November 21, 2025 • 25 mins
Want a media strategy that actually fits how authors work today? We’re flipping old-school media training on its head and showing how every post, interview, and Zoom window shapes your story. Instead of waiting for a big break, we walk through how to create your own opportunities, refine your message, and show up with the kind of presence that builds trust with readers, influencers, and journalists.
We start with the most powerful tool you can own: a reader sound bite. We break down what to include, how to make it sound natural, and why it’s your best defense against rambling or getting lost in the weeds. From there, we move into authenticity that isn’t sloppy: smart video setups, tight Zoom etiquette, and bringing real energy to camera.
We also unpack the mindset shifts that keep you steady under pressure. Negative comments? Bad reviews? Tough questions? Bridge back to your message with composure and clarity.
If you’re ready to treat everything as media and make every touchpoint count, this conversation will give you the tools and confidence to show up prepared, polished, and unmistakably you. Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, share it with an author friend, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back to the book marketing tips,
authors podcast.
And it's Anthony, Baby Cornell.
And so today we're we're kind ofturning.
So I get a lot of requests fromauthors on media training.
I know maybe um a lot of thosequestions, but we're working
(00:21):
with authors, media training,media training.
In this episode, we're reallyturning media training on its
head because everything ismedia.
And we're gonna give you someexamples and some takeaways and
all the things.
But I want to start off firstjust reminding y'all we've got
some really great text fromlisteners.
Thank you so much for writingus.
(00:41):
We love it.
It's such a personal way toconnect with both of us over the
podcast.
So send us your show ideas,feedback on the show, what you'd
like to see more of, et cetera.
Text the word podcast to888-402-8940.
And we'd love to hear from you.
We've been having a lot of funwith the with the texting.
(01:05):
So I'm uh so I'm really excitedabout that.
Okay, so let's dig into this.
Everything is media, and I thinkthat a lot of times authors
really forget about that.
Uh, you know, when I was firstin business 25 years ago, we had
TV, radio, print.
And by today's standards, thatseems super boring, right, Amy?
(01:27):
Because now we have all thethings.
SPEAKER_01 (01:29):
Right.
It's like TV, radio, and printnow just seems so uh slow moving
compared to it's like wow, it'sreally expanded the number of
potential opportunities, whichis very exciting.
SPEAKER_00 (01:43):
But yes, and not necessarily, but but I mean, in
terms of expanding it, this iswhere I think that authors tend
to forget that everything is astage.
We talk about this too,everything is your resume.
But this goes, I think, a littlebit further, right?
We not to put too much pressureon y'all listening, but we are
constantly on stage.
Every post on Facebook, everyvideo clip, every reply, it
(02:09):
shapes your public narrative.
It shapes your image, right?
Um, and I think that when, youknow, we get this a lot of times
with authors say, I want to beon TikTok because I saw XYZ go
viral.
And part of the re I mean,sometimes there's no rhyme or
(02:29):
reason to what goes viral andwhat doesn't.
But a lot of it has to do withauthenticity, right?
So as opposed to, I'm gonnacreate this video because I want
to go viral, then you have theauthor.
There was a there was a video.
I don't know if you rememberthat, Amy.
This is now probably a couple ofyears ago, but it was an author
(02:50):
sitting in a grocery store doinga book signing.
And he somebody took a some guy,not even him, it wasn't even him
that did it.
Somebody else did a TikTok ofhim sitting in this in this
grocery store, and it may havebeen may have even been a
Walmart, doing his book signingand the whole thing just went
(03:12):
viral.
And nobody was there was nobodyat the table, he was just there
by himself.
And it was a super sweet,heartwarming moment.
And I think he got asked backand then he had like a line out
the door or something.
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Very cool.
SPEAKER_00 (03:23):
Yeah, you know.
Um, all right.
So part of the reason why wetalk, we've talked a lot about
branding, we talk a lot aboutmessaging, but I think to
reframe this, the whole topic ofmedia.
Um part of the reason why thisis important is I think we
oftentimes forget thateverything that we put out there
(03:46):
is all part of defining who weare as an author.
I mean, I mean, you see this alot of times too when you're
evaluating authors or givingthem assessments and things like
that, right?
SPEAKER_01 (04:00):
Right.
Yes.
And why this is also extratimely is because media, unlike
in the past, media doesn'thappen to you anymore.
You really have to be engaged increating the right atmosphere
and the right opportunities foryourself.
Yep.
(04:20):
And it really does make adifference about what you put
out there.
Because again, you know, we'vesaid it before, it sounds super
harsh, but publishing a bookisn't news.
But you can make yourselfnewsworthy and interesting and
unique and all those things, butthose are all actions that you
need to be taking.
(04:40):
You know, that is not going tohappen by sitting at your desk
and you know, refreshing yourAmazon sales stats or anything
like that.
Like you really have to beactively involved in making
yourself coverage worthy.
And to your point, Penny,everything you put out there,
that's all a part of it.
Everything that, you know,everything that you put out for
(05:03):
readers and influencers and evenbigger media to potentially
consume and connect with you onand judge you by, if we're if
we're being totally honest, itall matters.
Yeah, it all matters.
SPEAKER_00 (05:16):
And I I'm sorry, I'm sorry, cut you off.
SPEAKER_01 (05:18):
Go ahead.
No, no, I was just gonna say themore you put out there and the
more you control it yourself,ensuring it's you know on point
and quality and position for thepeople that you're trying to
appeal to, the better.
SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
Yeah.
And you know, we used to talk alot about sound bites.
So I used to do, I I I've neverdone official media training,
but I've done enough media withauthors that I can kind of walk
them through.
