Radio show bookers & Alex Carroll

Hi,

I don't know anything about radio bookers. But for about several years between 2002 and 2005 (or thereabouts) I worked as a producer for a "books" show on a local NPR-affiliate station. My experience is limited, but we wouldn't have given priority to a radio booker. We were overwhelmed with books coming in and requests for appearances. We chose ones we thought would be interesting to our listeners. Given our relatively small size, we would work directly with publicists and publishers and occasionally authors. Perhaps we even worked with these bookers. But our criterion was simply this: was the book and/or author of interest? If it was, we were interested. If not, we were not. A booker would not have made any difference to us one way or the other.

Good luck to you!

I'm not sure I can give you any advice. As I said, my experience was limited to this one show. Whether that experience would be applicable to others is uncertain. That said, I disliked phone calls. They rarely came at convenient times, and though I listened politely I was often distracted. Mail or e-mails were much better as I had something to read. I learned to make decisions quickly. I never second-guessed myself.

Nonfiction authors had a better chance, but we did a number of novelists as well. Our audience liked hearing them talk about their research, their story, their craft. So perhaps the only advice I can give is to put yourself in the producer's shoes. Why would this book be of interest to my audience? Give me just enough information to make a decision to either learn more or to reject the proposal at that point.

Are you planning to attend BEA this year? If so, they might have (because I haven't checked the panels yet) a panel presentation with the producers of large television and radio shows. And if they do, attend it.

If you should decide to go with a radio booker or freelance publicist, do a lot of research before choosing one. What you want to see are their results, not their promises. But I suspect you could approach some of your local (and state) radio stations on your own. Try that, but do create a "pitch" so that you have something specific to say. It can be informal, and probably is better that way since you share a geographical area, but don't waste their time. Again, put yourself in her (or his) shoes. What would you want to know?