But shh....I have a secret. My introverted-self secretly dreads interviews. The last few months have gone like this: Our amazing publicist sends out the email asking if we're available to talk to so-and-so on such-and-such date. We always say yes. Because of course we want to talk about our book with anyone who wants to talk to us about it! But as the date draws near (at least for me anyway) the anxiety starts to build. By the time the hour of our interview approaches, I can usually think of about ten-gazillion other things I'd rather be doing for the next hour other than talking on the radio about myself. Usually at the top of the list is writing and spending time with whatever characters happen to be pulling at my brain and clamoring, "Pick me, pick me, write about me today." (With three busy kids, and a thriving freelance business, I never seem to have enough time for my own characters these days.)
The minutes tick by and as the interview time approaches, my anxiety grows. And then...the Skype call comes in and we start talking and I forget that there are actually other people listening and it's all a whole LOT of fun!
The other night was especially fun. Chuck kept us on our toes, and challenged us with great questions. Karen felt like that person you meet at a party where you just want to keep talking with her. The whole hour went by in a blink because it felt like a group of friends, having a conversation about something we were all passionate about. Oh yeah. It was!
It made me realize. Most of us writers are an introverted bunch. Maybe, there are others like me, who also anticipate these self-promotion moments with increasing horror and unease. Maybe, a quick list of survival tips will help?
1. Location, location, location. Think carefully about where the interview will take place. My "office" and writing space actually doubles as our dining room. Usually, if I'm writing at home, everyone is either in bed or at school. Depending on the time of the interview, the dining room is probably the last place I want to try and have an intelligent conversation broadcast to who-knows-how-many listeners. The last thing I want to deal with is the dog barking, the oldest kid coming home from a soccer practice, or worse, my two youngest ones getting into a fight over who-knows-what. Jessica has gone to her parents' house, and last time, she locked herself in her daughter's bedroom. I've hid out on the front porch, and once, on a Sunday night (notoriously the most hectic night of the week at our house) I went to our neighbor's house across the street and borrowed his office.
2. Wifi. Don't forget to check your wifi situation. That time I went to the neighbor's house? My wifi signal was spotty and the conversation was crackly. Halfway through the interview, I lost the connection altogether and stared, dumbfounded at the blank screen. It happened again the other night - our home wifi switches to the carrier wifi every now and then, and kicked me off my call.
3. Use the Skype app. If possible, download the Skype app to your phone. On both of the occasions above, my phone saved me. I had already downloaded the Skype app, and through that was easily able to join back into the chat. It doesn't depend on the wifi signal to keep the call connection, thus eliminating any possible stresses from the wifi.
4. Pay attention to the time zone. I know, this one seems like it should go without saying. I used to live in Belgium, I got really good at thinking in terms of time zones and phone calls. But trust me, it is easy to slip up. For our call with Paranormal Underground, I spaced the timezone thing. Thankfully, I JUST HAPPENED to get my kids settled for bed early, I was trying to plan for an hour to myself before the interview began. Ha! It turned out I had minutes to spare. Don't forget to calculate time zones!
5. Have your book in front of you. It sounds a little silly, considering you wrote the whole thing and and it came from your brain. But a lot can happen in between the time you turn your book into your publisher and the time it gets released, reviewed, and generates an interest in an interview. And if your brain is anything like mine, there is a lot going on at any given moment. Characters from my current WIPs are always shouting about; I'm trying to remember who has soccer practice when; random items I need from the grocery store pop into my head at inconvenient moments and who knows what else. If nothing else, it's a huge comfort to have the book sitting there, next to me when I talk about it. I even bookmark certain pages.
6. Brainstorm a small list of interesting tidbits or stories in advance. People want to hear anything you want to tell them about what happened "behind the scenes." By brainstorming a list in advance of the interview, you pull these stories to the forefront of your mind and freshen them up in your memory. Even if you don't have the list with you during the interview, you will still be more likely to remember them.
7. Forget that other people are listening. This is actually easier than you might think. If you are using the Skype App, it feels like you are talking on the phone to a friend. And when you start talking about something you are excited about, with people that are excited to talk to you about it, it's much easier to think of it as a conversation between friends.
8. Don't panic. If you get cut off, figure out how to get back in the conversation - don't rely on them to call you back right away. I've been cut off twice, both times I was able to get back to the conversation by myself. i was grateful to have have both my computer and my phone in front of me, it helped me figure it out faster. I was also lucky to have a co-author who kept talking for both of us.
9. Don't panic. (No, it's not a typo.) I'm saying this again because there is another type of panic. On occasion, I've heard the words coming out of my mouth and thought to myself, "Stop talking. You're rambling." And then I tend to get self-conscious and worried and it messes with the flow of the conversation. If you find yourself rambling and wondering why you answered a certain question with hundreds of more words than you needed, don't panic. Instead, stop. Take a deep breath and avoid the downward spiral into self-doubt. Concentrate on keeping your next answer short and succinct and trust that your host will get the pace back on track. Because while this might be a new experience for you, your host does this sort of thing every week or maybe even every day. Trust them and follow their cues.
10. RELAX. Most of all, relax. Stop worrying. You wrote a book. That's really cool. This is the time to be proud of it and talk about it with people that are interested in hearing about it. Listen and concentrate on the questions, and just pretend you are talking on the phone with a really good friend. Because chances are, if you have a great conversation, you've just found one!
Oh, and in case you want to listen to MY interview, they just sent me the link! Here it is: Paranormal Underground Talks About Monsters of the Midwest with Jessica Freeburg and Natalie Fowler.
