Welcome to episode 72 of Published. Today we’ll be talking about media training and interviews with one of Greenleaf Book Group’s digital media outreach strategists, Kayleigh Lovvorn. Today’s episode is a crash course on media training to teach you how to talk about your book and yourself as an author while promoting a new release. Kayleigh will tell us about Digital Media Outreach, how to make media connections, and the dos and don’ts of interviewing.

Watch the video version on YouTube.

We all know promotion is what makes or breaks a book release, and the best person to promote a book is the one who wrote it. But what goes into a featured media appearance, and what should you consider before appearing on a podcast or being interviewed for an article?

01:06 – So why don't we start by having you tell us about yourself and what you do at Greenleaf?

• Sure. I'm Kayleigh Lovvorn. I'm a Digital Media Outreach Specialist here, which means I get to connect authors with podcasts, traditional media, all kinds of fun publications.
• I really love the relationship aspect of my job where I get to really get into the nitty gritty with authors about what outlets they're looking for, and what kind of impact they want to have on media.
• Prior to this, I worked with the state attorney general's office as a press secretary, and I have a degree in media and public relations.

01:38 – Alright, great. Well, the obvious question I'm sure our listeners are conjuring up right now is how does an author go about getting press coverage for their book?

• Yeah, that is a little bit tricky. Because press coverage is primarily earned media. The main goal there will be to make yourself as marketable as possible. The best way to get press coverage is to make press want to cover you.
• So, developing your platform is the best way to start out. And I would suggest doing that a year to six months before you even launch your book. And that would mean building up your personality and your expertise on social media websites, connecting with shows and outlets that you want to be involved with. And that means liking their posts, commenting, getting connected with those hosts as much as you can, and becoming part of that network before you even reach out with a pitch of hey, I would love to be on your show.
• A lot of work needs to go into making yourself marketable as well as your book so that when shows and outlets look at you, they say yes, that is the message we want to portray to our audiences as well.

02:51 – There's lots of different ways for an author to get coverage. What kind of media interviews should they be seeking?

• That does depend on the author and the content of their book as well. And that is part of what makes my job so fun, is getting into exactly what audiences we're targeting. We're finding what interviews are going to best benefit you and your book.
• I would suggest looking at what audiences align with your content first. So, if you are writing in more of a long form style, if this is very business centered, or scientific centered, you're going to want to look more in the field of journals, or long form interviews that will really get in depth on your subject matter.
• And get audiences involved with what you're doing as well. If you're a little bit on the lighter side, or maybe you provide advice or counseling to people, you're going to go where your audience is and look for shows that are question and answer with experts in that area. Any way that you can provide your expertise, for a show, that's where you want to look.

03:50 – With so many outlets out there and lots of different opportunities between press, and radio, and podcast, how does an author evaluate the worthiness, if you will, of an outlet, given that time is precious, and they want to be careful about how many and where they schedule their interviews? And are there also red flags that they should be looking for as they evaluate these media opportunities?

• Absolutely. It is even more important to look for green and red flags in this environment with such a decentralization of media happening. It isn't just a hey, if you're an author, go to this one show, they'll highlight your book like Oprah's book club, that isn't what it was as much anymore. It's still fantastic, but it just doesn't have the sheer reach that it did.
• Looking for shows that are focused on the content of your book and your expertise is key. Finding quality shows means looking for shows with high numbers of audience engagement. And you can find indicators of that by looking through a platform or an outlet's social media channels. Their number of followers is a great indication but an even better one is their engagement with their audience. So, comments going back and forth between the platform and their audience in a positive discussion, how quickly you're seeing followers jump onto new content, that is all a fantastic thing to see.
• Red flags when it comes to media outlets, an outlet or a show that does not follow regular posting schedule. If they don't have a singular or main office for a contact of who to reach out to with that, if it's very scattered. And if they don't have a social media presence, that means they're not engaging with their audience, they're not promoting their episodes, or you when you would be on that show as well. So those are just things to be hesitant of when you were looking at evaluating outlets.

