A New Experience in Book Promotion: Podcasting

With our new book about our Disney careers, Together in the Dream, now available for purchase, we are receiving requests from podcasters for interviews. This is a new area for us - although we have done phone interviews in past years for other projects. For those not "tech savvy", a podcast is an audio interview that can be dowloaded to a computer, smartphone or other device for listening when it's convenient.

Last evening, R.J. and I were interviewed by two delightful podcasters, Rachel and Zeke, for their site, "Behind the Magic". Subscribers to their site receive this podcast automatically, I understand, and they have a broad base of subscribers (nearly 2500 we are told) who are interested in all things Disney.

We spent nearly forty-five minutes responding to their questions, and they encouraged us to include our own memories, as well as tidbits from the book to entice potential readers. Rachel and Zeke made it so easy for us, with their professional attitudes and engaging personalities. The time passed quickly and easily, and we can now consider ourselves "veteran podcasters", thanks to the "Behind the Magic" podcasting team.

If you're promoting a book - and no matter how you publish these days, I believe it's imperative to "sell yourself and your work", there is no way you can, or should, avoid social media. So far, my husband and I have sent out countless emails, posted our book on Facebook and Twitter, this blog and R.J.'s website (rjogren.com).

We also carry business cards, with the title of the book, and the Theme Park Press website on them, to give to anyone we talk to about Together in the Dream. We are lucky in that Theme Park Press, our publisher, also promotes the book on their own website, and in other ways. In addition, RJ and I are approaching local bookstores, and lining up speaking engagements.

As actors, it's easy for us to "sell ourselves", but in this competitive publishing world, there is no room for shyness if you want to sell what you've written. Podcasting gives us another excellent way to spread our word - and we've already agreed to do more podcasts in the near future.