You’ve spent months or even years writing your book, and now it’s edited, formatted, and the cover’s looking good. Your book baby’s been germinating for a long time and now it’s born. It’s finally on the shelves – yay! But there’s still work to be done if you want sales. Today we’ll explore how to master author interviews and author speaking events. This can be a powerful way to increase your book sales – and all for no cost.
Book marketing time means time to give author talks at libraries. Time to get interviewed by book bloggers, broadcasters on community radio, your local newspaper, and other organisations. Time to hitch up those sleeves, google these people, and get rolling!
As an author, you’re a salesperson
If you’re an author, you’re competing with literally millions of books on the market – you need all the help you can get to get attention and build a presence.
You can talk through YouTube and other channels. If you’re writing educational stuff for children, you can set up talks at schools.
Do your research in the months leading up to your book launch to find and contact the necessary people and have them lined up to interview you after your launch.
You’re effectively a salesperson as an author – you’re selling your book, and as a salesperson, you need to be at the top of your game.
Ask any good salesperson and I’m sure they’ll agree – it’s your attitude, as well as what you say and how you say it, that has a HUGE impact on sales.
Tips to shine in author interviews
Let’s explore how we can hone those speaking skills.
Have a positive attitude. Be confident. If you’re not confident, that’s okay, you can work on that, but you can always act confident, and people can’t tell the difference.
Don’t stutter and try to avoid saying words like ‘uh’ and ‘um’. Don’t put yourself down or say a bad word about your book. If you’re talking face to face, look your interviewer in the eye.
If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect other people to believe in you?
Always be yourself and have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and try to duplicate it.
Bruce Lee
Be friendly and engaging. Be yourself. Imagine you’re having a good conversation with a friend.
Be interesting and informative. Avoid one-word answers if you can. If you’re not comfortable revealing personal stuff about yourself, please don’t!
You don’t have to reveal personal stuff about yourself to be interesting. Talk about things to do with your writing journey and your book. You can also throw in superficial interesting tidbits about yourself.
Do your homework. Think about the questions the interviewer might ask and prepare your answers beforehand. Think about interesting facts to bring to the interview, be it large or small.
Be conscious of how you come across in conversation. Is your voice too loud? Too soft? Do you talk too little or too much?
If you can’t replay a video or audio to critique your performance at interviews or events, try to get feedback from others.
How else would you know how you’re coming across?
Sometimes we can be surprisingly ignorant of our conversational flaws. It had to be pointed out to me once that I interrupt a lot – I was completely oblivious to the fact.
BEAUTIFUL WORD OF THE DAY: ENCUMBRANCE. Meaning something that’s a hindrance or a burden.
Master speaking at author events
Are you nervous and shy? Do you consider yourself a bad speaker, but really want to try marketing your book at events and interviews?
Then Join a public speaking group, such as Toastmasters (if you live in Australia), and practice your speaking skills.
Fear of public speaking is right up there in the list of top common fears, alongside the fear of death!
Public speaking can be a terrifying and daunting experience, probably because of the strong need we humans have for acceptance and approval.
It isn’t easy for many people, that’s why investing in a public speaking course is definitely worth the time and money, especially when you consider how many people you can reach by speaking at events.
The more you do it, the better at it you’ll get and the more confident you’ll become. You’ll also get instant feedback on how you come across to others.
Do your homework
Do your homework. Prepare a short speech about yourself and your book, and make sure it’s interesting and engaging.
Make a list of questions the interviewer might ask you, and write down your answers to those questions.
Also make a list of points you can mention in your interview (include interesting facts about yourself and/or your book).
Whatever you do, don’t be boring! Be dull, and no-one will want to listen to you, so make an effort to be engaging.
Commit to memory what you need to say. Have notes on hand, in case you might need it.
Remember, be positive and confident. If you believe in yourself, other people will believe in you too.
That’s all the tips I have on how to master author interviews and author speaking events. Good luck, and happy marketing!
PRACTICE YOUR WRITING TO GET BETTER: Write a passage on a challenge you overcame and how you overcame it. Don’t be formal when writing this passage. Write like you talk.
P.S. NOTES FROM THE DESK: Here’s an author interview I did in 2021.
Related post: how to market your book
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