Virtual Podcast Tour: Sending Requests, My first try
I was excited to get started on this amazing tour. I had all of my marketing materials prepared,
my website ready with my updated media page, and my pitch letter ready
to go. It was time to find some podcasts and delight them with the
awesome opportunity to interview me, which is a little awkward to say the least. My ITunes application
blasted open on my PC browser alight with potential podcasts to fill the
dates of my podcast tour. I found a few podcasts that had content that
was outside of my wheel house but that I could easily mold my concepts in my novel, Day After Disaster
to. Then, I found a couple of fiction book podcasts. I ended my search
with six survival podcasts. My search was pretty random, besides
searching the survival key word, I was just looking for any show that
appeared to have an interesting message that was in line with my own. I
listened to a couple while I was researching more and after gathering up
the names of at least twelve podcasts and ways to contact their
producers I was off to my next step, actually contacting them.
I
quickly found out that this was not going to be an easy task on ITunes.
Sometimes when I selected the link that was supposed to take me to a
website it was a site that was setup especially for the podcast withing a
podcasting platform that seemed to be separate from their actual
website. Full of determination I navigated my way around the web, only
to find that most of the time these people would like to be contacted
via contact form. My carefully prepared email format wasn't going to cut
it. I altered the format to fit contact forms and continued on. Now
that I have contacted twelve podcasts all there is to do is sit back and
wait for the replies, right?
Lessons Learned:
- Searching ITunes for shows is easy but finding their contact information is sometimes a challenge.
- Many of the primary contacts you make will be via contact form. Make sure your initial pitch looks good in that format as well.
Hot Tips:
- Have a few key terms in mind and a strategy before you start searching so your efforts are not so random.
- If
the ITunes link does not take you directly to the hosts website, try
just searching for it in your browser. A lot of times it is the fastest
way to find a host to contact.
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Virtual Podcast Tour: Responses
I
got a yes response! After sending out my twelve inquiries I received one
yes and one no but at least the person who said no had the decency to
contact me back, unlike most of the other inquires I sent. I had also
hit up my Facebook groups to see what kind of interviews I could drum amongst my peers and got 2 positive responses from there as well!
The major
response I heard back from was from James Talmage Stevens aka. Dr.
Prepper to appear on his
Preparedness Radio Network. I had just finished
a meeting with some of my girl friends to get ready to participate in the Dirty Girl
Run for Cancer. This meeting was at the bar and I had two drinks while I
was there. When I got home it was late and I was feeling unusually
relaxed (I'm not much of a drinker) but I realized I had missed a call
from James about fifteen minutes before so I decided what the heck and I
called him back. James was impressed with the fact that I did call him
back. He said it reflected my hunger and also he wanted to connect via
telephone before agreeing to the interview because a podcast is a talk
show and just contacting via email before hand is not efficient. James
had checked out my website and was blown away by how professional it
looked and the amount of effort I had devoted to marketing my book. We
agreed to exchange books with one another because this host was actually
going to read my book before he interviewed me (which is highly
unusual)! I got off the phone two hours later elated to appear on a
podcast that has been downloaded over 3.5 million times.
Lessons Learned:
- If
you receive an opportunity, grab it! Getting on a podcast is very
competitive and if you miss your chance you may not get it again.
- Understand
that you will not hear back from most shows. They are very busy and
receive tons of requests. Send another request about a week after your
first and if you don't hear from them, let it go.
Hot Tips:
- Make
sure you listen to the podcast you applied to before you talk with the
host. If you don't you will be left feeling unprepared and embarrassed.
- If you find a show that you really liked but they haven't contacted you back, keep listening and be thankful that your search has yielded you a positive side effect. You never know what the future will bring.
- Be prepared to email, talk, or make contact however you can in order to snatch up an opportunity.
Related Articles:
Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of
the The Changing Earth Series:
Day After Disaster and
Without Land. She also
hosts
The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with
educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a
profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors
from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In
her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and
forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront
in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business
management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights
in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband
and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels.
For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring
everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit:
www.authorsarafhathaway.com
