Audio Interviews and the Shy Writer

Audio interviews are in rising popularity as a tool of book promotion among authors. After all, all you need are a phone, a witty personality, and a talent for public speaking. The first one is easy-everybody has a phone these days. The second is a gift you may be born with if you're lucky. The third is a skill that can be learned, improved and perfected with the right tools.

Since there aren't magical drugs on how to become more witty (sorry, you're stuck with those genes), in this article I'll be focusing on how to help authors improve their chances to succeed at audio interviews.

The prospect of doing an audio interview is a source of stress, anxiety and even panic for many authors-especially the shy ones. Let's face it, many things could go wrong. A technical problem might arise or the author might freeze at a question and start stuttering. Most often the problems are technical, or the interviewer is faced with an author who talks very little or is unable to stop talking.

To beat the odds, there are practical steps an author can take.

Andrea Sisco of Armchair Interviews offers the following advice:

* Be prepared. Ask the interviewer what types of questions are likely to be asked.

*Practice: Have a friend interview you (to avoid the ummm, ahs, silences). It's an art form and I learned this early on when I worked in tv and as my husband is a professional speaker.

*Have something to say: Tell us something unique about the book/story. If you're able to use humor appropriately, do so (people love it).

*Don't talk more than 90 seconds (in answering a question). In audio, people lose interest if you drone on and on. There needs to be a discussion between the author and interviewer, otherwise it's a lecture.

* If there is a topic you don't want to discuss, tell the interviewer, otherwise you could be caught on tape and not know what to do.

* Speak up. Audio's are touchy (since you're not in a sound studio). Also, make sure you turn off call waiting so we don't hear beeps. Put the dog in another room (children also) and make sure the windows and doors are closed so we don't hear outside noise that can be distracting.