Like, okay, you want to makesure you have your soundbite,
you want to make sure that youhave, you know what I mean, that
you know what you're gonna say.
In this new media world,developing your reader sound
(05:52):
bite, which is essentially yourelevator pitch.
We just did a show on elevatorpitches.
So if you didn't catch it, besure to tune into that.
Um, but it is a it is asuccinct, natural way to
describe your book that feelsconversational, so not
(06:13):
rehearsed, so not like uh sopractice this, right?
Because you want to make like ifyou get asked if and elevator
pitches, we don't necessarily wedon't always all exclusively use
them in social media or inpodcasts or whatever.
You could be going to aconference or meeting somebody
in a grocery store.
You're like, oh, you wrote abook, what's your book about?
Boom, there's your elevatorpitch, and you know, you know,
(06:33):
you may not feel comfortabletelling a neighbor your elevator
pitch in the produce aisle ofthe grocery store, but I'm just
saying you want to make sure andhave it ready.
Um and you can use this acrosseverything.
And in in the in the elevatorpitch episode, we talked about
the we talked about the authorpages and and uh so it's not
just so podcast intros, socialmedia bios.
And you know, if you listen toso there's a really great
(06:55):
podcast that I love, and it'scalled Something You Should
Know.
He used to Mike, Mike Carruthersused to have like we and we've
had authors on both his podcastand then his little he used to
do this soundbite on radio, andhe may still do it, um, but and
basically he would just talkabout something that was
interesting that week orwhatever.
But on his show, he interviewsauthors pretty much exclusively.
(07:18):
Like everybody that he has onthere is an author.
And it's interesting when youlisten to the show, who really
has their reader soundbitenailed versus who doesn't?
And you can, if you listen toenough of those shows, you can
really get a sense of you knowwhat I'm talking about.
All right.
So, y'all, this is something Amyand I were talking about this in
the green room.
(07:38):
Body language, voice, energy,all of that matters, especially
on Zoom.
Let me just say this about that.
I've done a lot of virtual Zoomevents, taught a lot on Zoom.
Everybody listening to me withinthe sound of my voice.
(07:59):
If you've ever attended a Zoomsession, do not eat, let your
cat walk across the keyboard, orin one really unfortunate
situation, get up and adjustyour pants.
Like that literally happened.
And you know what the problemwith that is first off, like
(08:19):
don't do anything in a Zoomsession or in a video, like if
because some podcasts I knowthey like to record video
because they also havecorresponding YouTube channels,
but show up like you're at a jobinterview.
I mean, I'm not saying you haveto wear a suit and tie or you
know, whatever, or or a suit,what don't do anything that you
(08:40):
wouldn't do.
Like, you're probably not gonnabring, you know, fluffy the cat
to an interview and let the catwalk across the stage.
Like just stop, right?
It was and it's verydistracting, right?
And people eating on camera.
I'm like, really?
Like, is that what we're doingnow?
(09:01):
So um, you know, the world iswatching, right?
And attention spans are really,really short.
So your body language, voice,and energy still matter.
I mean, listen, we've actuallyhad a couple of shows that Amy
and I have recorded that neverended up in the podcast stream
because we felt like our energywasn't like maybe there was just
(09:24):
a lot going on that day, or werecorded late in the day and
we're both kind of tired,whatever.
It didn't match the vibe of theshow.
I mean, because we're reallyparticular about that, right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:36):
Yes, exactly.
It makes such a big differenceto do do your research, make
sure that you are oh I mean, weget those emails all the time
too, Penny.
Yeah, teaching us for the showfor certain things, and it's
like I it's hard for me not toreply sometimes.
I'll be candid.
I can be petty like that.
(10:00):
But it really is, it makes sucha big difference that you are
and this is for everything,showing it prepared.
I know it's easy to check thingsoff the list, but have you
noticed this too on socialmedia, Penny, when you can tell,
you can really tell if somebodywas engaged in their response or
if they have their account setup for auto replies or something
(10:21):
like that.
I mean, I guess it's a highquality problem to have.
If your engagement is so throughthe roof, you have to set up
auto replies, then you know,congrats to you, I'm on all your
secrets.
But it really is, it makes sucha big difference to take a step
back.
And this is, and we've doneshows on managing your time and
you know, not gettingoverwhelmed with stuff.
But it really does at this pointmake us make sense to dedicate
(10:45):
certain times in your schedule,I think, to working on these
kinds of things where you canreally be there a hundred
percent.
Yeah.
Focus on what you need tocreate, focus on what you need
to prep for, focus on, you know,follow the accounts, listen to
shows, read their content.
And before you engage, make sureyou come up with something
that's really thoughtful andunique because I can tell you,
(11:07):
you know, professionals,influencers, they can spot it
miles away.
Yeah.
If you're being inauthentic, ifyou're or if you're checking
something off the list just tokiss their ass, you know?
SPEAKER_00 (11:18):
But well, but the other thing though, too, is I
think that um, you know, a lotof people, and Amy and I have
had these conversations manytimes.
A lot of people want to do Zoom.
Like when we do, like when I doinitial author calls, and we're
like, they really want to doZoom.
And Zoom used to always reallystress me out.
And Zoom stressed me out becauselike I had a green screen, I had
(11:39):
to get the green screen up, likeall the things like I said at my
desk.
Now I have like this cool littlecorner in my office that's set
up, and um, and it it first off,it looks better.
It anything looks better.
I mean, the green screens workvery well, but this looks so
much better, so much moreauthentic.
