Okay... my headline is cheesy this morning, for sure. But, I was thinking about writing this topic and I just had that song "Video Killed the Radio Star" in my head—and now you can too as you read this (you're welcome).

So, for my own book, Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, I did a radio tour and I found it to be a fun and relatively easy way to do some really great publicity. The up side is that you don't have to go ANYWHERE. You just call in and they interview you. The downside is that you have to be prepared to speak publicly... it can be a little unnerving to think that you are going to be on radio. Also, setting up a radio tour isn't always easy or cheap (you can hire a PR service that can get you booked or you can try pitching stations yourself, which requires a good deal of work and there are no guarantees).

But, let's say you get yourself on radio. Yay for you! Now what? Well, here are some good things to remember:

• Create a list of compelling or entertaining questions to offer the host that they can ask you about.
• Keep up to date on news stories that fall within your area of expertise and be ready to talk about them. If the DJ does her research, you don't want to freeze.
• Don't over promote! Remember, your main job as a guest is to entertain and inform... when you mention your book, do it casually and not too often. The host should do a wrap up for you, mentioning your book anyway.
• Instead of saying "in my book" refer to your book by title, helping the audience to remember it while also sounding conversational.
• Be able to answer questions like "why did you write this book" or "what got you interested in this subject" quickly—no more than 20-25 seconds.

The main thing is to have fun with it. DJ's like to make jokes, so feel free to play along... just be careful that the interview doesn't get too far off track. The bottom line is to not take yourself too seriously... you want to be entertaining.

Good luck!

Hi Writers,

Today I'm going to focus on the muse instead of the marketing, which I think, is important to do occasionally—after all, we're all writers first and foremost, right?

Working for a publisher people often ask me if I read all of the books that we publish. Now, please don't be shocked... but the truth is I do not. I can't. There are a lot of them.

Sometimes a book comes along that we publish that I do read. The same way that a book happens to come along that you find in a bookstore, or library, or someone gives to you that really speaks to you. Alone With All That Could Happen by David Jauss is that sort of book.

This book is a writing book that is so different and enjoyable that I couldn't help spending some time with it. The book challenges conventional thinking about the craft of writing going so far as to suggest that the "write what you know" adage we've all heard before is not necessarily the best course. The book challenges you to start with from a place you know but to explore things you don't, making your writing process a journey of self-discovery.

This is an introspective writing book. One that makes you feel like a writer just by reading it. Each chapter of the book is an essay upon one aspect of the craft. You'll explore writing other lives than your own, play with different points of view, explore using syntax and rhythm to create a "soundtrack" for your story, and learn what makes a successful epiphany. As it's title suggests, Alone With All That Could Happen is about exploring the boundless possibilities that fiction allows us to write.

Learn more about the book here

Visit the author's website www.davidjauss.com

Hi writers,

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I spent mine working on a few odd jobs around the house (fixing our leaky kitchen faucet, mowing the grass, cleaning up the house) and my wife and I took our dog to the lake to play in the water. It was very relaxing.

It was the sort of weekend where I looked around at all of the things I had going on and felt pretty good about them. It made me think of something that my Tae Kwon Do instructor once told me, which went something kind of like this:

"You need to take time to appreciate where you are at this exact moment in time, to enjoy the journey..."

I try to apply the things I learn in my martial arts class to my writing and my career, and I think this bit of advice is important. It's easy to become very goal focused, especially when thinking about marketing or publicity. I try to occasionally step back to remind myself to focus on one task at a time. This approach will not only help you to enjoy marketing your work more and make the process of promoting your writing less stressful, but it will also help you be more successful at the task at hand.

From personal experience, as a writer sometimes I tend to have too many irons in the fire and get excited about a couple of new ideas, while I still have one project I'm working on and something else that I need to work on promoting. This kind of energy can be good and help you be prolific, but remember to step back, take time to enjoy working on one project (whether you're writing or trying to generate publicity), and give it the attention it deserves.

