Writing a book is a challenge but it’s fun and familiar. That’s especially true if you’re career has been spent at the keyboard. When I finished writing “Riders of a Certain Age,” I thought that was the end of the work. Trafalgar Square, my publisher, has a great marketing program for its writers. I thought I’d just hand in the manuscript, do the line editing (again and again and again — all of us searching for typos and errors!), and get giddy when the first ‘real’ copy was in my hands.
HA!
Writing a book is the easy part. Now comes marketing. Getting the word out to the readers and public and bookstores and social media outlets and contacts that aren’t covered by the publisher’s program. It’s exciting but also very intimidating!
One of the best ways to contact readers and potential readers is through podcasts. Having spent years as a reporter, I know how to ask questions and frame an interview, but it is a bit different when you are the subject of the interview.
I’ve been interviewed on several horse podcasts: Dressage Today (a special treat, since one of the interviewers is Aviva Nebesky, one of my former coaches), Horse Network Reads with Gretchen Lida, We Love Arabian Horses with Paul Kostial. Diana DeRosa interviewed me for Equus Television Network.
Those are all great and certainly get the word out to the horse-loving community. But when your are interviewed *outside* the horse world and by an outlet that’s internationally recognized and respected — that’s a whole ‘nuther dimension. So when I was invited to be interviewed by Paul Vogelzang of the Smithsonian’s Not Older — Better podcast, I felt as though I’d hit the big Big Time! Paul is a delightful man and has a classic ‘radio voice.’
There are more interviews scheduled and I may be a speaker at Equine Affaire in Massachusetts come November. It’s all very heady and exciting and it’s fun to hear and see the feedback!