(12:00):
If you're going to be doing alike if you're doing um book
club meetups with, you know,book clubs and you're doing them
across the country and you'redoing them virtually, or you're
doing school events that you'redoing virtually, whatever, you
gotta make sure you've got yourvideo game going.
Uh not just because like thisvideo might wind up, you know,
(12:20):
the guy adjusting his pants orwhatever might wind up in social
media and oh my gosh, what's hedoing?
But it sends a vibe.
You're you're the you know, theway you show up in video, it
sends a vibe, it sends, youknow, it's your energy, it's how
professional you are.
And I've learned the hard waybecause I really like I for
years, like as Amy knows, Ireally struggled with you know,
with doing video.
(12:41):
But when you have something, andif you're gonna doing a lot of
podcasts, you are gonna end updoing video because a lot of
these folks have YouTubecompanion channels.
Um, just make sure that you gotyour video game going.
Oh, yeah.
You know, for for sure.
Um, the other thing that I thinkis is so can we just have a
(13:03):
conversation about negativecomments?
I mean, so if you're beinginterviewed, um, and again,
whether you're being interviewedor whether there were negative
comments on a social media postthat you did, or you're getting
a lot of negative comments insomething.
So let me just give you afirsthand example.
I did a video.
(13:23):
I I have, as those of you who'velistened to us know, I I have
kind of a love-hate relationshipwith TikTok, but so I did a
video about one of our pod,well, one of our shows, and it
was about creative ways that AIcan help authors manage all the
things.
So, you know, coming up withsocial media ideas, it was not
(13:44):
about let AI write your bookanyway.
So I did a little promo videofor it and I put it on
Instagram, great, they loved it.
I put it on TikTok, andeverybody lost their bloody
mind.
Right.
And at first I was like, youknow, first, my your first
inclination when people areresponding negatively is like,
well, I have to respond back andI have to respond back.
You literally can never win thatbattle.
(14:06):
Right.
So at some point I was justlike, hey, thank you so much for
your feedback.
Thank you so much.
Glad that you hate AI with yourentire heart and soul.
Good luck to you, whatever.
So those negative, no matter howmuch you try to control the
narrative, negative comments aregonna happen.
Um, if you're doing an interviewon a podcast, you know,
depending on how um how seasonedthe host is, you may get an
(14:33):
off-topic question that you'relike weren't really prepared
for.
And you know, you can just kindof you don't have to just say,
well, I wasn't expecting thatquestion, Dan.
You can kind of you can leadthem back to the to the topic.
And I've seen it again, not toplug, I have no, I have no horse
in this race, but not to plugthe something you should know
(14:54):
show.
But listening to that show isreally kind of like you can
hear, you can really tell whensomebody is bringing their A
game and they're preparedbecause Mike's a really good
interviewer and he will, youknow, throw them, doesn't
intentionally throw them a curvecurveball, but he asks them
tough questions because he knowshis listeners want to dive
deeper, right?
You got to be prepared for allof that.
(15:14):
Bad reviews.
This is something, Amy, do youwant to take this one?
Because I know that authors likethey want to respond to all the
bad reviews.
SPEAKER_01 (15:26):
Yeah, they you know, the answer is don't.
Right, right.
Short answer is don't, thelonger answer is that's part of
the that's part of what we'redoing here.
You know, it it sounds scary toto put it this way, but when you
write a book and you publish itand you put it out to the world,
(15:47):
like yes, what fuels you are ispeople loving it, but at the
same time, you have to acceptthe fact that you are still
putting something out there tobe consumed and to be judged and
to be experienced.
And you can't control whathappens once it lands in
somebody's hands or on theirKindle, you know?
Right.
And I think that what to focuson also is, you know, we did a
(16:11):
show recently on reframing yourmindset that you really have to
think of like read.
I know your initial reactionwill be to be pissed off, and
that's fair.
But really, if the review isthoughtful, even if it didn't go
the way you would like it to go,if the review is thoughtful and
they actually gave genuinefeedback, like they really read
the book, then honestly, thatthat's actually the best you can
(16:34):
hope for.
I know, unfortunately, sometimesyou get those BS like one-liner
reviews that just infuriate metoo, you know, Penny.
Yeah.
We've talked about this before,how I wish Amazon for all the
things that they do to kind ofmess with authors in terms of
reviews and pulling reviews andall this stuff, I really wish
they would focus their energy onpreventing those just nonsense,
(16:59):
useless reviews.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I I I completely agree withthat.
Yeah, those just drive me nuts.
But honestly, if somebody wasthoughtful and they wrote the
review and you can tell theyprobably really did read the
book, that's the best you canhope for if you're getting a
negative review.
And the ones that are theone-liners, that's just, you
know, that's just life,unfortunately.
Don't respond to those.
(17:20):
Um, you can mark it unhelpful onAmazon.
That's it's always cathartic.
And we do recommend that you dothumbs up the help, you know,
mark reviews helpful that arepositive on your page.
You know, you can ask yournetwork to do the same thing.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Um, I definitely make a point tomark certain reviews helpful
(17:42):
that genuinely are.
And I I mark certain reviewsthat you could tell are just
nasty and weren't well thoughtout, or somebody didn't even
read the book.
I mark those as unhelpfulbecause it makes me feel better.
SPEAKER_00 (17:52):
You know?
Well, and I've seen actuallyreviews, I mean, not necessarily
related to books, but I'veactually seen reviews on Amazon
where people are like, thisarrived late.
Like, how is that the person'sAmazon's, you know what I mean?
Like, Amazon's the shipping.
How do you not know?
Yeah, that drives me nuts.