Do you ever start to tell someone a story and realize that your giving way too much back information? I have a tendency to do exactly that.

When promoting yourself its important to be concise. In today's world people are impatient (especially the media), so it's a good idea to get your point across quickly. You may want to try writing down your pitch or your description of your work and editing it down and then rehearsing it a bit. Of course, you don't want to sound like a robot so don't over polish it, but instead practice getting your main point across. Your goal is to be quick, clear and interesting.

Hi Writers,

I've returned from Los Angeles where I attended the Writer's Digest Writers' Conference as well as Book Expo America. Before I go into details I must apologize. I fully intended to post some entries from LA and give you updates about all the happenings there. Unfortunately I was just way too busy and wasn't a very good blogger. I hope you'll forgive me. Now on to the details

The Writers' Conference was great! Over 400 writers attended. The conference was packed. The day kicked off with a keynote address from Jaquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of Deep End of the Ocean and throughout the morning there were workshops and lectures by Lisa Lenard-Cook (Mind of Your Story), James Scott Bell (Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self Editing), Bill O' Halon (Write is a Verb), and many others.

I spoke with Writer Mama author Christina Katz who writes the popular Writer's on the Rise newsletter for writers. Her forthcoming book Get Known Before the Book Deal (November) deals with growing your author platform. Christina is great at self promotion and I'm hoping to share more insight from her on this blog very soon.

Author and literary agent Donald Maass and I discussed his popular Writing the Breakout Novel Workshop series and his upcoming book The Fire in Fiction (Coming Spring 2009). Don has a lot of great insight about what makes good storytelling and makes a story really stand out. As Don points out, almost everyone has a good story to tell, but creating a great work of fiction requires passion and developing a compelling narrative voice. Check out his book Writing the Breakout Novel and the corresponding workbook.

The most popular event of the conference was the pitch slam where writers have the chance to pitch their story idea to agents. I moderated a room with seven agents and got to listen to writers giving their pitches, some good and some... well, not so good.

A successful pitch is concise and to the point. You should be able to explain your book idea and unique hook in under one minute. It's important to remember that agents are busy and may be turned off of a book idea when it takes too long to explain. If you attend an event where you expect to connect with agents or editors it's a good idea to practice your pitch. A short lead in (25 words or less) works well. If they want to know more, then you have your chance to go more in depth. Think of your pitch as a teaser. Give them just enough to get them interested.

Hi Writers,

Writer's conferences are great places to network with other writers, get a chance to talk with editors and agents, and meet successful authors.

Next week I'm headed to the 2008 Book Expo America Writer's Digest Books Writers Conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center. 

The conference is on Wednesday (May 28). It runs all-day (including lunch), with workshops and panels throughout the morning and afternoon. The day concludes with a unique 2-hour pitch slam session, featuring the largest gathering of agents and editors of any conference.

For full details, visit www.writersdigest.com/bea

There's still time to sign up, and I highly recommend this conference if you can make it. The Pitch Slam is a great opportunity to get your book in front of an agent and land a book deal.

I'm planning on posting coverage from the conference and from the subsequent book expo, so keep checking the blog for news.

Until then, I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Hi Writers,

Today I was reading a chapter on "Positioning" in a book called Write as a Verb by author and motivational speaker Bill O'Hanlon.

O'Hanlon writes about how important it is for a book to "occupy a unique position in the marketplace" and that it not "appear like too many other books already out there."

This is an important thing to consider when you first set out to write your book. Even if your book is about a subject that is of wide interest, you need to find an interesting and unique approach to the topic. This act of positioning your book in a crowded market is also important when you go to market your book. Make sure to communicate the ways in which your book is different. What is the unique stance your book takes on your subject? What sets it apart from the crowd? Conveying that message in your marketing, whether you are putting together a mass email or letter to a potential reviewer, is crucial to your success.

Check out more great advice from Bill O'Hanlon on his website www.getyourbookwritten.com