Hi everybody. This is Sigrid Macdonald, author of D'Amour Road. Today I'm pleased to welcome our guest, fellow author Francine Silverman. Fran has written four books altogether and the last two have to do with marketing and promoting. Fran is here today to talk about her latest book, Talk Radio for Authors – Getting Interviews Across the U.S. and Canada.
Before we start, I'd like to explain a bit about the format of doing a blog interview. I will ask Fran a number of questions and she will respond by clicking on the "comment" icon at the bottom of my post. After 20 minutes or so, I will open the floor up so that you readers have a chance to participate. Please reply the same way that Fran does via the "comment" button, and ask as many questions or make as many observations as you like. Now, down to business.
Hello Fran. How are you doing on this Monday afternoon?
... Stay tuned everybody. Fran is with me but she is just figuring out how to make a comment. We should be broadcasting momentarily.
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Okay. Clearly, whenever there's a techno issue involved, it's best to have a teenager in the house!
At any rate, I'd like to say hello to all of the readers who have kindly given their time to join us this afternoon. Perhaps you would like to introduce yourself to make some comments while Fran gets her Google password going and logs on.
Thanks. Sigrid
Hi Sigrid, this is Larry.....First time on a blog cast....
Me, too. Hope I'm doing this right. I'm Karen from Utah (and have no teens in the house!)
Larry -- the same Larry from the Barbara Niven message board? Greetings, my friend. Seems to be the first time for many of us here. LOL.
Hey, Karen. You did really well and proved the point that we adults are just as capable as the 14 year olds. Are you a writer? Sigrid
Hey, Karen. You did really well and proved the point that we adults are just as capable as the 14 year olds. Are you a writer? Sigrid
BTW, I by passed the google password and just hit anonymous, and here i am...Yes Wholesale larry
Hi Sigrid, This is my first blog-cast too. Hopefully, I am doing this right as well! Amy
Well, Wholesale Larry, thrilled to have you on board, as well as Karen and anyone else who is lurking. I apologize for the duplication of my comment and we are still waiting for Fran to log on anonymously.
Karen, maybe you can talk about your writing a bit if you are an author. Larry, perhaps you could tell me a bit about your experience with Toastmasters. Will keep this going for a couple of minutes untill Fran gets on board. It shouldn't be long.
Hello all - Hope I get through this time. Fran
Hey there Amy! How was your weekend? Seems as though you did everything right on the message board here. Did you manage not to have your car stolen recently? Hope so.
Sigrid, do you feel that you should be a good story teller in life to be able to put your thoughts down on paper.........Larry
Fran, yes, my dear, your comment came through anonymously. If you can follow the dialogue in the comment section, we should be able to chat back and forth this way.
So, let me start over and ask you how you're doing today.
SUCCESS!!! YIPPEE!!
Sigrid - I'm here
Fran
Hehehehe...thankfully my car is still in my possession. My weekend was good, thanks for asking! How was yours? Is the weather still freezing over there? It's finally warmed up here.
Gee, left the room for two seconds and now things are hopping! Yes, I'm a writer with my first novel just having come out from Dragon Moon Press in December. So now the hurdle is the marketing (as with all small presses, I guess). My publisher passed along the news about this live blog, so here I am. Fantasy is my genre, the book is The Chalice of Life at www.chaliceoflife.com. For radio casting, I guess I need to know if I need to sound like an evil wizard or a magical heroine or just be articulate!
Larry, not necessarily. Some people are much better verbally and other people shine in print.
However, I think the Toastmasters is an invaluable experience for anyone and it would certainly help on a radio interview.
We do have Fran with us now and she has logged on anonymously,, so we can begin our interview. I will ask her a few questions and then open the floor up to everyone else. Thanks for your patience! Sigrid
Oh, whoops, that was Karen posting about the Chalice of Life. I'm changing my middle name to "love to write, hate to market..."
Sigrid, thanks for your support with Toastmaster........Next monday i will be giving my first icebreaker speech.......On the nervous scale of 1-10 i am only a 2....lol....That is good..
Toastmasters is a great group. I too am a member and remember that when you give your icebreaker, the group are all friends and have been there too.
Karen, I hear you! I feel the same way. I've written two books and they were both so much fun to write. I could spend all of my time writing but the marketing and the promotion is a gigantic PIA! However, there are tips and tricks that makes it easier and it depends a lot on the nature of your book. Is yours a novel?
Sigrid - Waiting for the questions. "The number of comments doesn't seem to change until I send a comment. Fran
We have so many people posting anonymously then I'm going to ask if he would repeat your names again at the end of your comments because I'm getting them mixed up.
Larry, it is completely normal to be nervous before the icebreaker. I was terrified but practice really does make perfect and it helps if your group is supportive. It's a safe environment to make mistakes because everybody there has been in your position.
Hi:
Just spent a half hour trying to get this far
(from Karen) Thanks, Sigrid. Yes, first novel in a lengthy quest series, so OF COURSE the publisher taking the rest depends a bit on how this one does. Gods bless the Internet: I apparently have fans as far away as Florida and Australia (I'm in the western US).