I just no, I I know that justmakes me that just makes me
(18:13):
crazy.
So everything is media.
It's and media training is very,I mean, yes, there is still
television, radio, the things,media training, but think about
just everything is media, right?
Um, and just to be prepared andand you know, watch what you're
(18:34):
putting out there.
Um make sure that you have yourelevator pitch, you know, nailed
down.
And if you've written acontroversial topic, here's the
thing.
If you've written acontroversial topic, if you've
written about, I don't know,whatever it is, right?
Like you've written about, youknow, you really know what
happened uh in XYZ crime story,or you've written something
(18:58):
political or something, youshould expect people to ask you
the tough questions or um, youknow, say something equally
controversial or whatever.
So if you've written somethingcontroversial, just go into
this.
There's none, then there'snothing wrong with that, but
just expect it, you know.
Um saying something like, youknow, it's important for me to
(19:21):
spark this conversation to, youknow, whatever that what you
know, whatever that conversationis for you, right?
Um so uh yeah, I mean, Amy,there's one final point that I
know you and I talked about inthe green room on this.
And do you want to just sharethis?
Because you are you and I are II don't know which one of us is
(19:42):
more horrified at this, butsorry, I'm just a big, huge
lead-in now for you.
Oh God.
Um wait, which one was it?
Now I'm like it's the Amy's hottake.
We talked about that.
SPEAKER_01 (19:58):
Sorry, you guys.
I am not used to get likeanybody that knows me knows I am
very much like the behind thescenes, behind the curtain
person.
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
Please do not like oh, but she is so not behind
this.
Don't let her fool you.
She's so not behind the scenesperson, but go on.
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
So yeah, my hot take.
I love this.
This is hilarious.
I need a t-shirt.
Never, ever, ever turn down anopportunity or an interview.
Ever.
Ever.
Some like no, I love it.
Unless you are a household namealready and you are not too good
for any sort of coverage.
We've talked about this a lot.
Again, I I will say it to myblue in the face.
(20:35):
Quality over quantity.
Getting in if an influencer has2,000 followers, but you can
tell that all of that is genuineand they get great engagement,
that is a much better audiencethan the influencer with 20
million followers that promoteseverything under the sun because
they're getting paid.
SPEAKER_00 (20:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It absolutely, you know, wethere's no such thing as, I
mean, look, if it's not a goodfit for you, then you know, then
I don't know why you pitched itin the first place.
Sorry.
Just you know, then that I meanto make better choices.
But uh never ever ever turn downan opportunity to to do an
(21:17):
interview, whether it's, youknow, a podcast or just somebody
interviewing on social orwhatever.
Every single interview that youdo is a great way to refine your
message, to prepare yourself,you know, for the big time.
And there's rarely an authorthat I've ever talked to who
(21:38):
doesn't want the big ticketitems.
They don't, you know, thenational, a big flashy billboard
on Times Square, big nationalmedia, huge book tour, all the
things.
None of those things ever startout by authors turning down
interviews, like ever.
Right.
Yeah.
In fact, you know, there's agreat story, Chicken Soup for
(21:58):
the Soul, um, which pretty muchthe whole story about Chicken
Soup for the Soul pretty muchfollowed me through the first, I
would say, 10 years of my, youknow, running this business
because they were everywhere.
These guys were everywhere.
And I think they've kind of sortof retired.
I mean, the brand is obviouslystill there, but you know, they
they probably retired to theirhomes in Maui or some exotic
(22:21):
place or whatever.
But when you think about chickensoup for the soul, you think
about there's like nine billiondifferent variations of like
chicken soup for the firemansoul and the equestrian soul and
whatever.
Their secret, obviously, otherthan knowing the market, and
we've I've used, I've cited themas an example before in prior
shows, but their secret wasnever turning down a single
(22:42):
interview.
They would get up at, you know,this is pre-podcasting when you
could schedule it at areasonable hour, but they would
get up at two, sometimes threeo'clock in the morning, to do
interviews on radio stations inpodunk little area towns.
Everything's important,everything matters, never turned
anything down.
And look at where it got them.
(23:02):
Yeah.
Right.
So I guess you know, the the thetakeaways are be prepared.
Don't show up to Zoom with asandwich or your cat.
Um trying to make do a costumechange on the on camera, because
that really annoys Penny andprobably everybody else on the
call.
SPEAKER_01 (23:22):
Um and be thoughtful in your responses when you show
up, show up when you have timeto really put the energy and
thought into what you're puttingout there too.
Don't just off the list.
SPEAKER_00 (23:33):
Yeah, because you know what?
Even even if you never show upon video, even if you're like,
you know what, I hate video, Iwill never be on video.
People can sniff outauthenticity in a social media
post or a podcast interview veryquickly.
So, you know, bring your bringyour authentic A game and your
elevator pitch.
(23:55):
And I think we've coveredeverything.
We got Amy's hot take.
I love that.
I'm glad that you added that tothe show because that was
obviously that's obviously verykey.
And that's something that annoysme.
SPEAKER_01 (24:06):
I need to embrace it more.
You need to embrace what more?
What?
My my hot take.
Because clearly I was like, ohgosh, no.
SPEAKER_00 (24:12):
Like Yes, you need to embrace embrace your hot
take.
I think I I don't know, y'all.
Don't you think that every Amyshould have a hot take for every
episode?
I think that would be I thinkthat would be amazing.
And you can let us know what youthink about that by texting the
word podcast to 888-402-8940.
And thank you also for all thenew reviews that we've gotten.
(24:33):
You got us over 100.
