Artistfirst Radio / Author-First Radio Program

This is that place where HB had his interview that Ed was talking about. I didn't know you had to buy your way into it, but now it sorta makes sense.

Two words: vanity radio. Charging for radio time is a racket in the radio business the same as it is in the publishing business. There are whole stations that are nothing but author- or artist-paid programming. Does anyone listen to them? I don't know, but I'd think the same principle applies as with vanity-published books: the quality and interest of the interviewees would be so variable that there wouldn't be any great incentive for listeners to tune in.

I've done many radio interviews. I've never been asked for--nor would I ever pay--a dime.

- Victoria

Believe me, you don't need to pay to get on radio. Hundreds of radio stations are out there looking for a funny/interesting/insightful guest. Go to www.radioonline.com, submit a compelling release about yourself--why you and your book would make a great guest on their radio show, and wait for the calls to come in. Radio Online has a comments section where producers from radio shows can post if a guest is especially fun or funny, and the threads are read pretty regularly. I had one very funny interview for one of my books (and the only reason I was funny was because the DJ's were a riot) and that led to more than 40 in less than 2 weeks, all because the first producer wrote a quick note that said I was a fun guest.

I'll see if I can remember other radio posting sites--but whatever you do, don't pay to be on the radio. That's nuts.

Take care,
Lauri

Aw, come on, CaoPaux, everyone on this thread is funny/interesting/insightful!

Victoria is right, I was contacted...

...a few weeks ago by an outfit who wanted me to pay them around $35 a show for my own "internet based radio program." I discarded the email, because I've done a little radio these past few years and have learned that most radio stations are dying to get people on that they think might hold people's interest.

Poor HB - if someone were to write a manual about how not to approach the book publishing business, he would be the cover boy...

You can contact any local radio station that does talk shows and say, "I'm a local author." Most likely, you'll have an interview within a month. Even a PA author would be welcome.

Radio and Hearing Aids?

Hi All,

A question to those with recent experience in radio: I use hearing aids, and putting anything over them, like the headphones, would not work, due to the feedback that would ensue; is it technically possible for the volume on the headphones to be put up enough for me to hear it, but not so much that it would cause havoc? I'm just curious about possible marketing options.

Thanks for any thoughts,
Chacounne

Hi Chacounne,
I've only done one interview in a radio booth--all the other ones have been done over the phone while I was either at home or at Nomad. Do you have to do TTY on your phone, or could you use a regular phone handset? If so, you're all set!
Lauri

realitychuck said:

You can contact any local radio station that does talk shows and say, "I'm a local author." Most likely, you'll have an interview within a month. Even a PA author would be welcome.

Click to expand...

and there's the rub - one PA author gets on and brags about it on the boards and then there's a rush.

in all the postings on the PublishAmerica boards about this I saw *nothing* about having to give a donation - it appeared as if it were free. Obviously if there had been some mention of money I think a lot of posters would have had second thoughts about rushing to sign up for what must be, at best, a VERY limited audience.

It's rather like the BookstoFilm discussion that went on about a month ago on the PA boards - they feed each other to the newest tricks that are out there to take advantage of new authors.

sad, really.

What amazes me is that HB and the others haven't caught onto the idea that if it costs you, then it's counter-productive. If you're trying to make a profit, you don't succeed by shoving your breakeven point farther and farther away from your starting position.

Nomad said:

I've only done one interview in a radio booth--all the other ones have been done over the phone while I was either at home

Click to expand...

Pretty much the same here. I've done two booth interviews and the rest at home by phone.

- Victoria

I don't think radio would be my forte

Thanks Lauri and Victoria,

Unfortunately, phone isn't the best idea for me, because too many people don't speak directly into the mouthpiece, despite requests to the contrary, so it becomes impossible for me to understand what they are saying. I wouldn't want to get into a bad situation live on the air, so I guess I'll stick to other methods of promotion.

Happy Writing!
Chacounne

The worst part about all this . . .

is that it's $30 or $60 flushed down the toilet. Here's some bad news for artistfirst radio: NOBODY is listening. If they had listeners, they wouldn't charge for interviews, they would sell advertising.

