of the book.  It is a poem that will give you an idea.

You only get a minute.

The stone has not been set

before you get the question

“Are you seeing someone yet?”

You have not filed the insurance,

transferred a single bond

before they sing the litany

“Remember, life goes on.”

It’s not the lonely evenings

that strike terror in your breast.

It’s the envelopes that come addressed

to “Ms. You and your guest.”

The dilemmas’ not in grieving

or even what to wear

but where you find a body

to escort you to affairs.

They say you’re far too fussy.

There is  nothing much out there.

They use as their criteria

if a man can breathe and stare.

I’d run away to Tonga,

Abu Dhabi or Tibet,

but I know that someone there would ask

“Are you seeing someone yet?”

If you find yourself a widow,

start wailing right away.

You only get a minute

before you have to play.

That gives the interviewer an opening to ask more questions.

I am not going to go through an entire interview with you but just to give you an idea of how you have to actually take control of the interview.

You probably have some stories in your book.  Tell them.

You can turn almost any odd question over with something like, “That reminds me of something in my book that was (interesting – funny-informative – you choose)

You can’t do this off the cuff.  You actually have to make a script for yourself and practice and practice – maybe with a friend who can feed you questions.

It’s almost like designing a speech.  In segments.

You can even turn the tables and ask the interviewer a question on your subject.  All is fair in war and bad interviewers.

Be sure to bring up the title of the book several times in the interview.  Just casually

Then end with a promo for yourself.  Especially if you can see you are not going to get it from this interviewer.

“It was really fun being with you today.  I hope your audience will be interested in knowing how to get my book, Reflections from a Woman Alone.” Then tell them.

Be sure to be gracious and thank the person, by name, for having you on.

That’s the framework.  Does it sound shameless?

It is.

Can you do it?

INTERVIEW LIKE LARRY KING

HOW TO NAIL A BIG INTERVIEW

HIRE CORINNE EDWARDS – MEDIA COACH

Picture by poketo

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