Now, next year, our goal is to,because we're always we always
striving for a goal, uh, 99 morereviews next year to get us to
200 by the end of 2026.
So that would be amazing.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Um, and we will see you nextweek.
(24:54):
And I guess um next week is isThanksgiving.
So um we may do we may do aspecial rerun episode or
something.
But have a really good holiday,everybody, and thank you so much
for listening.
And we'll be back in your inyour um stream on Friday.
Bye bye.
Hello and welcome back to the book marketing tips,
authors podcast.
And it's Anthony, Baby Cornell.
And so today we're we're kind ofturning.
So I get a lot of requests fromauthors on media training.
I know maybe um a lot of thosequestions, but we're working
(00:21):
with authors, media training,media training.
In this episode, we're reallyturning media training on its
head because everything ismedia.
And we're gonna give you someexamples and some takeaways and
all the things.
But I want to start off firstjust reminding y'all we've got
some really great text fromlisteners.
Thank you so much for writingus.
(00:41):
We love it.
It's such a personal way toconnect with both of us over the
podcast.
So send us your show ideas,feedback on the show, what you'd
like to see more of, et cetera.
Text the word podcast to888-402-8940.
And we'd love to hear from you.
We've been having a lot of funwith the with the texting.
(01:05):
So I'm uh so I'm really excitedabout that.
Okay, so let's dig into this.
Everything is media, and I thinkthat a lot of times authors
really forget about that.
Uh, you know, when I was firstin business 25 years ago, we had
TV, radio, print.
And by today's standards, thatseems super boring, right, Amy?
(01:27):
Because now we have all thethings.
SPEAKER_01 (01:29):
Right.
It's like TV, radio, and printnow just seems so uh slow moving
compared to it's like wow, it'sreally expanded the number of
potential opportunities, whichis very exciting.
SPEAKER_00 (01:43):
But yes, and not necessarily, but but I mean, in
terms of expanding it, this iswhere I think that authors tend
to forget that everything is astage.
We talk about this too,everything is your resume.
But this goes, I think, a littlebit further, right?
We not to put too much pressureon y'all listening, but we are
constantly on stage.
Every post on Facebook, everyvideo clip, every reply, it
(02:09):
shapes your public narrative.
It shapes your image, right?
Um, and I think that when, youknow, we get this a lot of times
with authors say, I want to beon TikTok because I saw XYZ go
viral.
And part of the re I mean,sometimes there's no rhyme or
(02:29):
reason to what goes viral andwhat doesn't.
But a lot of it has to do withauthenticity, right?
So as opposed to, I'm gonnacreate this video because I want
to go viral, then you have theauthor.
There was a there was a video.
I don't know if you rememberthat, Amy.
This is now probably a couple ofyears ago, but it was an author
(02:50):
sitting in a grocery store doinga book signing.
And he somebody took a some guy,not even him, it wasn't even him
that did it.
Somebody else did a TikTok ofhim sitting in this in this
grocery store, and it may havebeen may have even been a
Walmart, doing his book signingand the whole thing just went
(03:12):
viral.
And nobody was there was nobodyat the table, he was just there
by himself.
And it was a super sweet,heartwarming moment.
And I think he got asked backand then he had like a line out
the door or something.
SPEAKER_01 (03:22):
Very cool.
SPEAKER_00 (03:23):
Yeah, you know.
Um, all right.
So part of the reason why wetalk, we've talked a lot about
branding, we talk a lot aboutmessaging, but I think to
reframe this, the whole topic ofmedia.
Um part of the reason why thisis important is I think we
oftentimes forget thateverything that we put out there
(03:46):
is all part of defining who weare as an author.
I mean, I mean, you see this alot of times too when you're
evaluating authors or givingthem assessments and things like
that, right?
SPEAKER_01 (04:00):
Right.
Yes.
And why this is also extratimely is because media, unlike
in the past, media doesn'thappen to you anymore.
You really have to be engaged increating the right atmosphere
and the right opportunities foryourself.
Yep.
(04:20):
And it really does make adifference about what you put
out there.
Because again, you know, we'vesaid it before, it sounds super
harsh, but publishing a bookisn't news.
But you can make yourselfnewsworthy and interesting and
unique and all those things, butthose are all actions that you
need to be taking.
(04:40):
You know, that is not going tohappen by sitting at your desk
and you know, refreshing yourAmazon sales stats or anything
like that.
Like you really have to beactively involved in making
yourself coverage worthy.
And to your point, Penny,everything you put out there,
that's all a part of it.
Everything that, you know,everything that you put out for
(05:03):
readers and influencers and evenbigger media to potentially
consume and connect with you onand judge you by, if we're if
we're being totally honest, itall matters.
Yeah, it all matters.
SPEAKER_00 (05:16):
And I I'm sorry, I'm sorry, cut you off.
SPEAKER_01 (05:18):
Go ahead.
No, no, I was just gonna say themore you put out there and the
more you control it yourself,ensuring it's you know on point
and quality and position for thepeople that you're trying to
appeal to, the better.
SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
Yeah.
And you know, we used to talk alot about sound bites.
So I used to do, I I I've neverdone official media training,
but I've done enough media withauthors that I can kind of walk
them through.
Like, okay, you want to makesure you have your soundbite,
you want to make sure that youhave, you know what I mean, that
you know what you're gonna say.
In this new media world,developing your reader sound
(05:52):
bite, which is essentially yourelevator pitch.
We just did a show on elevatorpitches.
So if you didn't catch it, besure to tune into that.
Um, but it is a it is asuccinct, natural way to
describe your book that feelsconversational, so not
(06:13):
rehearsed, so not like uh sopractice this, right?
