Prepare the launch materials

Draft sample interview questions and topic angles

Write the questions you hope to be asked and the angles the book supports, so a busy host or journalist can see the conversation before booking it.

OptionalOwner: Author and PublicistYou: Do itFreeAll publishing paths

Why it matters

A host who can picture the interview books it. Sample questions also protect you from the interview built entirely on the back-cover copy, and they give a producer something to hand a presenter five minutes before airtime. Angles are how a pitch gets read by an outlet that does not cover books: it covers the subject, and you are offering the subject.

Your part

What you do: Do it. You normally do this yourself.
Who normally owns it: Author and Publicist. Author drafts; publicist refines and uses in pitches
When: 3 to 5 months before publication, in time for the media kit and the first pitches (Prepare the launch materials: six to three months before publication, before the first pitch goes out)

How to do it

The full walkthrough

Interviewers rarely have time to read the book before deciding whether to have you on. What they can read is a page of suggested questions and three or four topic angles: the specific conversations the book makes possible, framed for a particular audience. This page goes in the media kit and in pitch emails, and it does more work than the description, because it shows the host what the segment would sound like.

Write eight to twelve questions that range from the obvious ("what made you write this?") to the specific and surprising. Then write short topic angles, each one a sentence or two: the local angle, the timely angle, the angle for a professional audience, the personal story. A nonfiction book usually supports several; a novel supports fewer, but still has them (the setting, the research, the theme that connects to something in the news).

Traditionally published authors may get a version of this from the publicist; review it, because you know what you can actually talk about with energy. Hybrid and self-published authors write it themselves and should test it on someone who has not read the book.

Update the angles as events move. A book about a subject that is suddenly in the news has a new angle that did not exist when the kit was written.

Common mistakes

Writing questions that require having read the book to make sense.
Offering one angle ("my book is out") to every outlet.
Listing twenty-five questions, which nobody reads.
Leaving the angles unchanged for a year while the news moved on.

Templates for this

Podcast pitchA short guest pitch that leads with an episode idea for the show's listeners, not with the book, and gives the host what they need to decide quickly.

When to use it: Use this when the show has guests, its listeners are plausibly your readers, and it accepts pitches by email. Adjust the opening and the talking points for every show. Do not use this when the show publishes a guest form or its own pitch instructions. Follow those instead.

Subject: Guest idea for [Podcast Name]: [Episode Or Topic Idea]

Hi [Recipient Name],

Your episode on [Recent Episode Topic] got me thinking about an angle your listeners might find useful: [Episode Or Topic Idea].

I'm the author of [Book Title] ([Publisher], [Publication Date]), which [One Sentence On What The Book Covers]. [One Sentence On Why You Can Speak To This, From Your Work, Research, Or Experience]

A conversation could cover:
- [Talking Point 1]
- [Talking Point 2]
- [Talking Point 3]

I can record remotely with a decent microphone, and I am flexible on timing, including dates after [Publication Date] if that suits your schedule better. A bio, headshot, and sample questions are in my media kit: [Link]

If it is not a fit for the show, no reply is needed. Thanks for reading.

Best,
[Your Name]
[Your Email]
[Your Website]

Media-kit checklistEverything a journalist, producer, bookseller, or event organizer expects to find in a media kit, grouped so you can see the gaps at a glance.

When to use it: Use this when you first assemble a media kit, when the publisher sends theirs and you want to check it against your own records, and again after any significant news. Do not use this when the kit would be out of date the moment you shared it. An out-of-date kit is worse than none, because it gives a journalist wrong information with confidence.

MEDIA KIT CHECKLIST: [Book Title]
Kit address: [Link]
Last updated: [Date]

THE BOOK
- Title and subtitle exactly as on the cover: [Book Title]: [Subtitle]
- Author name as it should appear: [Author Name]
- Publisher and imprint: [Publisher], [Imprint]
- Publication date: [Publication Date]
- Formats: [Formats]
- ISBN, price, and page count for each format: [ISBN And Price By Format]
- Short description, about 50 words, as plain text
- Long description, about 150 to 250 words, as plain text
- Front cover at original resolution, as JPEG or PNG, in two versions:
  - For print: at least 1500 by 2250 pixels, which is 5 by 7.5 inches at 300 pixels per inch. Pixels per inch tells you nothing on its own; it only means something alongside the printed size.
  - For web: about 600 pixels on the long edge, for a listing, a post, or an article.
- Buy links for each format: [Link]

THE AUTHOR
- Biographies at 50, 100, and 250 words, as plain text
- Headshot at original resolution, as JPEG or PNG: at least 1200 by 1500 pixels for print use, plus a web version about 800 pixels on the long edge. Keep the print and web downloads separate and labeled.
- Photographer credit: [Photographer Credit]
- Author website: [Link]
- Social profiles you actually use: [Link]

FOR INTERVIEWS AND FEATURES
- Press release or announcement, with a date
- Sample interview questions and topic angles
- Endorsements, with permission to quote and correct attribution
- Review excerpts within permitted length, with source and date
- Excerpt or sample chapter, if permitted: [Permission Status]
- Upcoming events and appearances, with dates and venues
- Past interviews and coverage, with links

CONTACT
- Author contact: [Your Name], [Your Email]
- Publicity contact: [Publicist Name And Email]
- Rights or bulk sales contact, if different: [Contact Name And Email]

BEFORE YOU SEND
- Every fact matches the Book Identity Sheet
- Files are named so a stranger can tell what they are
- Every link tested on mobile and desktop
- The publisher's kit and yours agree, or yours links to theirs
- The last-updated date above is current

What done looks like

Eight to twelve questions, ordered from general to specific, in a plain text file and in the media kit.
Three to five topic angles, each aimed at a distinct audience or outlet type.
A one-line note under each angle saying which outlets it suits.
Questions you would genuinely enjoy answering, tested on someone unfamiliar with the book.
A refresh whenever the subject appears in the news or the book gains recognition.

Sources and last checked

Official source: No single official page for this step.
Last checked: Not checked against its source yet.
How confident we are: Verified