In my last post, we looked at setting up interviews for your book promotion. As part of your interview process you’ll have sent out press kits to journalists, bloggers and podcasters. Those kits should include a Q&A document in which you pose and answer questions related to your topic and yourself.
This is an important document (it should also be part of your website – on the media page, or linked to on the about page). That’s because it allows you to frame the narrative for your message, your topic and even you. Also, by giving journalists this document, you can avoid answering the same questions over and over again in interviews (this is assuming you’ll be asked to be interviewed several times). Journalists might pose the same question regardless, so that your answers aren’t canned and they can quote you directly. Having prepared a Q&A document will be a way for you to refine your answers too, so that you’re prepared for the questions you’re likely to be asked.
In addition, a Q&A document, which should anticipate all the questions that journalists will want answered about you and your book, allows you to better formulate your approach to your material outside of the context of the book. This will serve you in other situations – you can, in a way, perfect your elevator pitch based on the questions and answers you draw up beforehand.
You should also think about some interesting questions for television and radio journalists, and questions that you might receive from different sources whom you know. Everyone will likely have something slightly different to ask, and you’ll want to vary your answers, while providing the same information overall.
You might also want to include articles you’ve written. This way you give journalists a broader knowledge of your expertise.
Here are some possible questions that might help you draw up your Q&A:
- What’s the topic of the book?
- What led you to write this?
- What is the situation related to this topic
- What is your expertise?
- What do people have to know about your subject that will affect their lives?
- Are you working on another book?
Other questions will come to you as you put together your Q&A. Aim for no more than two pages. As with all promotional efforts, you don’t want to overwhelm journalists with too much information.
In our next post, we’ll look at what to do at publication and after publication.