Because you want to make like ifyou get asked if and elevator
pitches, we don't necessarily wedon't always all exclusively use
them in social media or inpodcasts or whatever.
You could be going to aconference or meeting somebody
in a grocery store.
You're like, oh, you wrote abook, what's your book about?
Boom, there's your elevatorpitch, and you know, you know,
(06:33):
you may not feel comfortabletelling a neighbor your elevator
pitch in the produce aisle ofthe grocery store, but I'm just
saying you want to make sure andhave it ready.
Um and you can use this acrosseverything.
And in in the in the elevatorpitch episode, we talked about
the we talked about the authorpages and and uh so it's not
just so podcast intros, socialmedia bios.
And you know, if you listen toso there's a really great
(06:55):
podcast that I love, and it'scalled Something You Should
Know.
He used to Mike, Mike Carruthersused to have like we and we've
had authors on both his podcastand then his little he used to
do this soundbite on radio, andhe may still do it, um, but and
basically he would just talkabout something that was
interesting that week orwhatever.
But on his show, he interviewsauthors pretty much exclusively.
(07:18):
Like everybody that he has onthere is an author.
And it's interesting when youlisten to the show, who really
has their reader soundbitenailed versus who doesn't?
And you can, if you listen toenough of those shows, you can
really get a sense of you knowwhat I'm talking about.
All right.
So, y'all, this is something Amyand I were talking about this in
the green room.
(07:38):
Body language, voice, energy,all of that matters, especially
on Zoom.
Let me just say this about that.
I've done a lot of virtual Zoomevents, taught a lot on Zoom.
Everybody listening to me withinthe sound of my voice.
(07:59):
If you've ever attended a Zoomsession, do not eat, let your
cat walk across the keyboard, orin one really unfortunate
situation, get up and adjustyour pants.
Like that literally happened.
And you know what the problemwith that is first off, like
(08:19):
don't do anything in a Zoomsession or in a video, like if
because some podcasts I knowthey like to record video
because they also havecorresponding YouTube channels,
but show up like you're at a jobinterview.
I mean, I'm not saying you haveto wear a suit and tie or you
know, whatever, or or a suit,what don't do anything that you
(08:40):
wouldn't do.
Like, you're probably not gonnabring, you know, fluffy the cat
to an interview and let the catwalk across the stage.
Like just stop, right?
It was and it's verydistracting, right?
And people eating on camera.
I'm like, really?
Like, is that what we're doingnow?
(09:01):
So um, you know, the world iswatching, right?
And attention spans are really,really short.
So your body language, voice,and energy still matter.
I mean, listen, we've actuallyhad a couple of shows that Amy
and I have recorded that neverended up in the podcast stream
because we felt like our energywasn't like maybe there was just
(09:24):
a lot going on that day, or werecorded late in the day and
we're both kind of tired,whatever.
It didn't match the vibe of theshow.
I mean, because we're reallyparticular about that, right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:36):
Yes, exactly.
It makes such a big differenceto do do your research, make
sure that you are oh I mean, weget those emails all the time
too, Penny.
Yeah, teaching us for the showfor certain things, and it's
like I it's hard for me not toreply sometimes.
I'll be candid.
I can be petty like that.
(10:00):
But it really is, it makes sucha big difference that you are
and this is for everything,showing it prepared.
I know it's easy to check thingsoff the list, but have you
noticed this too on socialmedia, Penny, when you can tell,
you can really tell if somebodywas engaged in their response or
if they have their account setup for auto replies or something
(10:21):
like that.
I mean, I guess it's a highquality problem to have.
If your engagement is so throughthe roof, you have to set up
auto replies, then you know,congrats to you, I'm on all your
secrets.
But it really is, it makes sucha big difference to take a step
back.
And this is, and we've doneshows on managing your time and
you know, not gettingoverwhelmed with stuff.
But it really does at this pointmake us make sense to dedicate
(10:45):
certain times in your schedule,I think, to working on these
kinds of things where you canreally be there a hundred
percent.
Yeah.
Focus on what you need tocreate, focus on what you need
to prep for, focus on, you know,follow the accounts, listen to
shows, read their content.
And before you engage, make sureyou come up with something
that's really thoughtful andunique because I can tell you,
(11:07):
you know, professionals,influencers, they can spot it
miles away.
Yeah.
If you're being inauthentic, ifyou're or if you're checking
something off the list just tokiss their ass, you know?
SPEAKER_00 (11:18):
But well, but the other thing though, too, is I
think that um, you know, a lotof people, and Amy and I have
had these conversations manytimes.
A lot of people want to do Zoom.
Like when we do, like when I doinitial author calls, and we're
like, they really want to doZoom.
And Zoom used to always reallystress me out.
And Zoom stressed me out becauselike I had a green screen, I had
(11:39):
to get the green screen up, likeall the things like I said at my
desk.
Now I have like this cool littlecorner in my office that's set
up, and um, and it it first off,it looks better.
It anything looks better.
I mean, the green screens workvery well, but this looks so
much better, so much moreauthentic.
(12:00):
If you're going to be doing alike if you're doing um book
club meetups with, you know,book clubs and you're doing them
across the country and you'redoing them virtually, or you're
doing school events that you'redoing virtually, whatever, you
gotta make sure you've got yourvideo game going.
Uh not just because like thisvideo might wind up, you know,
(12:20):
the guy adjusting his pants orwhatever might wind up in social
media and oh my gosh, what's hedoing?
But it sends a vibe.
You're you're the you know, theway you show up in video, it
sends a vibe, it sends, youknow, it's your energy, it's how
professional you are.
