By Adam Cothes

With the rise of iPods, MP3s, and online streaming, radio has stood its ground. Millions of people still listen to radio each day; on the way to work or in the office. When the power goes out in a storm, people turn to radio.

Most authors should try and appear on radio interviews.  While you may or may not sell books hand-over-fist, you can’t beat radio for its efficiency in getting the message out. Book promotion starts with exposure – telling large amounts of people about your book and your message. Consider:

Option A: Knocking door-to-door to tell everyone about your book. Just a few thousand houses to go before bedtime. . .

Option B: Sit in your living room and speak to thousands of people through a radio interview. Schedule multiple radio interviews and you just reached more people than you could ever do one-on-one.

So how can an author harness radio to get the word out about their book?

Here are five ideas to do that very thing.

1.  Plan ahead

Think about local, regional, and national radio stations and shows you know.

2.  Make a list

Compile this list on the computer. If you have access to the large media databases that many publicists subscribe to, you’ll be miles ahead of other authors. If not, start a spreadsheet and start hitting websites for contact info.

3.  Sort your media contacts

Is your book a good fit? Not all shows do interviews, and not all shows fit your topic. Don’t contact media that’s not a good fit, that’s one fast way to look unprofessional.

4.  Presentation

Do you have a professional media kit? That’s what producers expect to see.

5.  Representation

Who’s your publicist? Relationships still rule in media, and who you or your publicist knows matters. If your publicist doesn’t know a media person, they’ll still have a better chance of landing that interview than the author. Radio and TV producers generally like dealing with a third party rather than the author.

At WinePress, our in-house Publicity Department has established relationships with media all over North America as well as access to exclusive media databases. (Several of our authors have radio interviews scheduled for this week; read our blog daily for news of their upcoming media appearances.)

Our team is ready to present just about any author to appropriate media in any state. If you’re writing a book, and don’t know how to plan for book promotions, give us a call for personalized advice.

Adam Cothes works in various aspects of publicity, advertising and marketing in the WinePress Publicity department. He also helps new authors get started with the publishing process.