What's happening?
Okay, everybody. Fran is with us! Karen, that's wonderful about your novel. I would really like to hear more about it later. Alex, also happy to have you on board. We are starting a half hour late because of all of these techno-issues but I think we have it together now!
Fran, thanks for joining us. Can you tell me and our readers a little bit about your new book?
I need to start a group called Heckelmasters.........
Yes Karen even thought it becomes like a small family you still want to be at your best....I am glad i signed up....
Talk Radio for Authors - Getting Interviews Across the U.S. and Canada is for authors to find talk radio shows easily - those that match their genres. There are 40 categories, ranging from Addiction to Women and everything you need to know is included - email, website, theme, and guest criteria. Remember, the 230 shows in the book are responsive to authors since they responded to my questionnaire.
The book is now available on Amazon.
40 categories. That sounds really interesting. Tell me a little bit about each one. For example, why would you have one called addiction? And what's the one like that's devoted to women?
Please ask me questions about the book or radio interviews in general. Fran
Okay, Fran. Why did you write this book? And how does it differ from other radio directories?
Sigrid - I wrote the book because it's very hard to find all the information you want on the web. Terrestrial shows (those on the air), are the worst offenders. They post bios of their hosts but no themes or whether they feature guests. Or they post bios of their guests but no email address.
Listings are just that - listings. They don't include valuable information such as the theme and guest criteria and most do not include Internet shows.
I see. Sounds excellent. I guess if someone's written a book on addiction then they might choose that particular show.
Why did you write the book, Fran? What prompted you to do it? Also, click the refresh button on your screen to get the most recent comments.
Sigrid
And your book includes all of that info, Fran? It tells readers exactly who to contact in order to get on a particular show?
How about a question from Larry, Karen, Amy or Alex?
Fran
I understand that you have your own Internet radio show, Fran. Can you tell us a bit about that? Then we can open this exchange up to our readers so that they can ask questions and make their own comments. Thanks, Sigrid
Is it over?
No, Bev! It's not over. We just open up the floor for people to make their own comments. Are you a writer? Thanks. Sigrid
Has this session broken down. not getting any traffic.
cheers
Alex, Karen, Amy, Larry -- anyone out there, as Pink Floyd would say? Please leave your comments and start a provocative discussion. Sigrid
No, Alex, we're still talking. I think that Fran is waiting for people to make comments and ask questions. You are a prolific writer. Do you have any questions for Fran about how to get on talk radio or about her book or her Internet talk radio show? Be bold! Sigrid
Sigrid - My Internet radio show is called Book Marketing with Fran and is on Achieve Radio on Tuesday, 2-3 p.m., EST.
I interview authors, publicists and publishers about their books and how they are marketing them.
Sigrid - I am on Mozilla and don't have a refresh button.
Larry, are you still there? And Amy and Karen? Now is the time for you to talk about your books or your projects and the reason why you're interested in talk radio. Thanks. Sigrid
Just a comment......A few people from the Toastmasters are writers, so on the 22nd i was invited down to a writers group because i have had this thought for 20 years about writing a book on the used car business.Actually have 5 real ruff chapters from years go and i believe i have a tale to tell that is very interesting.........
OK, here goes (from Karen). My impression was that radio shows tend to interview writers of non-fiction. Is there room in this niche for fiction writers? If so, should fiction writers go for the more non-fiction-type hooks (eg, I'm over 50 -- and fabulous -- would that be a better lead-in than just saying I have this fantasy book to hawk?)
And the Mozilla refresh button is labeled "reload" -- it's that blue arrow third from the left at the top of the screen
Karen - Fiction writers have to have a subject to talk about other than their book. It might be something mentioned in your book, such as a town or hobby or historical figure, or your other profession.
Radio hosts don't want to talk about your book. They want solid information for their listeners. They will usually hawk your book but don't you do it.
Fran
I am in the process of "trying" to write my first novel. Can you offer any guidance as to what steps to take after it is complete? Of course my goal would be to have it published, and get it out there. Amy
Thanks for the tip about Moxilla. Usually I have it on my desktop but today I don't... that's a great question Karen about how to market yourself with fiction. What do you say about that Fran? (Also love the reference to over 50 and fabulous. Me too!)
Larry, I had forgotten about your book. I think you could write a fabulous book about the used car business and TM would help you to gain confidence about speaking. Fran could probably give you some suggestions about radio. What do you say about these two, Fran?
Sigrid - Since you are the novelist, maybe you can answer Amy's question, even though it's off the topic.
Fran
Thanks for the "reload" info.
Gosh, Amy, I had forgotten that you were writing a novel! What do you say about that, Fran? What genre is it in?
We're still waiting for Fran to get these questions and pages reloaded. Sigrid
Larry - I have some car shows in my book and I am sure there are many more I haven't found yet.
If you write about the used car business, be sure to market it to all the used car dealers in the country and beyond.