And I've learned the hard waybecause I really like I for
years, like as Amy knows, Ireally struggled with you know,
with doing video.
(12:41):
But when you have something, andif you're gonna doing a lot of
podcasts, you are gonna end updoing video because a lot of
these folks have YouTubecompanion channels.
Um, just make sure that you gotyour video game going.
Oh, yeah.
You know, for for sure.
Um, the other thing that I thinkis is so can we just have a
(13:03):
conversation about negativecomments?
I mean, so if you're beinginterviewed, um, and again,
whether you're being interviewedor whether there were negative
comments on a social media postthat you did, or you're getting
a lot of negative comments insomething.
So let me just give you afirsthand example.
I did a video.
(13:23):
I I have, as those of you who'velistened to us know, I I have
kind of a love-hate relationshipwith TikTok, but so I did a
video about one of our pod,well, one of our shows, and it
was about creative ways that AIcan help authors manage all the
things.
So, you know, coming up withsocial media ideas, it was not
(13:44):
about let AI write your bookanyway.
So I did a little promo videofor it and I put it on
Instagram, great, they loved it.
I put it on TikTok, andeverybody lost their bloody
mind.
Right.
And at first I was like, youknow, first, my your first
inclination when people areresponding negatively is like,
well, I have to respond back andI have to respond back.
You literally can never win thatbattle.
(14:06):
Right.
So at some point I was justlike, hey, thank you so much for
your feedback.
Thank you so much.
Glad that you hate AI with yourentire heart and soul.
Good luck to you, whatever.
So those negative, no matter howmuch you try to control the
narrative, negative comments aregonna happen.
Um, if you're doing an interviewon a podcast, you know,
depending on how um how seasonedthe host is, you may get an
(14:33):
off-topic question that you'relike weren't really prepared
for.
And you know, you can just kindof you don't have to just say,
well, I wasn't expecting thatquestion, Dan.
You can kind of you can leadthem back to the to the topic.
And I've seen it again, not toplug, I have no, I have no horse
in this race, but not to plugthe something you should know
(14:54):
show.
But listening to that show isreally kind of like you can
hear, you can really tell whensomebody is bringing their A
game and they're preparedbecause Mike's a really good
interviewer and he will, youknow, throw them, doesn't
intentionally throw them a curvecurveball, but he asks them
tough questions because he knowshis listeners want to dive
deeper, right?
You got to be prepared for allof that.
(15:14):
Bad reviews.
This is something, Amy, do youwant to take this one?
Because I know that authors likethey want to respond to all the
bad reviews.
SPEAKER_01 (15:26):
Yeah, they you know, the answer is don't.
Right, right.
Short answer is don't, thelonger answer is that's part of
the that's part of what we'redoing here.
You know, it it sounds scary toto put it this way, but when you
write a book and you publish itand you put it out to the world,
(15:47):
like yes, what fuels you are ispeople loving it, but at the
same time, you have to acceptthe fact that you are still
putting something out there tobe consumed and to be judged and
to be experienced.
And you can't control whathappens once it lands in
somebody's hands or on theirKindle, you know?
Right.
And I think that what to focuson also is, you know, we did a
(16:11):
show recently on reframing yourmindset that you really have to
think of like read.
I know your initial reactionwill be to be pissed off, and
that's fair.
But really, if the review isthoughtful, even if it didn't go
the way you would like it to go,if the review is thoughtful and
they actually gave genuinefeedback, like they really read
the book, then honestly, thatthat's actually the best you can
(16:34):
hope for.
I know, unfortunately, sometimesyou get those BS like one-liner
reviews that just infuriate metoo, you know, Penny.
Yeah.
We've talked about this before,how I wish Amazon for all the
things that they do to kind ofmess with authors in terms of
reviews and pulling reviews andall this stuff, I really wish
they would focus their energy onpreventing those just nonsense,
(16:59):
useless reviews.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I I I completely agree withthat.
Yeah, those just drive me nuts.
But honestly, if somebody wasthoughtful and they wrote the
review and you can tell theyprobably really did read the
book, that's the best you canhope for if you're getting a
negative review.
And the ones that are theone-liners, that's just, you
know, that's just life,unfortunately.
Don't respond to those.
(17:20):
Um, you can mark it unhelpful onAmazon.
That's it's always cathartic.
And we do recommend that you dothumbs up the help, you know,
mark reviews helpful that arepositive on your page.
You know, you can ask yournetwork to do the same thing.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Um, I definitely make a point tomark certain reviews helpful
(17:42):
that genuinely are.
And I I mark certain reviewsthat you could tell are just
nasty and weren't well thoughtout, or somebody didn't even
read the book.
I mark those as unhelpfulbecause it makes me feel better.
SPEAKER_00 (17:52):
You know?
Well, and I've seen actuallyreviews, I mean, not necessarily
related to books, but I'veactually seen reviews on Amazon
where people are like, thisarrived late.
Like, how is that the person'sAmazon's, you know what I mean?
Like, Amazon's the shipping.
How do you not know?
Yeah, that drives me nuts.
I just no, I I know that justmakes me that just makes me
(18:13):
crazy.
So everything is media.
It's and media training is very,I mean, yes, there is still
television, radio, the things,media training, but think about
just everything is media, right?
Um, and just to be prepared andand you know, watch what you're
(18:34):
putting out there.
Um make sure that you have yourelevator pitch, you know, nailed
down.
And if you've written acontroversial topic, here's the
thing.
If you've written acontroversial topic, if you've
written about, I don't know,whatever it is, right?
