Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited

Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited
Francine Silverman
ISBN - 9 780786 440337
Publisher - McFarland & Co
Pub Date: April 2009
314 pages
Price: $75
Reviewer's Name: Victor Volkman of Authors Access (5/09)

Imagine being able to sit down with a coffee and discuss with hundreds of radio hosts what their shows are about and what kind of guests they’d like to book. You can do just that with Francine Silverman’s new book Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited. I have paid $300 or more for talk radio show databases that had far less information than Francine presents in her highly-competitively priced book.

Broken down into top-level categories, you can browse for shows in your genre, including politics, health & fitness, food, sports, self-help, women’s issues, and even authors. I would expect most people can find a dozen hot prospects for making their pitch in under half-an-hour, that is if you can stop yourself from endlessly browsing the fascinating entries! Francine doesn’t stop with AM/FM, also included are satellite radio and podcasts, which can reach thousands of interested listeners you would never get from terrestrial radio.

Each entry includes critical info such as desired guests, host bio, and full contact info so you can tailor your pitch perfectly I can’t recommend this book strongly enough for any author who wants to get into this high-profile, low-cost method of marketing. Only a couple of downsides to mention: if you’re looking for gay & lesbian, military/veteran, or science-fiction oriented shows you will not find enough listings to make it worthwhile. Also, I feel like the “What is your guest from hell?” entries were a bit repetitive. Everyone knows that hosts want an articulate, on-time, and well-spoken guest. If I know Francine, she will amend these in future editions.

Purchase on amazon.com