Sail the Seven Cs to Media Performance

Producers at top TV and radio shows may receive hundreds of requests from authors to appear on their programs every day. The cover letter you send with your press kit must attract their attention quickly and make you stand out — in a positive way — from the other potential guests. This is more likely to occur if you utilize seven proven techniques for creating an effective one-page summary, each tip starting with the letter C. Your pitch letter can be more effective if it follows the “Seven Cs” of good communication strategy. It should be:

1)Creative. Your letter arrives with all the other mail the producers receive that day. They have many issues competing with your message for their attention. Utilize inventive techniques to make your package stand out and present your capabilities and benefits in the most appropriately innovative manner. Remember, it’s not the book, it’s the hook.

Begin your letter with an attention-getting statement that compels the reader to continue. Demonstrate who you are, why you will make a good guest for the audience, and that your qualifications are well suited for it. The first paragraph should be a one- or two-sentence description of why it would be in the show’s best interest to interview you.

Get the readers’ attention immediately by demonstrating you know who their audience is and how you can help them. In one page, persuade the producers to consider you as a guest. Eric Marcus, former producer for Good Morning America says, “Have an immediate hook so I know who you are, what the book is about, why you should be interviewed and what questions can I ask.”

2) Credible. In order for you to be taken seriously, your creativity cannot be so outlandish as to reduce its credibility. Something that is true is not always believable. It may be true that you will be a great guest, but the producers may view this skeptically, unless you can provide proof to document this statement.

Ask hosts of shows on which you have performed to write a testimonial for you. An unsolicited letter attesting to your skills and performance is worth more than you saying it yourself. Don’t fabricate an event, but if you have a legitimate story to tell, ask someone to document your efforts and achievements.

3) Convincing. In order for your letter to be compelling, it must document the truth persuasively. Your cover letter should provide and substantiate the reasons why you would make a better guest than any other candidate.

Quickly tell who you are and why you have the credentials to make these statements. List the two or three major points that will hold the attention of the audience. Tie your subject in with a major national news event, if appropriate. You want the producer to focus on your proposal by proving you know the audience, and you have an idea that will interest it.

Customize your letter. Tailor your message as closely as possible to the producer’s needs. Let him or her know you have carefully considered applying to their show. Address what you understand to be his or her particular situation, and why your talents qualify you as the person who can make a great appearance.

Personalize your letters with the recipient’s name and use it occasionally throughout the letter. If your correspondence is addressed to “Dear Producer,” it will be relegated to the “junk mail” category. It is more likely to be read and acted upon if you quickly get the reader’s attention and give him or her a clear reason to continue reading.

Promise a reward to the producers.  Let them know in the first paragraph that if they continue reading, they will be rewarded. Brag-and-boast sentences usually turn readers off before they get into your message. Your promise should be specific: “Here’s what I can do for your audience.” Then provide evidence that your claim is valid.

Use positive words. Certain words have proven to be effective in eliciting a positive response. If you use these to convey your message, you’ll be more likely to stimulate favorable action: you, free, discover, safety, help, results, money, save, guarantee, health, new, proven, love and easy.

Talk person-to-person. Speak to the producer as an individual, i.e., one friend telling another friend about a good thing. Your writing style should be simple: short words, short sentences, short paragraphs, active rather than passive voice and no clichés. Use the pronoun you.

Emphasize what you can do, not who you are.  Producers don’t care about selling your book. They want to produce a good show. Communicate only what will make the reader interested in learning more about what you can do for his or her show.

4) Complete. The objective of your correspondence is to interest the producer enough to call you about getting on the show. Present your value, and prove how your information meets the producer’s needs. For example, he or she is responsible for creating a cohesive show, not just a series of guests. So, instead of pitching yourself as the perfect guest, send him or her your idea for a complete show revolving around your topic. This could focus on you, or it could involve a panel of guests made up of people you recommend.

Brad Hurtado (former Donahue producer) agrees with this approach. He says, “What you can do as a Godsend is to send me your book and your idea for a show. Say, ‘Here are some of the people who would make a perfect show’ because you, as the author, have thought about what would make the best possible show for me.”

5)Current. Is yours a timely subject that sheds light on a late-breaking event? Is there any controversy or debate value in your topic? Is it a new story (or a new twist on an old story) that will convey something different to the viewers, readers or listeners? Describe why your book is unique, different from all the other ones written on the same topic.

6)Clear. Your cover letter will be ineffective in breaking through the reader’s preoccupation if your message is not clear. Don’t bury your important words in clichés and rhetoric. Briefly state what you want to occur and why it’s to the producer’s benefit to hear what you have to say.

In large-type, bulleted format, tell what your topic is and why it will be of interest to the audience. Be descriptive, not fancy. Brad Hurtado says, “What I want to see is a great idea. I give it a few seconds and if they don’t have it right off the top it goes into the “No” pile.” Eric Marcus adds, “The author has to think, “What would be most important to me if I were producing a radio or television show?” Just the facts. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just informative.”

7) Concise. Just before Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, Edward Everett gave a two-hour oration. Lincoln’s was written on one page and took less than ten minutes to deliver. Yet there is hardly an educated person in the United States today who cannot recite at least the first line of Lincoln’s speech.

Your message should be as concise and to the point as the Gettysburg Address. Don’t waste time warming up with extraneous information. Be succinct, presenting your skills so the reader immediately sees the relation between his needs and your ability to meet them.

CNBC producer Rita Thompson says, “The pitch should be clear and concise. Tell me what the book is about and what it will do for my viewers, how will it help them in some way.” Remember the adage, “Tell me quick and tell me true, or else my friend, the heck with you.”

Producers are not interested in what they can do for you, but what you can do for them. Demonstrate how you can solve their problems and make the show more successful as a result. Do this as briefly and creatively as possible. Follow the Seven Cs of effective communication and you will get on more shows quickly.

Brian Jud is author of Beyond the Bookstore (a Publishers Weekly book) and The Marketing Planning CD-ROM describing new ways to sell more books profitably to special-sales buyers. He is also the author of the new series of printed booklets published by R. R. Bowker with Proven Tips for Publishing Success. Brian is editor of the Book Marketing Matters special-sales newsletter, and creator of the Special-Sales Profit Center used by R. R. Bowker to sell other publishers’ books to special markets. Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT  06001; (800) 562-4357; brianjud@bookmarketing.com or visit http://www.bookmarketing.com.

Brian Jud is author of Beyond the Bookstore (a Publishers Weekly book) and The Marketing Planning CD-ROM describing new ways to sell more books profitably to special-sales buyers. He is editor of the Book Marketing Matters special-sales newsletter, and creator of the Book Market Map directories for special sales. Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT  06001; (800) 562-4357; brianjud@bookmarketing.com or visit http://www.bookmarketing.com

Last 5 posts by Brian Jud

• Focus on Non-traditional Marketing - April 17th, 2008
• Sail the Seven Cs to Media Performances - March 24th, 2008
• Goals are Worthless… - February 11th, 2008
• Why Bad Things Happen to Good Titles - December 5th, 2007
• Practice Makes Permanent - October 22nd, 2007