05:36 – Those are great tips. And I will add, I think, maybe jumping the gun here, but it's really helpful to actually listen to their show if you haven't, because I've been caught red handed that way where I went on a podcast, and I hadn't listened all the way through one of this person's podcasts before. And at the end, there was a lightning round. And had I listened to all the way through to one of his podcasts, I would have been fine. But perhaps that's part of the question I have for you, which is how do you prepare for the media interview?

• Definitely listen to the show. But that is a really, really common mistake. And some episodes may vary in format. So, I would say listen to at least three or four. If you're looking at a podcast, you know, take an evaluation of the flow of conversation, what kind of questions the host is asking, the average length of time that the guest is given. Those are great things to consider before you go into an interview. And then you can avoid any surprises like speed round questions.
• I recently had a wonderful author who was interviewed and was not aware that at the end of the show, they do a similar format, where they asked for a favorite quote, and then the little speed round of your favorite little questions. And luckily, she is fantastic and very experienced with media interviews, so she just breezed through beautifully. But it can definitely throw you for a loop if you're not expecting it.
• Don't be surprised if you get personal questions in an interview, or if there's some curveball questions that are maybe a little controversial or related to your work. Those are totally okay. It is also totally alright to refuse to answer a question that you're uncomfortable with, you can do so very politely and in a friendly and positive manner. It is alright to hold back on some information or direct people to your book for that information.

07:32 – Yeah, I had a great piece of advice early in my career, I have a background in television production. And the best interviewers are always in this dance with their interviewee to sort of maintain control of the interview. Because a savvy and well-trained interviewee knows that they can sort of take the reins, you don't have to answer the question that the producer or the interviewer is asking you, certain politicians are great at this. Those are my favorite ones to listen to when the interviewer is going to push to try to get that question answered, they keep dodging it. What are some of the do's and don'ts then for interviewing that authors should bear in mind before they go out into the brave new interviewing world?

• Well, at risk of being a little bit harsh at front, be aware of how you sound on recordings, even if that means practicing just recording yourself, giving a short speech, or answering some imaginary questions in your home beforehand. It really helps to figure out your flow, whatever your filler words are, like I just said, "uh," that's one of mine. But getting into a practice of understanding how you're coming across in recording is very important.
• And watching the pace, matching the pace of your interviewer is always an excellent tip there. However fast your interviewer is speaking, try to match that pace with them. And that will end up in a very good conversational flow.
• I would also say, be aware of your background that you have going on. I have a very boring background here today, which is intentional. And I would recommend good lighting, good audio, make sure that you are as centered as you can be.
• Have your talking points in mind. That is something that is very easy to slip away. If you want to have them on hand and have them off camera that is completely fine and perfect. A lot of podcasts especially have the ability to edit. So, if you need to break away to take a glance at your papers, that is totally fine. But having that in your head as a background, if you want to practice reading through a couple of main points from your book that'll come in handy when you're weaving that into conversation.

• Tanya: Yeah, and I want to circle back onto one of the points you made right at the top which was to listen to yourself. I think a lot of people are terrified to do that. And early, I was as well. And I remember sort of a counterintuitive outcome from doing that was I became more confident.
• This particular presentation I was listening to, I remembered a moment where in my head I paused, I got distracted by someone in the room and I paused for what felt like 30 seconds. I thought, oh my god, I can never listen to that because there's that moment where I just said nothing forever. And then when I finally listened to it, it was more like, [a brief pause]. I mean, your brain has a way of distorting time in those stressful moments. And I listened to it, I was like, that was nothing. I don't think anyone even noticed except me. So now I know that when I'm feeling that way, in an interview, I feel like, oh, gosh, I must be mumbling and bumbling. I just keep going. I just find a word and it somehow comes together. Sometimes we have to edit me because I don't come together. But I think it can actually be empowering for an author to listen to themselves.