Like you've written about, youknow, you really know what
happened uh in XYZ crime story,or you've written something
(18:58):
political or something, youshould expect people to ask you
the tough questions or um, youknow, say something equally
controversial or whatever.
So if you've written somethingcontroversial, just go into
this.
There's none, then there'snothing wrong with that, but
just expect it, you know.
Um saying something like, youknow, it's important for me to
(19:21):
spark this conversation to, youknow, whatever that what you
know, whatever that conversationis for you, right?
Um so uh yeah, I mean, Amy,there's one final point that I
know you and I talked about inthe green room on this.
And do you want to just sharethis?
Because you are you and I are II don't know which one of us is
(19:42):
more horrified at this, butsorry, I'm just a big, huge
lead-in now for you.
Oh God.
Um wait, which one was it?
Now I'm like it's the Amy's hottake.
We talked about that.
SPEAKER_01 (19:58):
Sorry, you guys.
I am not used to get likeanybody that knows me knows I am
very much like the behind thescenes, behind the curtain
person.
SPEAKER_00 (20:05):
Please do not like oh, but she is so not behind
this.
Don't let her fool you.
She's so not behind the scenesperson, but go on.
SPEAKER_01 (20:13):
So yeah, my hot take.
I love this.
This is hilarious.
I need a t-shirt.
Never, ever, ever turn down anopportunity or an interview.
Ever.
Ever.
Some like no, I love it.
Unless you are a household namealready and you are not too good
for any sort of coverage.
We've talked about this a lot.
Again, I I will say it to myblue in the face.
(20:35):
Quality over quantity.
Getting in if an influencer has2,000 followers, but you can
tell that all of that is genuineand they get great engagement,
that is a much better audiencethan the influencer with 20
million followers that promoteseverything under the sun because
they're getting paid.
SPEAKER_00 (20:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
It absolutely, you know, wethere's no such thing as, I
mean, look, if it's not a goodfit for you, then you know, then
I don't know why you pitched itin the first place.
Sorry.
Just you know, then that I meanto make better choices.
But uh never ever ever turn downan opportunity to to do an
(21:17):
interview, whether it's, youknow, a podcast or just somebody
interviewing on social orwhatever.
Every single interview that youdo is a great way to refine your
message, to prepare yourself,you know, for the big time.
And there's rarely an authorthat I've ever talked to who
(21:38):
doesn't want the big ticketitems.
They don't, you know, thenational, a big flashy billboard
on Times Square, big nationalmedia, huge book tour, all the
things.
None of those things ever startout by authors turning down
interviews, like ever.
Right.
Yeah.
In fact, you know, there's agreat story, Chicken Soup for
(21:58):
the Soul, um, which pretty muchthe whole story about Chicken
Soup for the Soul pretty muchfollowed me through the first, I
would say, 10 years of my, youknow, running this business
because they were everywhere.
These guys were everywhere.
And I think they've kind of sortof retired.
I mean, the brand is obviouslystill there, but you know, they
they probably retired to theirhomes in Maui or some exotic
(22:21):
place or whatever.
But when you think about chickensoup for the soul, you think
about there's like nine billiondifferent variations of like
chicken soup for the firemansoul and the equestrian soul and
whatever.
Their secret, obviously, otherthan knowing the market, and
we've I've used, I've cited themas an example before in prior
shows, but their secret wasnever turning down a single
(22:42):
interview.
They would get up at, you know,this is pre-podcasting when you
could schedule it at areasonable hour, but they would
get up at two, sometimes threeo'clock in the morning, to do
interviews on radio stations inpodunk little area towns.
Everything's important,everything matters, never turned
anything down.
And look at where it got them.
(23:02):
Yeah.
Right.
So I guess you know, the the thetakeaways are be prepared.
Don't show up to Zoom with asandwich or your cat.
Um trying to make do a costumechange on the on camera, because
that really annoys Penny andprobably everybody else on the
call.
SPEAKER_01 (23:22):
Um and be thoughtful in your responses when you show
up, show up when you have timeto really put the energy and
thought into what you're puttingout there too.
Don't just off the list.
SPEAKER_00 (23:33):
Yeah, because you know what?
Even even if you never show upon video, even if you're like,
you know what, I hate video, Iwill never be on video.
People can sniff outauthenticity in a social media
post or a podcast interview veryquickly.
So, you know, bring your bringyour authentic A game and your
elevator pitch.
(23:55):
And I think we've coveredeverything.
We got Amy's hot take.
I love that.
I'm glad that you added that tothe show because that was
obviously that's obviously verykey.
And that's something that annoysme.
SPEAKER_01 (24:06):
I need to embrace it more.
You need to embrace what more?
What?
My my hot take.
Because clearly I was like, ohgosh, no.
SPEAKER_00 (24:12):
Like Yes, you need to embrace embrace your hot
take.
I think I I don't know, y'all.
Don't you think that every Amyshould have a hot take for every
episode?
I think that would be I thinkthat would be amazing.
And you can let us know what youthink about that by texting the
word podcast to 888-402-8940.
And thank you also for all thenew reviews that we've gotten.
(24:33):
You got us over 100.
Now, next year, our goal is to,because we're always we always
striving for a goal, uh, 99 morereviews next year to get us to
200 by the end of 2026.
So that would be amazing.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
Um, and we will see you nextweek.
(24:54):
And I guess um next week is isThanksgiving.
So um we may do we may do aspecial rerun episode or
something.
But have a really good holiday,everybody, and thank you so much
for listening.
And we'll be back in your inyour um stream on Friday.
Bye bye.
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