Fran
Amy, Fran has turfed that question of yours over to me. I would say that it would depend entirely on the nature of the book. If it's fiction and it's your very first book, you might think about self-publishing. Many first-timers go that route. There are a number of excellent companies out there that don't charge a lot of money that will give your book global distribution through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books a Million, but it's hard for self-published books to find their way onto the shelves of bookstores. But it could still do really well online especially if you have a website for it.
It is in the Fantasy genre.
-Amy
Amy, that's interesting. I know a couple of publishers who work in fantasy and science fiction but I don't know if they're accepting submissions at the moment. Maybe you and I could talk about that another time because Fran's real focus here is on talk radio. But I'd love to chat with you about that in e-mail or on My Space.
Sigrid - The hour is over. Are there any last minute questions?
I want to thank you so so much for this opportunity.
Fran
Any last-minute questions everybody? If not, Fran can you remind us where we can buy your book and how we can subscribe to your Book Promotion Newsletter.
Welcome to the club, Amy! (from Karen the fantasy writer). I got a lot of mileage out of the searchable data base at the Writer's Market website, and I would really try to find a publisher, even a small one like Dragon Moon, before going the vanity route. But I just met a fellow at a signing at Costco who managed to sell 100,000 of his self-pub'ed book to them, so who am I to talk?
Fran........My intent would be to tell the story , so that the public would know what really goes on.......Us dealers know the poop.........
Their is a large wall of fear about dealers that i could bring down....Knowledge from the publics standpoint possibly could weed out the shady dealers......btw Fran i am from Huntington LI.
Oops. was hoping to hear more from Fran since we got such a slow start...
Thank you Karen and Sig for your advice. I really appreciate it. Nice to meet you Karen!
Karen, of course you're right about trying to find a publisher first. I might also recommend Wondering Sage Publishing in Missouri. I think they are taking submissions. The only reason I am reluctant about that is that sometimes people wait for a year or two sending out their manuscripts and getting rejection letters because the field is so competitive. At that point, they may feel that it's better to just get the book out there. Six of one and 1/2 dozen of another. I see both points.
At 3:15 p.m. now and I have to depart. We got off to a rocky start but we got ourselves back on track pretty quickly.
Thanks so much for devoting your time to this interview, Fran. It was my pleasure to have you. I also really appreciated chatting with everybody else and having you visit here today.
Just because I'm leaving doesn't mean that everyone else has to go. Please feel free to stay and chat with Fran or each other if you want to.
Hope everybody has a wonderful afternoon. Sigrid
Sigrid, Fran ,all..........Thanks for sharing your knowledge........Larry
Absolutely, Sigrid! One of Dragon Moon's competitor's held me up for a year, taking the book as a submission and then taking a year only to finally reject without explanation (I realize they don't owe you an explanation when they reject, but after a year, just "No thanks" comes as a slap in the face.) Also has an agent take several months only to say no for the reason that it would compete with things they already had circulating. AARGH!
Thank you all for sharing! Karen, I will be heading over to check out your website. Hope everyone has a great afternoon! Amy
If Fran is still here, does the book have address the religious market (looking more for "spirituality" than, say, Christian Right radio)?
Well, I had left but I'm back again. Karen that's so upsetting! I definitely agree that you deserve more than that after someone ties up your book for an entire year.
I'm ambivalent about the whole POD thing myself although I have published my two books POD, but they are both in the hands of publishers now. There's still a stigma about self-publishing -- people think that your book isn't good enough for a "real" publisher to take it. Also, there is the problem of getting it into brick and mortar bookstores and obtaining reviews, although I received a number of reviews on my POD books.
One advantage of going POD is that you make much more money in royalties, percentage wise. A disadvantage is that you may not sell as many books. LOL.
So are you with Dragon Moon or not? I wasn't clear on that. Sigrid
Amy, thanks for coming. That's great that you're going to check out Karen's website.
Don't know who asked the question about the religious aspect. Was that you Larry? I'm not sure if Fran is still here. Originally we had agreed to do the interview from 2 -- 3 p.m. the family got off to a really slow start because of the technical thing. However, I think she left around 3:15 p.m. when I had planned to leave but addiction and a residence and obsessive-compulsive disorder, not to mention a love for other writers and bloggers, brought me back :-) Sigrid
Yes, Sigrid, with Dragon Moon, but it's been a slow process -- over three years from contract to production (part of that was a major editing hold up). I'm happy to have a home and was thinking things would not have been that much better with one of the American Big Boys as a new kid on the block (since my name is not Christopher Paolini or JK Rowling!)
It is now 3:30 p.m. and I'm going to assume that we are finished here. Thanks again to everyone who showed up, starting with Fran and moving on to our cherished readers and authors. Sigrid
Lord, three years? What a hassle! You certainly have more patience than I do. Look, I am going to leave now but if you ever want to chat on e-mail, feel free. My address is sigridmac at sign rogers.com.
Sorry about the typos in my last few posts. Feeling very tired after sitting here for 1 1/2 hours! Take care, Karen, and best of luck with that book series.
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