Monday’s book planning tip for authors

Many authors use Talking Points to promote their book, but–too often–they start too late. Once your book appears and your interviews begin, it’s too late!  Talking points are a public relations  term that refers to a “memory jogging” short list of keywords and core ideas used by guests to review the main ideas they want to address during an interview.

Talking points are not “scripts” intended to be memorized nor are they intended to be read word-for-word. Instead, they are the brief, easily-spoken, “big ideas” you want to work into each interview, regardless of the specific questions the interviewer asks you.

Why create talking points as early soon as possible?

There are two main advantage of identifying your book’s talking points as soon as possible:

• Save time planning. Preparing your book’s talking points early, while planning your book, helps you focus your thinking as you strive to identify the content that your book has to include in order to satisfy your target audience. Keeping your book’s premise and reader benefits constantly in front of you help you prepare your book’s table of contents and keep your focus on ideas and details that are truly important to the success of your project.
• Practice makes perfect. The sooner you identify and begin to share your book’s talking points with others, the more comfortable you’ll be discussing them in future interviews. It’s important to remember that talking points are not just for formal interviews; they’re for describing your book to your friends, co-workers, as well as those you meet while networking or traveling.

Preparing your book’s talking points

Time flies when you’re being interviewed. When asked a question, it’s very easy to go off on a tangent and spend too much time on an early question. This won’t happen if you have had a lot of practice working your talking points into all types of conversations.

• Brainstorm. Start by making a list of the 9 or 10 most convincing ideas that will attract the right readers and position your book apart from the others.
• Edit. Winnow the list of your talking points down to the 5 or 6 most important points. Then, experiment with different ways of expressing the ideas you want to communicate.
• Practice. Record yourself speaking your talking points out loud. Listen for long words and awkward phrases. Whenever you stumble, look for ways to choose different words or reduce sentence length.

Getting a head start on preparing your book’s talking points not only helps you plan and write your book, but your advance preparation and practice will help you present an enthusiastic and professional image when you’re interviewed.