Guest Post

Barry Eva is author of "Across the Pond" and "The Bathroom Book of Romance"
(Book Site: http://romance2read.com).
Host of "A Book and a Chat" http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond
Radio Blog: http://abookandachat.blogspot.com
Company Site: http://barryeva.com
Amazon Reviews: http://tinyurl.com/o7sokp



Back in February 2009, after appearing on a few radio shows with my own YA novel “Across the Pond”, and with experience of running a couple of local TV shows narrating stories from my romance book as well as filming local karaoke, I thought… why not try your own radio show. Loving a good old “chin wag” as we say in England I thought it might be good fun, little did I know just how much.
Here we are a four years on and almost 700 shows later and my show is still hitting the airwaves three to four times a week, proving it even more popular than I ever expected, and I love every minute of it…well almost.


My show I called “A Book and a Chat” which is basically what it is, anybody who knows me will tell you I am no literary person, I am not one who goes into styles of writing etc, I just love to sit and have chat, learn something and hopefully have some fun at the same time. As the show description goes…


"A Book and a Chat" has proved a hugely popular radio program with people of all ages. With almost seven hundred shows already recorded, Barry's format of "a chat over a cup of tea" has received nothing but rave reviews from guest and listeners alike. The writer of a successful young adult romance book "Across the Pond" Barry has himself appeared on a large number of radio and TV programs. "A Book and a Chat" is a program for writers, readers and bloggers, not so much a literary show, more like... let’s sit around have a cup of tea and a few laughs." - Read what the guests are saying about the show at
http://storyheart52.wordpress.com/a-book-and-a-chat-blog-radio-show


I am very proud of the many, many comments I have received from guests, nearly all love the style and many have come back for a second third, fourth, fifth or in one case eighth time.


Firstly, if you are going to appear on the show, here are some “Does and Don’ts”


Radio Shows:
1: Don’t get overcharged
Appearing on internet Radio Shows is a way to get your name and that of your book to a worldwide audience, there are many radio shows around the blogosphere, but be careful. I have read that some promotion companies are charging a lot of money (sometimes over $100) for a 15 minute interview, sometimes for which you are one of several guests.
Some shows are sponsored and are able to produce a show free of charge, though having to stop every five minutes for an advert might not be everybody’s style.


I used to say check “Blog Talk Radio” for free however in 2011 they changed their format and now even I have to often charge a small fee. I have tried to keep my shows free, however last year Blog Talk Radio started charging for shows in “prime time” or lasting more than thirty minutes. This has meant in many cases I’ve asked for a small donation of $10 for a first time guest, after that I don’t charge for subsequent visits. Luckily from September 2014 the show now has a sponsor in the form of “The Atwater Group”.
I have always prided myself in producing a good show and unlike many other hosts doing it for free, just to put on one show normally takes about 3/4hrs of my time we pre work and post blogging etc.

I don’t ask for a copy of the guests book, and any I receive I donate to local libraries, or this year towards a charity auction at my work, so I guess the cost is less than a copy of the book, and I really hate to make this charge, but unfortunately I am being forced to do so to keep the shows running.


2: Make sure the show is the right format for you
There are plenty of different shows and formats out there for you to appear on, some have multiple guests appearing in a general discussion type of show, others as with “A Book and a Chat” are one to one.


Some shows are very “Into writing” and go into the literary styles, format, dropping the names of their own books. Others, such as my own show “A Book and a Chat” are a lot more laid back. As I advertise… “Not a literary show, more like... let’s sit around have a chat over a cup of tea…”


Listen to a few previous shows and make sure the show is a format you will enjoy being part of.
3: Is the show still running?


It’s amazing how many advertised radio shows when you check them out you find they might now have taken place for several months. Look for a regular show that already has a following.


4: Request an appearance ahead of time.
It’s no use in most radio shows contacting the host a week or two before your book comes out and you want to appear. I for one normally book up two to three months ahead if not longer. If there is a very interesting late request I do sometimes try and add an extra show, but as they say on the TV, “Book early to avoid disappointment”.