• Kayleigh: Absolutely. And what you mentioned about our brains is true, it does distort quite a bit of time when we're speaking and also the octave range of your voice. We hear ourselves much lower than we actually speak.

11:02 – It's interesting. Okay, so the author has the interview booked, they vetted the outlet, what are some of the major points they should be sure to include in their interview, as they're especially promoting a book?

• You need to let people know why they should buy your book. And that sounds like it could come across in a very salesy way of go find this information on this page. But it does not have to be presented in that fashion. It can come across much more genuine and a sense of this is how readers will benefit from reading my book.
• And this is something that authors will likely have already written in the introduction of their piece. It's nothing that's unfamiliar or something they haven't thought about before. There's a reason that they wrote the book for a wide audience. So that is something that should be in their head and hearts already. And knowing that fundamental reason, this is how I want to help people with this book is the biggest point that you want to get across.
• I would also recommend if your book is explaining any kind of process, have maybe four or five tips on hand that you can share with the audience as a little teaser to the rest of the information from your book, and prepare a couple of anecdotes or personal stories that occurred during the process of writing or leading up to the process of writing your book that you can share for a little bit of personal interest to mix with the actual content that you're getting across.

• Tanya: Great tips. And then I'll add to that I think some of the savvier authors I've watched do interviews are really smooth about sliding in the title of the book a few times in their sentences, instead of just saying "in my book..." they add the title to that sentence. Because it's so frustrating if you're watching a great piece of press coverage; I remember one of our authors went on the Today Show and never mentioned the name of the book, we were over here pulling our hair out.

• Kayleigh: Definitely mention the name of your book. And if you can, bring across images of your book cover as well. Production teams, especially for podcasts, love having that kind of content on hand for during the show and for promotion after the show. So, if you can provide them with not just the name of your book while you're on air, but any related images, video clips of you speaking, that is fantastic content that they and you can use for promotion.

13:14 – And speaking of using for promotion, so now that we have the interview under our belts, how do we leverage that hit as we call it?

• As much as you can. There's no such thing as too much promotion of your book, especially in the world of social media, you want to make sure that you're covering all platforms that you're present on. And that can be LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok is quickly becoming a huge platform for especially fiction books. But promoting yourself across all of those is highly encouraged, it's not going to be kind of a self-involved thing.
• I know some authors are a little bit hesitant about writing on themselves. And it can feel a little bit like you're too into your own work. But that isn't the case, that isn't how audiences are going to perceive you. You sharing your expertise and highlighting your appearance on these different platforms is a fantastic way to show audiences, hey, I'm engaging with all of these different groups. I loved connecting with these shows, tag the shows whenever you post them, and start building out that network. Thank them for a fantastic interview. If they're posting and promoting your episode, you can also cross post their promotion as well. That's an excellent way to reconnect with the platform that you worked with. And highlight your episode or your interview with that.

• Tanya: Yeah, and you mentioned something important where I do see authors holding back where they feel like they're spamming their network if they start just blasting out promotion that they've earned. But it really needs to flip in your head, right? Where you're not saying, this is all about me. You're saying hey, this is about you. I'm trying to give you a gift. I'm trying to give you something useful in your life and that if they can make that switch it tends to have great results.

• Kayleigh: And the way you said that was perfect. It's about remembering that you earned this coverage. As we said at the start of this, it's earned media, this outlet thought that you were a fantastic fit for them. They wanted to share your information, and you're not bragging on yourself as much as you're saying, I shared my expertise here, you can find this information, I hope that it's helpful to you.

15:21 – Thinking about an author's decision to either hire a publicist or not, or a media team in general, what are some of the advantages to DIY it, or bringing in a team, and what differences should they expect as they're weighing that decision?

