Category Archives: Alan E. Smith
| Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with author, entrepreneur, and marketing guru Alan E. Smith on how to line up and successfully execute media interviews on AM, FM, Satellite, and BlogTalk Radio stations. Alan is the author of How To UnBreak Your Health. Since the first edition of his book was published in late 2007 he’s been interviewed on more than 70 radio programs. He’s been on AM, FM, Internet and even satellite radio shows talking about his book about complementary and alternative medicine. Topics covered:
Why should authors use radio to promote their book?
Is one type of radio (AM, FM, Internet) better than another for generating book sales and visibility?
How do you find a radio show that might want to have you on?
How do you get on a radio show?
What’s the best way to prepare for a radio interview?
What do you do during an interview?
Is there anything you suggest doing after an interview?
How do you capitalize on an interview after it’s over?
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We’ve even had Alan Guest Host a couple of Authors Access shows and I highly highly recommend you listen to our roundtable episode called “Podcasting For Authors” which has all the resources you need to start your very own podcast. Since his college education was in broadcast journalism he chose to make radio his primary marketing tool for his book, also because it was free.
Resources mentioned in this episode
Francine Silverman
Alex Carroll
Talkers magazine
Radio-TV Interview Report (RTIR)
Help-A-Reporter Out (HARO)
Reporter Connection
PitchRate
Book Marketing Network
UnBreak Your Health(TM) offers proven healing techniques from the most modern innovations to ancient healing therapies. With 339 new and updated listings in 150 different categories this is the most complete book ever published on complementary and alternative therapies (no diets or supplements). This updated edition again focuses on therapies, systems and devices in the field of complementary, alternative and integrative medicine. Many topics also have accompanying podcast interviews with leaders and innovators in the field
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On September 2, 2010 Irene Watson and Alan E. Smith spoke with author and media coverage guru Drew Gerber of PitchRate.com. L. Drew Gerber is CEO of Wasabi Publicity, Inc. and creator of www.PitchRate.com, a free media tool that connects journalists, publicists, and experts. Drew informed us on critical aspects of the interface between author and media including:
- How to stand out from the crowd and brand what’s unique about your book.
- How to make it easy for customers and journalists to find you and your book online.
- Who wants your expertise? How to position yourself as an expert.
- How to grab the media’s attention by creating the perfect pitch.
- How to get to the point and use sound bites.
- How to maximize your publicity by leveraging the coverage you’re getting to attract more traffic and leads to your website.
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 Drew Gerber |
| Gerber’s business practices and staffing innovations have been revered by PR Week, Good Morning America and the Christian Science Monitor. His companies handle international PR campaigns and his staff develops online press kits for authors, speakers and companies with Online PressKit 24/7, a technology he developed. |
 www.PitchRate.com |
On January 8th, 2010, we convened a roundtable discussion on Podcasting for Authors with Victor R. Volkman, Irene Watson, and Alan E. Smith. Each of the principals invited has been recording and distributing podcasts for several years through Authors Airwaves, Inside Scoop Live, and UnBreak Your Health, and podcast programs respectively. Our discussion ranged through a wide variety of subjects from production to promotion to book tie-ins and of course, getting started.1. How did you get into podcasting?
2. Is it hard to do, do I have to learn a lot of stuff?
3. Should I use blogtalkradio or do-it-myself?
4. How do I get guests, what do I talk about?
5. How do I promote the podcast?
6. What is RSS.XML and stuff like that
7. How can I tie my book into the podcast without making it an endless infomercial?
8. Can I integrate or interweave my book and podcast content?
9. How do I measure success?
10. What about audio quality? tips |
 Alan E. Smith
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| Victor Volkman specializes in the audio engineering aspects and has done audio editing for quality control on more than 200 podcasts, including all 102 podcasts of Authors Access. The chief problems that he works on involve noise reduction, balancing the levels, integrating background music and commercials, fixing speech problems, and maintaining quality and continuity. His audio editing suite is Goldwave Version 5.
Irene Watson is the owner of Reader Views, a full-service book marketing and publicity firm with a wide range of services from reviews to interviews to book editing and agenting. In 2005, she created Inside Scoop Live which has produced nearly 400 shows which is now primarily hosted by Juanita Watson. Inside Scoop Live is a global internet-based broadcast specializing in interviewing published authors about their current books and areas of expertise. Her preferred recording platform is Audio Acrobat dot com” Alan E. Smith is the author of Unbreak Your Health: The complete guide to complementary and alternative therapies. Alan has produced 55 podcasts since 2008 with a variety of guests from bestselling authors such as Bruce Lipton, PhD, who wrote “The Biology of Belief” which was a major influence of the infamous “What the Bleep” movie and also the creators, deans, and master teachers of many techniques such as Naturopathy, Chiropractic, Energy Medicine, Therapeutic Touch, and dozens of others. |
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Resources we mentioned on this show
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Internet Stations to consider broadcasting on
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For publicizing your podcast show
- Francine Silverman’s Talk Radio Wants You
- Alex Carroll’s database of talk radio
- Podcastdirectory.com
- Podcast411.com
- Podbean.com
- Podseek.net
- Dailyslice.com
- Google’s podcast directory
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Where to get great guests?
- PitchRate.com
- HARO (www.helpareporter.com)
- RadioGuestList.com
- www.mymediaconnections.ning.com
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On August 28th, 2009, Alan E. Smith, author of the award-winning “UnBreak Your Health: The Complete Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine” spoke with book marketing guru Irene Watson on the importance of considering target reader personas in the book writing process. Irene is the owner of Reader Views, a full-service book reviewing and marketing agency in Austin, TX. Irene’s psychology background and constant study gives her the ability to understand people and how they think, live, and for today’s interview, how they read. Some of the things we considered:
- Importance of knowing your target market before writing your book
- Understanding reading preferences, temperments and personalities of potential readers
- Creating a profile of the potential readers/target market
- Fully understanding why some readers like your book and others don’t.
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| Irene’s career took her from career counseling, to business ownership, to working for a police force, to psychosynthesis counseling, to teaching at a college, to retreat/seminar/workshop design and facilitation to her most recent – owning/managing Reader Views and its branches. She obtained her B.S. in psychology at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX and her M. A. in psychology from Regis University in Denver, CO.After retiring in 2003 Irene authored an award winning memoir, The Sitting Swing, which was originally published in 2005. Having a hard time getting reviews for her book, she started Reader Views on a whim. Within a month it exploded to a full time business. So much for retirement! Since then she has pioneered many other innovative marketing sites including Inside Scoop Live, ReviewThe Book, BloggingAuthors, and many other services from press release writing to book videos to an international award contest now entering its 4th year. |
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