If you pay $30 for your interview, the only people who are going to listen are people who you tell about it. That's it. I have no motivation to skip Joey on a Thursday night to instead tune in to artistfirst and listen to an author I've never heard of discussing a book I've never heard of. If the book IS by a more well-known author, he is NOT going to appear on artistfirst. I'll hear him on my local radio stations that I can tune in without turning on my computer.

If you have $30 to spend on promotion that might not yield any results, submit a press release on prweb.com and buy the extra services to attempt to gain more exposure. This won't guarantee results, but at least more people will be aware of your book than the audience of 1 on artistfirst radio.

That's my take, anyway.

underthecity

I hate, hate, HATE doing radio. I've done it a couple of times with my tech journalist hat on, and invariably end up tripping over my tongue. In any event, I'm not sure why people who don't think they've got what it takes to go on a proper radio station would jump at the chance to pay for the freebie. As a laugh, perhaps, but if they think they're going to do badly, what do they hope to get out of it?

ArtistFirst is a good place to promote. There is a program on there every wednesday night called Jewel's Way (www.jewelsway.com). They have different romance authors on there each week. They have even had romance authors on there from Harlequin.

"ArtistFirst is a good place to promote"

Promote to who though? I'm in England, so it's probably not surprising that I've never heard of it, but the name alone screams 'Only artists need even vaguely care about this'.

Chacounne said:

A question to those with recent experience in radio: I use hearing aids, and putting anything over them, like the headphones, would not work, due to the feedback that would ensue; is it technically possible for the volume on the headphones to be put up enough for me to hear it, but not so much that it would cause havoc? I'm just curious about possible marketing options.

Click to expand...

Hi Chacounne,

I work in radio and most studios will be kitted out with guest headphones on a seperate volume control to the presenter's headphones. This means you could have them as high as they will go and (in theory) the headphones/cans shouldn't feed back (again, this is dependant on them having the right equipment). You will be amazed how high some presenters actually have the volume on their headphones - usually relative to the number of years in the job. If you have been asked to do an interview express your needs before the day so that the producer or presenter can accommodate your needs, or let you know if they are not suitably equipped. They may ask you to do a phone interview, in which case I expect you have a suitable phone which works in conjunction with your hearing aids and enables you to hear them easier.

As to paying to be on a radio station - DON'T DO IT! The UK is following the US in it's radio station set-up by allowing many more small licences and public service radio. These stations will struggle to survive and bring in advertising revenue (or donations, if they are registered charities). If it is a commercial radio station any request for money proves they have poor listening figures, as the better the listening figures the better their advertising revenue should be (unless their sales staff aren't doing their jobs properly).

I'm not sure whether your public service radio is funded by donations or advertising revenue, but I would still suggest that a request for money means they have very few listeners. Also, the whole nature of public service radio means they should be a forum for local people with something interesting to say - not charging people for the honour of a few minutes airtime.

Internet radio is fun, but so far I haven't heard of an internet radio station that regularly draws in huge amounts of listeners, and as a result many have disappeared. The ones that work are the ones that broadcast both over the "airwaves" AND online i.e. streaming the live audio.

Hope that helps.

Lisa x

P.S. Hmmmm, charging people to come on my show. Why didn't I think of that?

I guess she had to charge.

:Smack: Back before my relative returned my mind that I lost, I was approached by a person to do a show with them. I told her that I could not pay that money as we are on fixed income. Silly me I thought that my book being published through PA would help what a crock! But anyway when she called I again told her I can not pay and she said she would waive the fee. But no I got a bill for thirty dollars. I then emailed her and told her that as far as I was concerned I had no proof that I was even on the air. It seemed too slick to me. The DJ called he was nice but went into a long diatribe about his station and blah blah so many PA authors on it. That is when I told him that I had just gotten my rotten royalty check and felt like I had been scamed. Of course I mentioned that I had seen something about the station on this forum and he backed down and said that they only accepted donations. So it leaves me to wonder. I have a radio station manager friend and it costs moolah with his station to be on. That is for an ad.

From what I hear, Artist First is not only heard not only on the Internet, but on satellite radio as well.