• The amount of work directly on the author, I would say is the biggest difference there. If you're doing this completely yourself, you're going to have to account for building up your platform, I would say six months to a year in advance, you will have to research all of the outlets that you want to participate in, whether that's print broadcast or digital media, you'll have to write out all of your pitches and find the contact information to send pitches to. And then you'll have to be available constantly to follow up on responses from those pitches or make yourself available for interviews.
• When you're working with a team of media professionals, or even a singular publicist, or media professional, they're so well versed in all of those practices, that it's a second nature to us, really. It's something that we're comfortable taking on as a workload.
• There's a great chance that the media professional you're working with already has a bank of contacts and fantastic shows that you'd be a fit for. So, when you're working with a media professional who focuses on this for a living, you're really giving yourself a huge benefit. You're accessing their entire bank, all of the relationships that they have built, all of their practice in writing pitches that get results. And they will be available to coach you as well when you're going through the actual interview process.
• So, you're really giving yourself an entire media support system, when you're hiring a media professional. You will still have to be responsive and the one participating in the interviews, but having someone in your corner who really knows the ins and outs of the media world and can help direct you and guide you is very worthwhile.

• Tanya: Yes. And I think the relationships you mentioned in there are worth emphasizing because I can tell you, when I was a producer, I never took a pitch from somebody who was a publicist I didn't know, just due to the sheer volume. And to age myself, that was over 20 years ago. So, it is far worse now, just the volume of pitches that these outlets are getting. If you've got a media person on your side who has a relationship, and the producer of that show knows, they don't bother me with pitches that aren't a fit, they know what my audience wants, I'm going to take that call. Even if it's not a call, it's probably an email. I think that is something that's worth emphasizing. Because if you are going out on your own, you're really starting from scratch with trying to fill out those relationships.

• Kayleigh: And you may be a perfect fit for a show. But if you're sending them a two-to-three-page email about all of that, it's just not going to get read.

18:02 – Well, you've been very generous with your advice today. Any parting bits of wisdom or thoughts for our listening authors?

• Relax. Be comfortable being yourself in an interview setting, realize it's okay to be yourself and to let that personality through and learn little tricks to help yourself relax. A big one for me, was nerves going into stuff. I learned very early on breathing techniques. It sounds a little bit odd but learning how to calm down your nervous system or get yourself in the right headspace before an interview is very beneficial.
• That could be anything like I said, from breathing exercises to I used to work with a woman who would listen to Eminem as loud as she could before she went into an interview to get herself pumped up. So, whatever works for you and gets you in the right headspace and the right energy that you need and you feel comfortable in before an interview. Do it. Don't worry about feeling silly. Just get yourself in the right space for you.

19:04 – Great advice. Kayleigh, thank you so much for joining us today.

• Thank you so much for having me. I had a lot of fun talking to you.

That's it for our episode today with Kayleigh. We hope you enjoyed learning about how to conduct yourself in a media interview. For notes and resources from today's show go to greenleafbookgroup.com/episode72. You can also find advice for writing, publishing, and promoting your work in my book, Ideas, Influence and Income, which you can learn more about at ideasinfluenceandincome.com. If you've enjoyed our show, please rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever it is you listen to your podcasts. It means a lot to have your feedback and helps us make sure we're answering your publishing questions. A big thank you to Eleanor Fishbourne and Madison Johnson who produce the Published podcast and we will be back next month with another episode.

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About Kayleigh

Kayleigh joined Greenleaf Book Group after serving as a Press Secretary, Media Relations Specialist, and Podcaster for the state government of Texas. Prior to working in policy, politics, and law, she was a travel blogger based in Maastricht, Netherlands. With extensive experience in the creation, production, and distribution of media, Kayleigh enjoys executing digital media campaigns tailored specifically to authors’ needs and goals — all while letting their personality shine through in every detail. She earned BA degrees in both journalism and history from Baylor University, and spends her free time with her rescue animals, restoring antique furniture, and attending/photographing rock concerts.