These days you can hear me on the radio every Monday at 4:34 p.m. PT. I am the writing, publishing and blogging expert –and sometimes the spirituality expert — on Michael Ray Dresser’s Dresser After Dark radio show. This is a board in my author’s platform. Every week I get to speak to thousands of people about my area of expertise, and they learn my name, my website and the title of my upcoming book (How to Blog a Book, Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time). I also receive a recording (a digital file) of the 20-minute show recording. This gets placed in my media kit, where it helps me get more media gigs.
For two years I served as the holiday and spirituality expert on Conversations with Mrs. Claus, a podcast heard in 90 different countries by 130,000 listeners. That was a large board in my platform. It was sealed because the host, sent me a recording every month after our show. They are posted in my media kit as well.
While most radio stations will, indeed, record their shows and provide authors with a recording, sometimes disaster happens and a recording is not available. This happened to me when I appeared on a Dr. Stan Frager’s radio show on WGTK 970 in Louisville, KY two years ago. They told me they would send the recording and never did. It never got archived, and I never received it despite my numerous tries. And this was a show in a major market–really great for my platform.
Lucky for me, however, that on that particular occasion I used my digital recorder to record the interview–just in case. However, it has all the pauses for commercial breaks during which they can be heard talking in the background and I am shuffling pages and clearing my throat. I need to edit the tape, which can be done with any number of free and not-free editing programs. (I just need to learn how!)
Today (after this long introduction), you’ll learn about one of those editing programs–as well as a recording program, from my guest blogger, Book publicist Scott Lorenz, president of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors. He’s got a pretty unique story to tell about why one author couldn’t get a recording of a radio gig and how she solved that problem on the spot–and how you can avoid ever being in that position even if you don’t have a digital recorder.
Lightning Strike Uncovers Great Software for Authors
By Scott Lorenz
My phone rang recently and on the other end was a client telling me that the radio station on which her boss was scheduled to be interviewed had been struck by lightning. The producer informed her that they were not able to record the interview because the “recording board blew up” but that it would be streamed live online.
Murphy’s Law seems to reign freely when it comes to live radio and planning events of any sort. When I begin working with my author clients I ask them to read over material I’ve created about “How to Conduct a Great Radio Interview” and “What to Wear on a TV Interview,” etc. One of the first things I recommend is to be sure to ask radio stations in advance to record upcoming live interviews. These can then be added to the author’s web site and even transcribed to glean new content for speeches, articles or another book.
After being informed that they would not be able to record the interview with Linda Jeschofnig, CEO of Hands-On Labs, Inc., the author’s executive assistant, Joan Buck, immediately started researching how to record live streaming radio from the web to her local PC. “First, I quickly investigated the sound options in the control panel of Windows 7. No luck there. Next to the Internet where I discovered Audio Record Wizard from NowSmart Software Studio http://www.nowsmart.com/index.php. They offer a free download, which was fast and easy.”
“Sadly, the free download only offers 3 minutes of recording time and the scheduled interview now rapidly approaching was to be 10 minutes in length. The Audio Record Wizard program featured a “buy now” button which took me directly to their site and the transaction was processed seamlessly. Their site even issues the license key immediately with the payment confirmation so there’s no need to wait for an email with that information. A quick copy and paste of the license key and I was recording the interview within seconds,” says Buck. “A couple of wayward sounds that entered the recording indicating an email on Outlook had just come in were removed with RealPlayer Trimmer software,” adds Buck.
Bottom line: Going forward, I am adding Audio Record Wizard to my list of items all authors should have on their computers. What a wonderful gift that bolt of lightning provided! We recommend this valuable tool is used on all live radio interviews that offer streaming audio on the web.
About the Author
Book publicist Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with authors to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz works with bestselling authors and self-published authors promoting all types of books, whether it’s their first book or their 15th book. He’s handled publicity for books by CEOs, Navy SEALS, Homemakers, Fitness Gurus, Doctors, Lawyers and Adventurers. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC Nightly News, The New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Family Circle, Woman’s World, & Howard Stern to name a few. Learn more about Westwind Communications’ book marketing approach at www.book-marketing-expert.com or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @aBookPublicist.
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