I love it when I get an email announcing that a review of one of my books has been posted. This week, so far, it has happened twice! <\/p>\n
Mary Lewis at Virtual Wordsmith wrote a great review beneath the largest image I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em>. See this phenomenon and read the super review at http:\/\/virtualwordsmith.blogstop.com<\/a> <\/p>\n She also posts my interview with her at http:\/\/blogstopbooktours.wordpress.com\/blog<\/a> <\/p>\n Thank you, Mary.<\/p>\n Dawn Copeman, the new newsletter editor for Moira Allen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Writing-World.com and editor of the Newbie-Writers Newsletter<\/em>, sent me a copy of her review of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book<\/em>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spectacular. She refers to my book in the first sentence as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dynamite!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Her great review will be posted at her website soon. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll let you know when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up. It already went out in the Newbie Writer Newsletter<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201din case any of you receive it. You might want to check out Dawn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s site for newbies at http:\/\/www.newbie-writers.com<\/a> <\/p>\n As I understand it, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a work in progress, so visit often. Thank you, Dawn, for all that you do at Writing-World and with your Newbie Writers.<\/p>\n Interview Techniques <\/strong> Here are my tips for participating in an interview:<\/p>\n First, how do you get an interview? Sometimes people will seek you out, but most often, especially when your book is new, you must be proactive in locating interview opportunities. <\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tSearch out sites, newsletters and magazines that post\/publish interviews with authors and other professionals in your topic\/genre. Google Alerts can help you with this task as this service notifies you when there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something new on the web related to your topic\/genre. http:\/\/www.google.com\/alerts<\/a> <\/p>\n For a face-to-face interview<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tBefore seeking out interview opportunities, hone your communication skills. I recommend joining a local Toastmasters Club. http:\/\/www.toastmasters.org<\/a> for one near you. <\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tCome prepared to be photographed or bring your professional photo with you.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tChoose your words carefully, some interviewers actually include every \u00e2\u20ac\u0153um\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153er\u00e2\u20ac\u009d you utter. Truly, it happened to me once. And believe me, this does not make for a very good presentation.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tBreak those bad habits such as the overuse of words and phrases\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u0153clearly,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153apparently,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you know\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and so forth.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tLearn to think on your feet. This is something you can practice with friends.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tBe real. Speak from your knowledge base, but also from your heart.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tKeep your audience in mind throughout the interview.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tWhat if you are asked a sensitive question\u00e2\u20ac\u201dsomething you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather not answer? Fake it\u00e2\u20ac\u201djust use that question as a segue into an area you are comfortable talking about. For example, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your book focuses on childhood abuse, is this something that you experienced firsthand?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d If your parents are still alive and you aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready to reveal your personal story, simply say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Millions of children each year suffer abuse at the hands of people they trust. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more common than you think.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And then go into one of the stories from your book, perhaps, or share a story from your files as a social worker.<\/p>\n Email interviews are popular these days. The interviewer will send you a list of questions (hopefully, after studying a little about you) and you can respond at your leisure. The beauty of the email interview is that you can change your mind in midstream of an interview question and no one is the wiser. For an email interview:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tRespond in a timely manner. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell you how many people cheat themselves out of interview opportunities for the SPAWN Market Update because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t respond promptly. Soon they forget the request and\/or just never get around to it. If you put off responding to interview questions until you finally forget about the opportunity, you are the one who loses.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tRespond to the questions when you are fresh and then go back over your responses after letting them sit for a while.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tThink about your audience while responding. Are they mostly professionals related to your topic or newbies? Are they involved in your topic daily or on occasion? Do most of them seek a career in this field or are they just curious about it? Find out who your audience is and speak to them.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tWhen you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re asked to describe your typical day, this generally means with regard to your topic. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a fitness expert, for example, with a book on fitness, your audience is interested in how you stay fit. Maybe yours is novel or a children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book and your audience is made up mostly of new writers of novels or children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s books, they probably want to know how you schedule your day to include time for writing. They want to know how you write amidst chaos or clutter and what techniques you use throughout your day for inspiration. <\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tWhen you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re asked what led to you writing this book, your audience probably wants to be able to relate to your story. They want to be able to say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If he came from an uneducated family and succeeded as a writer, I can, too.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If she can write a book while working fulltime and raising a family, why can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t I?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2\tAlways give more than you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re asked for. Give more than a one sentence answer to the question, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What would you advise others who would like to earn an advanced degree (or learn to skydive or become fit)?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The more you offer, the more apt the reader is to purchase your book.<\/p>\n Being interviewed is an interesting process. I always learn something about myself: my habits, my inspirations, my motivation, when I respond to interview questions. <\/p>\n If you need more information about any aspect of writing, finding a publisher for and\/or marketing your book, please read this multiple 5-star rated book which, as you can see, is quite well-received by my peers: The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.<\/em> http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I love it when I get an email announcing that a review of one of my books has been posted. This week, so far, it has happened twice! Mary Lewis at Virtual Wordsmith wrote a great review beneath the largest image I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\nHave you ever been interviewed on behalf of your book? Do you know what you would say? How would you respond to sensitive questions? What do you want others to know about you and your project? What message do you want to leave with readers?<\/p>\n