He’s one of the top media training communication experts in the country. He’s worked as a TV producer at ABC, NBC, and FOX, and has appeared on all those networks and more as an expert.
Excerpt from this week’s podcast “Proven Powerful Ways to Promote Your Book in the Media”
Q: Many authors ask me, “How can I get invited to be a guest on one of the major network shows such as Good Morning America?” How can they make that happen?
A: I’m going to pull the veil back, and I’m going to tell you right now in one word, ask. You need to ask them if you want to be on the show, so what that means is you need to either send them an email pitching them a story idea or pick up the phone. Go old school. People a lot of times don’t pick up the phone these days, and then get a hold of somebody in the Booking Department, someone with either “booker” or “producer” in their title, and then ask them.
Say, “Hey, I have an idea for a story. Can I pitch you real fast?” Often, they’ll say yes. Obviously, if you’re sending it through email, you’re typing this, and you’ll pitch them a story idea. One that sounds like a newspaper headline. This way, they can envision what it sounds like, so not a whole life story as a pitch where someone is going on and on, but an idea that is a sentence. How is that for an opener?
Your book title, your pitch headline or your hook are not usually ways to promote your book. But it could be. You may have a title that says it all that really excites people and tells everything, but often, something in the table of contents or something that connects with a problem that people have or an outcome that people want is going to be your pitch hook. If you have a book called “The 17-Hour Diet,” the story hook may not be, “Hey, it’s the 17-hour diet. Do you want to do that story?” I was on the receiving end of those pitches for years so I know how many did not make it through.
If you want to be on a major network show, you just need to ask. #bookmarketing #jesstodtfeld http://bit.ly/2dQ7PWq[/tweet_box]
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Download the transcript from this week’s podcast interview “Proven Powerful Ways to Promote Your Book in the Media”
