Making the most of a press opportunity
Posted by Kevin, Griffin York & Krause Public Relations
Kevin (rt) on Fox 25 Morning Show
Though my day job is in public relations at GY&K, my nights are spent freelance writing. Sometimes these two worlds come together, as was the case when I was asked to appear on the Fox 25 Morning Show to discuss my new book, Wicked Intentions. In prepping for this interview, I took my own advice that I give clients in order to make the most of the exposure.
Anticipate what the main questions will be. My book, a nonfiction account of a grizzly set of murders, has a strong main character in killer Sheila LaBarre. Interviewers want to kick it off with a “who is she” kind of question, then ask for facts from her life. (This guy actually jumps too far in to start, assuming every viewer knows the case. I took the opportunity to go back and set up the story so viewers could follow along.) Because I had the only media interview with her behind bars, everyone wants to know what that experience was like. And they want my opinion on the results of the trial. These are all questions for which I have practiced standard answers. These tend to be the easiest part of the interview for me, as I can simply roll out these well-crafted sound bites.
Hit your talking points. The goals are to raise exposure and, ultimately, to sell books. I had an opportunity to talk about the quality of the book. I made it a point to say that people who don’t normally follow the true crime genre would also like the story, hopefully expanding the number of potential buyers. Finally, when pressed at the end about “who’s the number one killer,” I stood by my girl. I might not win that argument with every fan, but I will not diminish my brand.
Go with the flow. Some interviews are serious. Some are hard-hitting. Some are fun or silly. I was prepared for any kind of discussion. This interviewer is known to be a free-wheeler, so I was ready to match his style. He jabbed me for patting myself on the back, but you just laugh about that during a fun interview. Had he changed his tone half-way through, (“How dare you, sir…!”) I would have dialed it back to where he was to answer his questions and move on.
Do your part. Just because a media outlet agrees to interview you, that doesn’t mean you have all the leverage. I had to be willing to do what it took to make the experience happen. That included sending them product information and samples, getting up at 4:00 am to insure I was at their studio in Dedham – then agreeing to switch the location to Beacon Hill. My cooperation was appreciated by the staff and I already have an invitation to return for my next book – in 2010.
Tags: interview, Media, public relations
