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BlogTalkRadio Offers Book Authors the Opportunity to Host Their Own Shows

BlogTalkRadio.com – an internet radio “station” that offers anyone the opportunity to host his or her own show for free – is an ideal opportunity for book authors to promote their books on a regular basis while providing valuable content to their target audiences.

To begin with, no technical knowledge is needed. You simply sign up at BlogTalkRadio.com, follow the directions, and you can become the host of your own live show. You don’t even need a microphone. You call into a number at BlogTalkRadio to be the host, and your show guest – as well as show listeners who want to ask questions – call into the same number. Show listeners can also “chat” questions during the live show.

Wait you say! How do you think of topics to talk about? Let’s answer this by taking two imaginary book projects. We’ll take both a fiction and a nonfiction book project.

We’ll imagine that Janice has a novel titled “Sally Smith Confronts Her Ghosts” – and the book centers on a protagonist who realizes she has undiagnosed PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and seeks help. When the help fails her, she goes on a quest to cure herself.

Janice decides to have a half-hour show once a week with the title “Confronting Your Ghosts.” She invites psychologists and other mental health workers as guests on the show. Sometimes the topic is PTSD, sometimes eating disorders, sometimes any number of “ghosts” that people face. At the beginning and end of each segment, Janice announces that she is the author of “Sally Smith Confronts Her Ghosts” and gives a brief blurb about the novel.

Then Janice uses her weekly show to get more exposure for herself on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the other social media sites on which she is a member. She tweets and posts Facebook updates about the guest topic for that week’s show.

Now what about Paul, whose nonfiction book “How to Speak to Your Plumber” provides tips on how to speak the language of the various repair people you use in your home or office. Paul starts a BlogTalkRadio show with the same name as his book – “How to Speak to Your Plumber.”

Each week Paul has a person from a different occupation as the show’s guest – an air conditioning repair person, an upholstery cleaner, a fence builder – talking about information for that specific specialty.

And, yes, Paul also uses his social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook to get the word out about his show, which gets the word out about his book.

One of the benefits of doing a BlogTalkRadio show is that, after doing the live show, the recording of the show is available on your show’s page for downloading. People can listen on the site – and guests can download the show onto their own website or blog.

Build a fan base for your BlogTalkRadio show by offering quality content, and you’ll have a weekly platform for promoting your book.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is an Internet business consultant. If you liked this article, you’ll love her free report on “Power Marketing’s Top 3 Internet Marketing Tips” – download the report now from www.QueensofBookMarketing.com

Tags: BlogTalkRadio, book authors, book marketing