5: Contact the host beforehand
Contact the hosts to see if there is anything they want from you. Some hosts require copies of the books before a guest appears on their show. I don’t do that; I would never get a chance to read a fraction of them, however if I do kindly receive a copy I will always forward it to a local library etc.. hey you never know it’s another way to help get the guest name out there.
Ask if the host wants you to read from your book


Some show hosts provide questions that they will ask during the show; if this is the case be ready to provide answers and if possible interesting answers, I always believe a chuckle or two can only help market your book. If like my own show- it’s more freestyle - have a couple of notes about your book, answers to possible questions, a story or two always helps, and don’t forget to mention the name of your work as often as possible.


6: On the Day of the show
Some shows require you to be in a recording studio, others like my own you just dial into a number which the host will supply and chat for however long the show lasts.


Make sure you have the correct number and time zone! Despite putting this in bold type in my show instruction it’s amazing how many there still are who do not read that the show is EST and arrive two or three hours late for the show.
If the show starts to lag and yes there are a few hosts out there that seem to struggle with some guests, be prepared if need be “take over” the show a little perhaps even ask the host a question.


7: Advertise
Before and after the show, advertise share it with your social network, link the show to your web pages etc. I for one always offer my guest not only links to the show but an mp3 file of the show that they can use.


8: Follow Up
It is always nice as a show host to receive an email from your guest, even if it’s just a few lines. I am still in contact with many of my previous guests; some have been on the show seven or eight times now.


9: Follow Up Information
It still amazes me how there are still authors that do not have a presence on the internet. If you do not have a web site, and to be honest these days setting up a basic web site is easy and inexpensive, at least have a blog with your book details.
Minimum should be, a brief bio on the author, synopsis of the book, where it can be purchased, how to contact the author. There needs to be some way of providing more information to follow up an appearance.


9: Enjoy Yourself
Above all, don’t worry, enjoy yourself, it’s your book let the world hear how proud you are of it and what a great piece of work you have produced.


During the almost seven hundred shows I’ve learnt many things, met some wonderful people and laughed a lot. I can honestly say there has only been one show I struggled with, and that was one of the early shows when I had a guest who had written a book about banking and high finance. I asked him one question and then could not get a word in for the next 25 minutes not understanding half of what my guest was talking about.


I have had some very famous guests on the show during these last two years from Emmy award winners such as Louise Shaffer, to authors such as Steve Berry who have 72 million copies in print throughout the world. I love to involve the YA Bloggers, as I call them the “Sham Wow” of YA literature as they soak everything up. I have made it a point to include bloggers as guests on the show as well as many debut authors. After all, they might be debut authors today but they could be the stars of tomorrow. The Class of 2K10, 2K11, 2K1 and now 2K13 YA debut authors are always great to have on the show, and it’s been fun to follow their rise to “fame and fortune” (okay we can dream).


There are a few drawbacks in having what sometimes has been five shows a week, the jokes and anecdotes tend to repeat themselves, but I always try and make the chat flow and love to laugh as anybody who has listened will tell you. Many guests are what can only be described as “scared” when they first call in and we chat before the show starts, but as I say to them, it’s honestly just a chat over a cup of tea (in my case English PG Tips), and so many have told me afterwards how much they enjoyed the easy going format and style, that they were completely at ease.

I love the various styles that can appear on the show, learning about people’s fights over illness and abuse, historical novels about periods in history, Leaning about floods, disasters, love and laughter, the eclectic mix of shows not only keeps me looking forward each week to the next show but I hope my listeners as well. I have made many friends along the way, learned many things about the art of writing as well as telling a good story.


One good sign as to how the show is being enjoyed is the way the time seems to rush by for all over them, this I very soon realized and started running some “one hour specials”, which again people have enjoyed.


I have in the last four years covered subjects from abuse to life coaching, from Picture books to historical fiction. I have within a three day period covered a multi-million selling author such as Steve Berry, to William Link whose name might not be one you remember straight away until you realize he and his late writing partner wrote all the Colombo series, Murder She wrote and so much more. To be followed by a local author who had written some small books of stories about famous horses which were being sold on local “tack” shops.


During this last few years I’ve had on my show Werewolf’s (yes really) to film stars, multi selling authors to ones with their first book, abuse to humor, peoples to pets, tears to laugher I’ve seen had them all on A Book and a Chat” and hope to have many more over the shows yet to come.